Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure

***Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure*** is a 1977 American live-action/animated musical fantasy film directed by Richard Williams, produced by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, a publishing arm of ITT, and released theatrically by 20th Century Fox. It was loosely adapted from a 1924 novel by Johnny Gruelle. The film's last official release was on VHS in 1993, but fans have restored it in 4K definition.

This was not the characters' first animated outing. In 1941, a 17-minute short film had previously established Raggedy Ann and Andy, plus Raggedy Ann went on to appear in two more Fleischer shorts, *Suddenly It's Spring* and *The Enchanted 'Square*.

## Plot

Raggedy Ann is the beloved doll of Marcella, along with her brother Raggedy Andy and a whole nursery full of colorful toys. Whenever Marcella leaves the room, the dolls come to life. On Marcella's seventh birthday, a new doll named Babette arrives from Paris, France. Babette is a spoiled girl who is unaware she is a doll, but the friendly Raggedy Ann does everything she can to make Babette feel at home. Soon, however, Captain Contagious, who lives in Marcella's snow globe, becomes smitten with Babette and kidnaps her. Raggedy Ann and Andy set off to try to rescue her before Marcella discovers Babette is gone. Out in the world outside the nursery, the two meet the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees, a blue toy camel who has been cast off by past owners and is now heartbroken and lonely. Raggedy Ann assures him a home with Marcella, and he joins their rescue party.

After Raggedy Ann and Andy hitch a ride on the Camel, he begins to follow hallucinations of a parade of camels ascending to heaven. While he's distracted, he runs over the edge of a cliff into a deep pit. In this pit they encounter the Greedy, a gluttonous, blob-like monster presumably made of taffy, who constantly gorges himself on all manner of confections yet is never full. While singing about the plight of never being happy despite his unending consumption, he reveals that the only thing that could satisfy him is a sweetheart, presumably a romantic partner, but he decides that the candy heart Raggedy Ann has sewn up inside her would do just as well. The Raggedys and the Camel narrowly escape being consumed by the Greedy and continue their journey to find Babette.

While travelling through the woods, they encounter Sir Leonard Looney, a purple knight with a penchant for humiliating gags. He kidnaps the trio to Looney Land, where all the practical gags are. They are then introduced to the court of King Koo Koo, a tiny king who has a part of him expand every time he laughs at someone else. He finds that the trio that has been brought to him do a good job of making him expand overall when they are subjected to Sir Looney's gags. Before the King can find a better use for them, the Raggedys and the Camel escape, leaving King Koo Koo to shrink back down to his regular size. King Koo Koo then decides that the Raggedys will be just what he needs to accomplish what he has been waiting for his entire life: his "Last Laugh." He calls up his cohort Gazooks, a giant green innertube-like sea creature with a massive array of arms, and discusses his plans.

Meanwhile, the Raggedys and the Camel have found a ship and are getting away from Looney Land posthaste. Using a telescope aboard the bizarre little ship, they are able to spot the Captain's pirate vessel and are able to zoom in toward the ship and haul themselves on board. When Babette is finally found, the Raggedys discover that she is no longer in need of rescue. She has in fact charmed the pirate crew, raised a mutiny against Captain Contagious, and has assumed command of the ship, in the ultimate hope of sailing back to Paris. Just then, Koo Koo, with assistance from Gazooks, arrives on the scene, and captures all except Raggedy Ann, Babette, and Queasy, the Captain's faithful parrot, who decides that the King should "blow up!"

King Koo Koo, who had been eavesdropping on Raggedy Ann and Babette, has them quickly subjected to tickle torture, while Queasy rockets towards the massive balloon that King Koo Koo has become. King Koo Koo, who now dominates the horizon, celebrates his enormous size and finally getting the last laugh. Queasy flies into King Koo Koo's butt beak-first, like a pin into a balloon, causing him to explode.

The massive detonation of King Koo Koo causes an intense burst of light, and the Raggedys and the Camel are seen spinning around in a wormhole before the screen goes dark. They are then discovered the next day, along with Babette and the Captain, in a small pond outside. Marcella brings her toys back in, missing the Camel who is buried in a pile of leaves. Later that evening, after a humbled Babette apologizes to Raggedy Ann for her earlier behavior and begins a relationship with Captain Contagious, the Camel crawls up to the window; Raggedy Ann and her friends let him in, and he realizes he has finally found home. Marcella finds the Camel among her dear toy friends, and while she is at first puzzled by his appearance in her room, she embraces him and accepts him as her own.

## Musical Numbers

1. "Main Title" – Rag Dolly
2. "Where'd You Go?" – Twin Penny Dolls
3. "I Look, And What Do I See?" – Raggedy Ann and the dolls in the nursery
4. "I'm No Girl's Toy" – Raggedy Andy and the dolls in the nursery
5. "Rag Dolly" – Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy and the dolls in the nursery
6. "Poor Babette" – Babette
7. "A Miracle" – Captain and the Parrot
8. "The Abduction & Ho-Yo" – Captain, Parrot and the Pirates
9. "Really Scary!" - Twin Penny Dolls
10. "Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers" – Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy
11. "Blue" – The Camel
12. "Camel's Mirage" – The Camel and the Camels in the Sky
13. "I Never Get Enough" – The Greedy
14. "I Love You" – The Loonie Knight
15. "Hail to Our Glorious King!" – The Loonies
16. "It's Not Easy Being King" – King Koo Koo
17. "Hooray For Me" – Babette and the Pirates
18. "You're My Friend" – Captain and the Parrot
19. "The Plot Thickens" – The entire cast and the Gazooks
20. "The Tickling and the Last Laugh" – The King, et al.
21. "Home" – Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, The Camel, et al.

## Cast

* Claire Williams as Marcella
* Joe Raposo (*uncredited*) as the Bus Driver

## Production

The film was produced by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, a book publisher attempting to expand at animation. After attempts to pitch the film to Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. failed, the movie would end up finding distribution with 20th Century Fox. The film was originally directed by Abe Levitow, but after his death, animator Richard Williams would take over as director. Like many of Williams' projects, the movie went over budget as Williams would repeatedly clash with the producers over character development and the multitude of musical numbers composed by Joe Raposo of *Sesame Street* fame, causing Williams to be dropped from the project so the film could be completed on time. In the end, the film was a box office failure, with critics pointing to its lack of focus plot wise and weak characterization, particularly of its protagonists, as Ann and Andy actually received less development than most of the new characters introduced. The film's making was chronicled in John Canemaker's book "*The Animated Raggedy Ann & Andy*."

## Release

Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure was released in theaters April 1st, 1977. It was first released for home video in 1982 on the CED Videodisk, VHS, and Betamax. It would receive later VHS re-releases in 1985 and 1992.

A Musical Adventure on the CED.Back side

## External Links

* IMDb
* Wikipedia
* Cartoonist Profiles - March 1977 (Tissa David)
* Cartoonist Profiles - June 1977 (Grim Natwick)
* Cartoonist Profiles - September 1977