Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

classicsoncall Funny, even though Laurel and Hardy are in this film, I don't think of it first as a Laurel and Hardy movie. It has all those memorable nursery rhyme characters in it that have a certain resonance for kids growing up in an earlier time, and I think that's part of the magic the picture has to offer. Charlotte Henry is just as enchanting in this story as she was as the title character in the prior year's "Alice in Wonderland". Here she has a romantic partner in Tom-Tom Piper (Felix Knight), while fending off the lecherous advances of the evil Silas Barnaby (Henry Brandon). With Stannie Dumb and Ollie Dee on the case, you just know that the bad guy will be foiled in his attempt to foreclose on the Widow Peep's (Florence Roberts) mortgage.You know, I was kind of amazed with Stan Laurel's hand/eye coordination whenever he took up with his pee-wee craze. It's more than evident when it comes time to battle Barnaby's Bogeymen near the story's finale. With Stan batting a thousand during the dart attack, I had to wonder why he never made it as a big league baseball player. It seems he couldn't miss! Like a handful of other reviewers, I first came by this picture when it went by the name of "March of the Wooden Soldiers", and yes, I too remember when it was a staple offering on Thanksgiving Day in the New York television market, way before the age of cable. It's another one of those films that brings back a sense of nostalgia for a simpler time when life wasn't so hectic, even if Stan and Ollie made it seem that way. With any luck, kids will be catching this entertaining film for a long time to come.

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.

tavm While I think I previously watched several segments of this movie over the years, this might have been my first time watching the thing in its entirety. In summary, this was quite an enjoyable film, both as a Laurel & Hardy comedy and as a dramatic tale of the plight of the loving couple Tom-Tom (Felix Knight) and Bo-Peep (Charlotte Henry) and the villainous Barnaby's (Henry Kleinbach i.e. Brandon) attempts to marry the latter. And seeing Walt Disney's Three Little Pigs and Mickey Mouse (in costume form for those characters) was also a hoot to watch here. Really, in all my child-like wonder, I actually find this version of Babes in Toyland something really well worth seeing even in this more possibly cynical age we all seem to live in. So, yes, that's a high recommendation. P.S. I noticed a couple of times whenever Stan & Ollie point to something, they use the middle finger but the scenes are so brief and they're so innocent that I don't think they have any real malice when they do that. And their accidentally kissing each other also has no deeper meaning other than to get a laugh.

johnstonjames I know, I know. everyone will debate this till the end of time. at least lovers of Toyland will. the scrooges won't give a d---. but I happen to love Victor Herbert and try to collect all the versions of Toyland I can. I even have the old kinescope live TV broadcast from the 50's presented by Oldsmobile, and the Shirley Temple version. The only one I won't touch is the Barrymore,Reeves version from the 80's. I'll leave that to the terminally unimaginative and people who really don't care if Toyland property values decline.I consider myself a real Toyland fan and I seem to prefer calling this 'March of Wooden Soldiers'. it gives it a independent feel and after all that is the name of Herbert's music. so why not. I love this movie and I love Toyland. I hope Toyland fans will keep fighting the boogey scrooges who hate Toyland because they lashed out the week of December 2009 by purposely giving the Toyland films low ratings so they would go down in popularity on IMDb.I checked. They even rated the kinescope version which is unlikely they even saw that one. luckily these scrooged-out boogey creeps don't know all the versions because they missed the Shirley Temple one.they mostly went after the Disney,the Hal Roach,and for some reason the kinescope classic. i guess that is called cyber scrooging or something.you can't trust anyone these days.