Rating: 
Summary: A Holiday Classic
Review: This Laurel and Hardy treasure remains the definitive holiday movie. "March of the Wooden Soldiers" (the original "Babes in Toyland") is a timeless musical-comedy with Stan and Ollie in top form -- abetted by stylish sets and visual effects. Most "colorized" films are an artistic desecration; however, this particular video is rendered in low-key pastels that resemble early Technicolor. The results are better than expected. (For purists, the film can be seen in glorious black and white with the flick of a TV switch.) Laurel and Hardy fans should be doubly pleased because this uncut version contains a delightful "storybook" sequence which hasn't been shown since the film's initial release in 1934. There have been several remakes of "Babes in Toyland," but none can match the original's effortless charm.
Rating: 
Summary: Stopped at the one yard line!!
Review: This review is for the Passport Video version of "March of the Wooden Soldiers".
This is a marvellous print in glorious black and white of this perennial favourite still seen on TV to this day.However for some time on TV we have been getting a terribly pastey colourized version which has nothing on this relatively clean black and white version;this is the way it was meant to be seen!
Both contrast and sound in this version are very good and the movie is as complete as one would hope.
And Passport Video would almost have had a touchdown with this movie....if it hadn't been stopped dead in its' tracks inexplicably at the one yard line!
The movie as I have said is quite complete with the original opening sequence,the musical numbers and others various scenes intact but Passport for some unfathomable reason changed the ending.The movie progresses along very well until the moment where the Boys attempt to give the Bogeymen a "parting shot" and the cannon reverses and gets Ollie in the behind instead.While Stan plucks away at the darts the scene suddenly "rolls up" from the bottom right corner to the top left.Music plays out to a dark screen.The end!??
The original ending has Stan plucking away until the scene fades onto a title card with Mother Goose and a "They lived happily ever after" on it.Music finishes.
What "creative" soul at Passport thought that they should fiddle with the original ending after going through almost the entire picture leaving things as they were?
Well here's another nice mess Passport's gotten themselves into.
What a shame because the film deserves a higher rating than I have given it but due to Passports' "liberties" I'm forced to downgrade it to no more than three at best.
If this ending is of no consequence to you then this version will suit you to a tee.But if you want this movie in its' original version,in good quality black and white and complete then I suggest you give this a pass.For there still is NO such version yet extant on DVD as of this writing.
Rating:
Summary: Fun for the whole family, with Laurel & Hardy in top form.
Review: This timeless classic is the original film version of Victor Herbert's "Babes in Toyland." The entire family will enjoy the music, comedy, and thrills (but very small children may be frightened by the climax involving the monstrous "Bogeymen"). If you know the black-and-white version, this new edition will pleasantly surprise you. It's one of the very best "colorized" movies, with a wide range of storybook colors.
Rating:
Summary: I Wish I Were a Citizen of Toyland, Too!
Review: Tom-Tom announces his engagement to Bo-Peep by jumping up on the stocks and proclaiming, "Citizens of Toyland! I want you all to meet, the future Mrs. Piper!" and then all the characters burst into a frenzied happy little dance to a whimsical piece of music--one of my favorite scenes in this classic adaptation of the famous Victor Herbert operetta, "Babes in Toyland". You know, this is the kind of movie that could all too easily have been really awful: an operetta about nursery rhyme characters with, frankly, limited special effects? But instead, "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is without a doubt one of the best children's movies ever produced in Hollywood. And of course, the major reason for that is that it features the supertalented duo of Laurel and Hardy as the comic relief team who wind up the stars of the movie. They and everyone else in the movie play their roles in the sincerest possible way. That's why this movie is so good to show any child, no matter how young: there's nothing cynical in the movie, no one with a hidden nasty agenda peeking through. Sure, it can be a scary movie, alright, but meaness is punished and goodness rewarded. Think about the wacky costumes of the bogeymen who are lead by evil Silas Barnaby to attack Toyland via raft. Rubber masks and hula skirts worn over longjohns, or so they seem. How on earth could 21st century children find that anything but laughable, with the best computer-generated villains in films today? But it just goes to show you that glitz isn't everything, because those little kids ARE freaked out still, to see the bogeymen jump down when Barnaby summons them in the cave. One of the other reviewers is right when he says that somehow this movie reaches right into childhood itself, what I would think is the German, Brothers Grimm part of childhood, of "things" under the bed. Today's creepy villains are made to frighten sophisticated adults, who've seen it all before. But that's over the head of children, really--rubber-faced bogeymen are all it takes! I think another appealing aspect is that most of the characters, even if they are all really adults, somehow seem like children pretending to be adults-that's even true of a relatively minor character like King Cole as well as for Tom-Tom and Bo-Peep, our leading man and lady. The un-bogeymen parts therefore have a sweetness to them that hearkens from very early chidhood, the kind you see in a Jessie Wilcox Smith painting. And the timing of Laurel and Hardy is perfect: they are just tops! This movie played faithfully in the NYC area every year on Thanksgiving Day, duly followed (for some reason) by "King Kong", and I and my brothers and sisters watched it every time, from babyhood even through sullen teenage years, without ever poking fun at it; oh no, this was (and is) still held as reverentially as though it were right up there after the Bible. Not many childhood rituals can make it unscathed through adolescence, but "March of the Wooden Soldiers" did, and is now enjoyed by new generation Toddler Nephew. It deservedly lives on for each new set of youngsters, a true classic.
Rating:
Summary: "I Don't Love 'im!"
Review: What a pleasure to find March of the Wooden Soldiers in glorious black & white! This Passport Video release (listed by Amazon as Koch Entertainment for some unfathomable reason) presumably contains the full-length version (77+ minutes) and is of very high quality. Audio is nice clear mono, and the video is just fine--flicker occurs occasionally, but nothing major and the images are sharp with good contrast. One is easily able to navigate the chapters and can scan in either direction and pause, which sometimes isn't the case with budget DVD's. It would be nice if subtitles were available (I have foreign-born friends who like to "see" and hear English simultaneously), as well as a printed list of chapters, but these are minor quibbles. A bonus short of the boys' first screen appearance together is also included and is lots of fun.
As much as I detest colorization of black & white classics, both in principle and for aesthetic reasons, I've read so many favorable reviews of the colorized version of this film that I'd be willing to give it a shot, especially considering its price. One reviewer wrote that she remembers seeing a hand-tinted print of this film at the movies when she was a child in the 50's, so clearly there's precedent. It would be nice to get a choice of both on one disk--maybe something along this line will turn up eventually. In the meantime, my recommendation is that first-time viewers see it the way audiences in 1934 saw it and then move on to "color" if so inclined. Either way, this is a fabulous film--it's about time justice was done to it, but better late than never. Thank goodness I no longer have to depend on the whims of local TV stations with their edits and commercials to watch one of my holiday favorites.
Rating:
Summary: "I Don't Love 'im!"
Review: What a pleasure to find March of the Wooden Soldiers in glorious black & white! This Passport Video release (listed by Amazon as Koch Entertainment for some unfathomable reason) presumably contains the full-length version (77+ minutes) and is of very high quality. Audio is nice clear mono, and the video is just fine--flicker occurs occasionally, but nothing major and the images are sharp with good contrast. One is easily able to navigate the chapters and can scan in either direction and pause, which sometimes isn't the case with budget DVD's. It would be nice if subtitles were available (I have foreign-born friends who like to "see" and hear English simultaneously), as well as a printed list of chapters, but these are minor quibbles. A bonus short of the boys' first screen appearance together is also included and is lots of fun.
As much as I detest colorization of black & white classics, both in principle and for aesthetic reasons, I've read so many favorable reviews of the colorized version of this film that I'd be willing to give it a shot, especially considering its price. One reviewer wrote that she remembers seeing a hand-tinted print of this film at the movies when she was a child in the 50's, so clearly there's precedent. It would be nice to get a choice of both on one disk--maybe something along this line will turn up eventually. In the meantime, my recommendation is that first-time viewers see it the way audiences in 1934 saw it and then move on to "color" if so inclined. Either way, this is a fabulous film--it's about time justice was done to it, but better late than never. Thank goodness I no longer have to depend on the whims of local TV stations with their edits and commercials to watch one of my holiday favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the Same as Was in Theaters
Review: What was once shown on television around the Thanksgiving-Xmas seasons over 30 years ago is not what is on this video. There is at least a good five (5) minutes missing from it. The scene is where Tom-Tom has been banished to Bogey-Land and Bo-Peep is with him. He sings to her to go to sleep as they are both very tired. It is evident that this was copied from television and edited to take out the commercials. I believe the person copying this from TV was in the kitchen getting something to eat while this was being edited. I wanted my children (ages five to eleven) to witness classic humor and a wonderful story. However, even though they did not know what was missing, it was evident that something was not right. I feel it is a sad event that what we remember from our childhoods cannot be the same of which we wish to share with our children. The movie is a classic if it isn't colorized. To see it in its original B&W version is wonderful. - A very disappointed viewer
Rating:
Summary: This Movie DID HAVE COLOR Versions in the fifties.
Review: When I first saw this movie in a theatre in the fifties, it WAS in color. Few people know that there were copies of this movie Hand-Colored. It's true it was shot in Black and White, but many people saw their first version in one of many hand-colored films. Personally, I don't care for colorized movies, but for me, this is the ONLY movie that should be colorized. The color simply adds to the festive Christmas atmosphere. I can't image seeing the Wooden soldiers in other than their Candy Apple/Patent Leather-looking red coats.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Stan and Ollie Movie
Review: When I first saw this,When I saw the pig tied and gagged,It angered me.Now,If I was a Superheroine,My partner in crimefighting and I along with our 3 sidekicks and 2 assistants can kick Barnaby's rear by martial arts, and put him in handcuffs. Kim Possible,Who I look up to and admire,Mom says I Idolize her and that's true,She's My Heroine,My 2nd Idol,My Role Model,My Angel of Truth and Justice and My Champion can kick Barnaby's rear all the way around the world,She can fly off with him on her jet pack and put him in jail! Way to go Kim! I want this DVD! I liked when the pig bit Barnaby when "Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" was playing.
Rating: 
Summary: N.Y.,N.Y.-Don't waste my time!
Review: You've obvionsly got nothing better to do with your time Mr."Kraut".
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