TheLittleSongbird A Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy classic, and a great sentimental favourite. Whether Babes in Toyland is among their best is up for debate but when it comes to personal favourites of theirs Babes in Toyland is very high up. Of the four films with the title Babes in Toyland, this is by far and away the best and the only great one. The others being the 1961 Disney film, which is decent but one of their lesser live-action musicals, the 1986 Drew Barrymore/Keanu Reeves film which had its moments but most of it was pretty messy and the 1997 animated film which as I recall was only okay but a re-watch is due asap. Laurel and Hardy certainly don't disappoint. Their antics and jokes are a sheer delight, corny at times but in an endearing way, and they look so animated. And thankfully they don't swamp the supporting cast. Henry Brandon is particularly good and sinister as the villain Barnaby, and Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight are charming with wonderful singing voices, thankfully they don't drag things down which is a tendency with star-struck lover roles and subplots. William Burress is winning as the kindly toy-maker too, if not quite as memorable as Ed Wynn in the Disney version. The costume and set design are colourful and brings the inner child within you, like a fantasy world that you don't want to leave. The photography is equally nice and the effects have their acceptable charms, by today's standards they're not all that cheap. Victor Herbert's score and songs are not among his best but they are pleasant and memorable, the incidental scoring has the right amount of whimsy and Toyland and March of the Wooden Soldiers are deservedly the highlights of the songs. The dialogue is tight with plenty of jokes to enjoy, and there is a real sense of joy, fantasy and enchantment in the story that the other Babes in Toyland films don't quite manage, well the Disney film did but the 1986 film didn't. March of the Wooden Soldiers was the highlight and cleverest moment of the Disney film and it is every bit as memorably staged here. The Boogeymen are still frightening now. This version is the best directed by a mile, the film actually goes at a good pace(the Disney film had a few dull stretches while the 1986 film never really came to life as well as being indifferently directed) and is directed by people who clearly knew what they wanted to do and had enthusiasm for it. All in all, timeless for children and for adults. Those who like the operetta will be enchanted and will cherish this as the best version, and even if it is a little different to what Laurel and Hardy usually did even Laurel and Hardy fans can find much to enjoy(some die-hard fans will disagree, just for the record I've always liked Laurel and Hardy a lot). 10/10 Bethany Cox

romanorum1 Old King Cole … Little Miss Muffett … The Cat and the Fiddle … Little Jack Horner … Mother Goose. And Tom-Tom loves teenager Bo-Peep, who keeps losing her sheep. Mother Goose characters inhabit Toyland, as do Stannie Dumb (Stan Laurel) and Ollie Dee (Oliver Hardy). Stan and Ollie are toy makers who rent a room in the shoe of the widow Peep. Meanwhile, creepy landlord Silas Barnaby – played with a relish by Henry Kleinbach (Brandon) – is especially angry because Bo Peep, widow Peek's daughter, has rejected his marriage proposal. The spurned and lecherous Barnaby then comes to evict the Peeps from their shoe house, as he is armed with their overdue mortgage payment. With mean Barnaby it is either marriage with Bo-Peep or eviction. In a blundering way Stan and Ollie try to come to her aid, hoping to borrow the funds from their boss. But they are fired from the toy factory because they messed up Santa Claus' order of 600 toy soldiers one-foot tall. They made 100 soldiers six-feet tall; the soldiers are stored in the toy warehouse.Stan and Ollie again get into trouble as they try to thwart sleazy Barnaby's continuing evil designs; and Ollie is punished by being dunked in the village pond. Yet they are ultimately successful in preventing Barnaby's marriage to Bo-Peep. And they uncover the real kidnapping of Elmer, one of the three pigs, to the schemes of Barnaby (who had blamed Tom-Tom). In revenge Barnaby, all-along in league with the monsters of underground Bogeyland, unleashes his demons against the inhabitants of Toyland. Utilizing their large darts to good advantage, Stan and Ollie are Toyland's prime defenders. But the evil forces make headway, and Barnaby carries Bo-Peep away. Then the boys remember the soldiers, and in a climatic scene enlivened with a rousing musical score . . . Well, watch it and find out. It's worth the time! The Stan and Ollie version of Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland remains unequaled, whether in black and white or colorized. The sets are great, the story entertaining, and the songs nicely done. For those who are young or for those who think young. Recommended.

bkoganbing Given its nature Babes In Toyland unlike most operettas from bygone days will have productions running forever. The Victor Herbert-Glen McDonough music will last forever and productions for Theater companies that specialize in youth will always be putting on this show.Hal Roach put on this one and it starred his two favorite comedy players Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy playing sorcerer's apprentices to the evil Barnaby played by Henry Brandon. Brandon wants to take over Toyland and he's got special designs on Little Bo-Peep played by winsome Charlotte Henry whose other big role was Alice in Alice And Wonderland. Those designs are of the Snidely Whiplash variety.Stan and Ollie play characters and for the most part eschew the normal shtick associated with them. Their characters don't stand out as they are well integrated in the story.The two musical numbers associated with this production are done quite nicely, Toyland and March Of The Wooden Soldiers. The latter is used to great affect in the climax.Walt Disney did a decent production of Babes In Toyland in the Sixties with Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands. But I'll take Stan and Ollie any day for a mystical journey to childhood.

Syl Around this time of year, the local stations would normally show classic holiday films like this one. But in recent years, they have largely been absent from the small screen. Too bad because they're watching every year. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play Stannie Dunn and Ollie Dunn like Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They live in Toyland in the house with the Old Woman who lives in the Shoe and her daughter, Little Bo Peep, whose grown up and loves Tom Tom. When the evil Silas Barnaby threatens to evict the old lady in the shoe, Stannie and Ollie have to come up with a plan to stop it including a wedding ceremony that will leave you laughing and an attack by the bogeymen in Bogeyland where you could be sent to live in exile and survive in the wilds. It's a cute comedy before other classics but I really enjoy watching Laurel and Hardy. I remember watching them on television on the weekends usually Sunday mornings. They were my favorite comic duo of the time.