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I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Mother Goose and her puppet goose Sylvester introduces a stage performance of the many children story characters. Tom (Tommy Sands) and Mary (Annette Funicello) are planning to get married. Tom is the son of the Piper and Mary is from "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary". Barnaby (Ray Bolger) intends to marry Mary and steal her money. He recruits petty criminals Gonzorgo and Roderigo to throw Tom into the sea and steal Mary's sheep. Gonzorgo has the idea to sell Tom to the gypsies to make money twice. Bo Beep (Ann Jillian) brings news that the sheep have gone. Mary is out of options and is forced to marry Barnaby until Tom suddenly returns with the gypsies. Meanwhile, Bo Beep leads the kids to the Forest of No Return to find her sheep. Tom and Mary go to save the children. The talking trees allow them to go to the Toymaker.This Technicolor fantasy has all the bright colors in the rainbow. It insists on being cheery despite following so much the villains. Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello are not particularly compelling. Funicello is darn cute but has limitations in her acting. The songs are cheery. This has that cutesy Disney charm but it does not really stand the test of time. It has enough wackiness for kids of that era and this should have an appeal due to its nostalgia.

Babes in Toyland may not be a "great" film, but it does have a lot of charms, well at least for me it did. The direction is at times lacking in pizazz and comes across as stodgy, making the film drag a bit in the less eventful parts. The story is rather thin, sometimes uneventful which bogs the pace down(but this is not in the entire film), and while Tommy Sands does have moments where he shines like in his gypsy drag scene at other points he's dull. Babes in Toyland looks colourful and the production values are simple and very pretty. Victor Herbert's score is a very pleasant one, it's not one of his greatest scores but it has songs that are both melodious and catchy. The choreography is light-on-its-feet and enough to tap the toes, so there is some liveliness to be had. The story is nothing really special, but there is a wonderful weirdness and wondrous fantasy atmosphere. That can especially be seen in the March of the Wooden Toy Soldiers sequence, which is the prime example of where you can find the film's clever special effects. There are some nice funny moments, and some slapstick(from personal perspective it wasn't that misplaced though it did have a Laurel and Hardy feel) and a lot of heart-warming charm. Don't expect fully developed characters, particularly with Tom and Mary, but they're hardly shallow either, the most colourful of them are Barnaby and the Toymaker. The performances are entertaining. Annette Funicello is a beauty and gives a charming performance, Ann Jillian doesn't have much to do but shows off her beautiful singing voice and child stars Kevin Cocoran and Tommy Kirk pop up too and are similarly appealing. The best of the lot go to Ed Wynn and particularly Ray Bolger. Wynn is both zany and warm-hearted, some of the film's most entertaining moments are with him. With Bolger, when you think of him you don't usually think of him playing a villain, but he does here and is delightfully wicked and seems to be having fun without over-compensating. In conclusion, as far as Disney live-action musicals Babes in Toyland is not as good as Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks and lacks both films' magic, but it is still a nice fun film that shouldn't demand too much. 7/10 Bethany Cox

It was sixty years since Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough's magical musical for kids premiered on Broadway when this version came out and now it's nearly 50 years since the film was in theaters. It doesn't rank up with the one that Laurel&Hardy did in the Thirties. For one thing the Victor Herbert score was cut, but not added to. Secondly Stan and Ollie were the center of things even though they are supporting characters. That in itself made their March Of The Wooden Soldiers memorable.Still this version that Disney did featured several of his stable of young stars like Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands as the young lovers of Toyland who want to wed. But evil Barnaby reprised in this version by Ray Bolger is going to put a stop to that. He's got designs on Annette's virtue and more important on the inheritance he knows she will get upon her wedding day. Bolger is having a great old time hamming it up as Barnaby.Stan and Ollie are saluted by Disney with Gene Sheldon and Henry Calvin, fresh from the Zorro series. They're funny, but are clearly relegated to supporting players as Bolger's inept stooges. As Stan Laurel was still alive when Babes In Toyland was in the theaters, I've often wondered what he thought of Sheldon and Calvin.Tommy Kirk who was barely out of his teens got a real treat to work with one of the great funny men of all time. Babes In Toyland is a great example for those of us to see the zany humor in the character of Ed Wynn as the Toymaker with Kirk as his assistant. The two of them work very well together.Even Tommy Sands gets into the humor of things when he dons an outrageous gypsy drag persona to foil one of Bolger's schemes. A scheme that goes awry when Calvin and Sheldon don't precisely obey orders. You just can't get good help, even in Toyland.I even think Victor Herbert would have approved of the way his numbers were done though he probably would not like the Disney interpolations that were made. He was a stickler for such things in his life.Viewing March Of The Wooden Soldiers back to back with Babes In Toyland doesn't make this version look inferior by any means.

It's a 1960s Disney Musical, I should not have to say more than this about the movie.It's great for kids, unfortunately.I remember seeing it, and liking it as a kid - and got it for my 3 yr old daughter.My wife hates me for it. Not that the movie is that horrible - but my daughter is in love with Tommy Sands and wants to watch this movie every night.My wife even took my daughter to the library and checked out kids movies - she was excited until she got home, and just said she wanted to watch Tom and Mary (The names of the main actors in the movie) If you have little kids - they'll love it. You might even enjoy it some yourself - until it's overplayed.