Babes in Toyland is one of my favorite Christmas movies. The music and the dancing are so fun and the toy battle at the end is neat to watch. I’ve seen the movie dozens of times and never tire of it. So when I found out that today is the 50th anniversary of Babes in Toyland I had to spread the word. If you get a chance, rent it this season, set out a plate of cookies, pass around the egg nog, and enjoy a holiday favorite.
Mary Quite Contrary is celebrating her engagement to Tom, the Piper’s son. What they don’t know is that when Mary marries she inherits a fortune. Evil Barnaby knows this and so he sets out to marry her himself. He steels her sheep and kidnaps Tom. When that plot fails he follows them to Toyland and then, using a shrinking gun on Tom, convinces Mary to marry him. While they are having the ceremony Tom, now toy size, battles Barnaby using all the toys in Toyland. Doesn’t sound very Christmas-like, does it? Well, the best part of the movie is that is takes place just days before Christmas and the toymaker of Toyland needs all the help he can get or else children won’t have any toy at Christmas. This movie is sure to bring smiles to everyone.
To give you a taste of the fun I have included a couple of clips from the movie, courtesy of YouTube. The scene with the trees is my favorite song in the movie and the battle is just fun to watch. The movie has so many of my favorite Disney actors, including Annette Funicello as Mary Quite Contrary, and a young Ann Jillian as Little Bo Peep (and yes, she loses her sheep).
Goofy Trivia: Have you ever seen the lifesize wooden soldiers in Christmas Disney parades or in the Disney Christmas shows on TV? They are characters from Babes in Toyland. Classic Christmas characters from a classic Christmas movie. Happiness squared.