Babes in Toyland

***Babes in Toyland*** is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert (1859-1924) with a libretto by Glen MacDonough (1870–1924), which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza. Following the extraordinary success of their stage musical The Wizard of Oz, which was produced in New York beginning in January 1903, producer Fred R. Hamlin and director Julian P. Mitchell hoped to create more family musicals. MacDonough had helped Mitchell with revisions to the Oz libretto by L. Frank Baum. Mitchell and MacDonough persuaded Victor Herbert to join the production. Babes in Toyland features some of Herbert's most famous songs – among them "Toyland", "March of the Toys", "Go To Sleep, Slumber Deep", and "I Can't Do the Sum". The theme song "Toyland", and the most famous instrumental piece from the operetta, "March of the Toys", occasionally show up on Christmas compilations.

### Original Productions

The original production opened at the Chicago Grand Opera house in June 1903, produced by Hamlin and directed by Mitchell, and toured to several East Coast cities before opening in New York in October 1903 and ran for 192 performances. This was followed by many successful tours and revivals. The piece was so popular that it spawned other "fairy-tale" shows over the next decade.

Two Broadway revivals ran from 1929 to 1930 and 1930 to 1931. Decca Records recorded ten selections from the score (on five 10-inch 78-RPM records) in 1944. The recording featured Kenny Baker and Karen Kemple with a chorus and orchestra conducted by Alexander Smallens. This album was reissued on a 10-inch LP in 1949, and by reducing the selections from ten to six, Decca re-released it on one side of a 12-inch LP (The Red Mill was on the reverse) in 1957. Listen to Babes In Toyland on Deezer.

A new book and lyrics for the show were written for the Light Opera of Manhattan (LOOM) in 1975 by Alice Hammerstein Mathias (the daughter of Oscar Hammerstein II) and the company's director-producer William Mount-Burke. LOOM played this operetta as a Christmas show for six to eight weeks each year thereafter for 13 seasons with considerable success, and the rewritten book and lyrics has since been used by other companies, including Troupe America. The ensemble becomes a mechanical militia of toys for the "March of the Toys", and children from the audience are brought up to help "wind-up" the toy dancers.

### Laurel & Hardy (1934)

> *"1 and 1/2 hours of laughter!"*
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***Babes in Toyland*** is a Laurel and Hardy musical film that went on general release in the US on December 14, 1934 (IMDb.com). The film is also known by the alternate titles Laurel and Hardy in Toyland, Revenge Is Sweet (the 1948 European reissue title), and March of the Wooden Soldiers (in the United States).

Based on Victor Herbert's popular 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland, the film was produced by Hal Roach, directed by Charley Rogers and Gus Meins, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was originally produced in Sepiatone, but there are two computer colourised versions.

Although the 1934 film makes use of many of the characters in the original play, as well as several of the songs, the plot is almost completely unlike that of the original stage production. In contrast to the stage version, the film's story takes place entirely in Toyland, which is inhabited by Mother Goose (Virginia Karns) and other well known fairy tale characters.

#### Plot Summary

Ollie Dee (Oliver Hardy) and Stanley Dum (Stan Laurel) try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker (William Burress)(, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep (Charlotte Henry) from the clutches of the evil Barnaby (Henry Brandon). When that fails, they trick Barnaby into marrying Stanley Dum instead of Bo Peep. Enraged, Barnaby unleashes the bogeymen from their caverns to destroy Toyland.

### Television (1950s)

A live TV version aired on December 25, 1950, as part of 'Musical Comedy Time' (1950-51) starred Edith Fellows, James Gregory and Robert Weede; Dennis King played a new villain called Dr. Electron.

On December 18, 1954, a second live TV version starred Jo Sullivan as Jane, and featured Wally Cox as Grumio, Dave Garroway as Santa, Dennis Day as Tommy, Karin Wolfe as Ann (Jane's little sister) and Jack E. Leonard as Barnaby. Bambi Linn was a featured dancer, and the production incorporated the Bil Baird marionettes. The same show was restaged on December 24, 1956 but this time Barbara Cook played Jane.

### Shirley Temple (1960)

On December 25, 1960, another adaptation for television featured Shirley Temple as the old gypsy Floretta, Angela Cartwright as Jane, and Jonathan Winters as Barnaby. It was shown as an episode on the anthology series The Shirley Temple Storybook (1958-61). It is the only screen or television version that retained the operetta's primary plot (the orphans' escape from their cruel uncle), but it omits the secondary plot involving the nursery-rhyme characters. Barnaby and the Toymaker survive at the end, although Barnaby is punished by the law. The Toymaker is portrayed as a kindly old man, and Floretta ends up helping the children and turning against Barnaby.

### Walt Disney (1961)

> *"The happiest, most delightful musical comedy of your lifetime!"*
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***Babes in Toyland*** is an American Technicolor Christmas musical film directed by Jack Donohue and distributed to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution. It stars Ray Bolger as Barnaby, Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary, Tommy Sands as Tom Piper, and Ed Wynn as the Toymaker.

Dean Jones was originally announced for the lead. Bolger was cast as a villain for the first time in his career. Gene Sheldon, best known for his role of Bernardo in the 1957 television series Zorro, appeared alongside his Zorro co-star, Henry Calvin.

Walt Disney announced the film in 1955 as an animated feature and said he wanted to create a film of the standard of The Wizard of Oz (1939). "It's like a Disney cartoon only with live actors," said one Disney executive.

The film was on general release from December 14, 1961 (US) and January 6, 1962 (UK).

The film is based upon Victor Herbert's popular 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland. There had been a 1934 film also titled Babes in Toyland starring Laurel and Hardy, and three television adaptations prior to the Disney film, but Disney's was only the second film version of the operetta released to movie theatres and the first in Technicolor. The plot, and in some cases the music, bear little resemblance to the original, as Disney had most of the lyrics rewritten and some of the song tempos drastically changed, including the memorable song "Toyland", a slow ballad, which was sped up with only the chorus sung in a march like rhythm.

The toy soldiers would later appear in Christmas parades at the Disney theme parks around the world.

#### Plot Summary

Tom the Piper's Son is about to marry Mary Quite Contrary. On the eve of their wedding, evil miser Barnaby hires two henchmen to drown Tom and steal Mary's sheep, cared for by Little Bo Peep (Ann Jillian), thus depriving Mary and the children she lives with of their livelihood, forcing her to marry Barnaby. The sheep are stolen, but Gonzorgo (Calvin) and Roderigo (Sheldon), Barnaby's henchmen, double-cross him by selling Tom to a band of gypsies instead, leaving Tom with the opportunity to escape and make his way with Mary, Bo-Peep, and other Mother Goose characters to Toyland.

#### Soundtrack

***Walt Disney's Babes In Toyland*** was the original record album for the 1961 film adaptation. However, it is a cover version rather than an authentic soundtrack album. The actors in the film are replaced by uncredited singers for this album, but Ann Jillian, from the film's cast, is featured on Never Mind, Bo Peep, and Ed Wynn, also from the film, is featured on the Workshop Song. Ray Bolger as Barnaby in We Won't Be Happy Till We Get It and Castle in Spain is replaced by the instantly recognisable Thurl Ravenscroft. A single with Annette's songs was also available.

An album purporting to be the authentic soundtrack, featuring the performances of the film's cast was also released in 1961, but this album is not a true soundtrack either. The only items present which could even be loosely attested as being from the original film soundtrack are the re-recorded studio performances of the individual actors' vocals.

As many musicals of the period did, this album featured re-recorded, edited and/or re-arranged versions of songs featured in the film, provided by the same cast which appeared therein.

The choral tracks are instead those heard on the Disneyland Records album, as are the accompanying music tracks to the songs. The album also features a six-minute orchestral overture heard neither in the film nor on the previous album. The main title music as heard in the actual film is not heard on the album.

Therefore, neither album is truly a ``soundtrack recording being neither contains any session material recorded for the film. The closest one can come is the Buena Vista Original Cast Soundtrack.

Listen to the album on Deezer.

### Babes in Toyland (1986)

A ***made-for-television version***, that aired on December 19, 1986, featured Drew Barrymore, Pat Morita and Keanu Reeves, only two songs from the Victor Herbert score, a new plot, and many new songs by Leslie Bricusse.

#### Plot Summary

11-year-old Lisa (Barrymore) has no time for toys; she's too busy taking care of her siblings and cooking for her mother. During the Christmas Eve blizzard, Lisa travels to Toyland in Wizard of Oz-like fashion and arrives just in time for a wedding. Young Mary Contrary (Jill Schoelen) is about to marry mean, old Barnaby Barnacle (Richard Mulligan), despite the fact that she loves Jack Be Nimble (Reeves). Lisa tries to stop this terrible wedding and, together with her new friends, discovers that Barnaby wants to take over Toyland. Lisa, Mary, Jack, and Georgie Porgie (Googy Gress) ask the Toymaster (Morita) for help, but he can't help them as long as Lisa doesn't truly believe in toys.

### Babes in Toyland (1997)

An ***animated film version***, with a new plot and only one of the original songs, was released on October 14, 1997 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer featuring the voices of Christopher Plummer, James Belushi, Bronson Pinchot and Lacey Chabert.

#### Plot Summary

It's 2 days before Christmas, and the Toyland Toy Factory has just received its biggest order ever. But the evil Barnaby (Plummer), who doesn't believe in toys, has plans to shut the factory down and spoil the holiday for everyone, with his henchmen, Rodrigo (Pinchot) and Gonzargo (Belushi). Now it's up to Toyland's most recent arrivals, young Jack (Joseph Ashton) & his sister Jill (Chabert), to help their newfound friends Tom Piper (Raphael Sbarge), Mary Lamb (Cathy Cavadini), Humpty Dumpty (Charles Nelson Reilly), and the rest of Toyland stop Barnaby's plot and save Christmas! IMDb.com