Babes in Toyland (1934)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Gus Meins
Charley Rogers

Writers:

Frank Butler (dialogue)
Nick Grinde (dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

14 December 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

1 and 1/2 hours of laughter!

Plot:

Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage...

Plot Keywords:

Forced Marriage | Lifting Person In Air | Stop Motion | King | Wedding

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stannie Dum
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie Dee
Charlotte Henry	...	Little Bo-Peep
Felix Knight	...	Tom-Tom Piper
Henry Brandon	...	Silas Barnaby (as Henry Kleinbach)
Florence Roberts	...	Mother Widow Peep
Virginia Karns	...	Mother Goose
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Alexander	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Richard Alexander	...	King's Guard (uncredited)
Frank Austin	...	Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Eddie Baker	...	Dunker (uncredited)
Scotty Beckett	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Georgie Billings	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Charles Bimbo	...	Jack in the Box (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher	...	Chief of Police (uncredited)
Eddie Borden	...	Demon Bogeyman (uncredited)
Carl R. Botefuhr	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Buster Brodie	...	Jack in the Box (uncredited)
Anne Brown	...	Sally Waters (uncredited)
Tommy Bupp	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Bobby Burns	...	Townsman (uncredited)
William Burress	...	The Toy Maker (uncredited)
Ricardo Lord Cezon	...	Baby in Tree Top (uncredited)
Russell Coles	...	Tom Tucker (uncredited)
Zebedy Colt	...	Third Little Pig (uncredited)
Baldwin Cooke	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Ellen Corby	...	Townswoman at Tom-Tom's Trial (uncredited)
Alice Dahl	...	Little Miss Muffett (uncredited)
Jean Darling	...	Curly Locks (uncredited)
Charles Dorety	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Johnny Downs	...	Little Boy Blue (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Marianne Edwards	...	Schoolgirl (uncredited)
John George	...	Barnaby's Minion (uncredited)
Sumner Getchell	...	Little Jack Horner (uncredited)
Pete Gordon	...	Cat and the Fiddle (uncredited)
Charlie Hall	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Hill	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Fred Holmes	...	Balloon Man (uncredited)
Robert Hoover	...	Bobby Shaftoe (uncredited)
Payne B. Johnson	...	First Little Pig (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Ham Kinsey	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Alice Lake	...	Townswoman (uncredited)
Gus Leonard	...	Candle Snuffer (uncredited)
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Arthur Lovejoy	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Sam Lufkin	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Scotty Mattraw	...	Town Crier (uncredited)
Alice Moore	...	Queen of Hearts (uncredited)
Kewpie Morgan	...	Old King Cole (uncredited)
Ferdinand Munier	...	Santa Claus (uncredited)
Margaret Nearing	...	Townswoman (uncredited)
Bob O'Connor	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Richard Powell	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Raymond	...	Demon Bogeyman (uncredited)
Charley Rogers	...	Simple Simon (uncredited)
Angelo Rossitto	...	Second Little Pig / 1st sandman in cave (uncredited)
Tiny Sandford	...	Dunker (uncredited)
Margaret Seddon	...	Widow Piper (uncredited)
Jacqueline Taylor	...	Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Jerry Tucker	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
May Wallace	...	Townswoman (uncredited)
Marie Wilson	...	Mary Quite Contrary (uncredited)
John Wood	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Joy Wurgaft	...	Schoolgirl (uncredited)

Directed by
Gus Meins
Charley Rogers		(as Charles Rogers)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frank Butler		dialogue
Nick Grinde		dialogue
Victor Herbert		operetta "March of the Wooden Soldiers"
Stan Laurel		uncredited
Glen MacDonough		operetta "March of the Wooden Soldiers"
Hal Roach		uncredited

Produced by
Hal Roach	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Victor Herbert

Cinematography by
Francis Corby
Art Lloyd

Film Editing by
Bert Jordan
William H. Terhune		(as William Terhune)

Makeup Department
James Collins	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chet Brandenburg	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Gordon Douglas	....	first assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ed Brandenburg	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Elmer Raguse	....	sound recording engineer

Special Effects by
Thomas Benton Roberts	....	special effects (uncredited)
Roy Seawright	....	special photographic effects: the wooden soldiers marching segment (uncredited)

Stunts
Ham Kinsey	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Roach	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Harry Jackson	....	musical director
Marvin Hatley	....	composer: Laurel and Hardy theme (uncredited)
John Swallow	....	co-musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Hal Roach	....	presenter
Henry Ginsberg	....	studio manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Hal Roach Studios

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Screen Guild Productions (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Passport International Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• BIFO/Splendid (????) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Genius Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• GoodTimes Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Independent United (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Koch Vision (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Legend Films (2006) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Legend Films (2008) (USA) (DVD) (restored edition)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Orion Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VellaVisión (2007) (Spain) (DVD)
• Video Dimensions (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Legend Films  colorization
• Legend Films  restoration

Also Known As:

Laurel and Hardy in Toyland
March of the Wooden Soldiers (USA) (reissue title)
Revenge Is Sweet
Wooden Soldiers

Runtime:

77 min | USA:73 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Spain:T | USA:Approved (PCA #401) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

The six minutes formerly missing from the film have been restored on some prints and can be seen in the version shown on cable channel AMC. They include the song "Go To Sleep," a beautifully photographed sequence in the underground caves.

Goofs:

Continuity: The three little pigs are in their nightgowns - like everyone else in Toy Land - when Stan and Ollie return with Tom Tom and Bo-Peep. When the three little pigs close the blinds to their houses when the bogeymen are attacking, two of them are shown with their regular clothes on. Eventually they are seen with their nightgowns again when Toy Land is fighting the bogeymen.

Quotes:

[Stannie nibbles on pig sausage evidence]
Stannie Dum: It doesn't taste like pig sausage to me, it tastes like pork.
Ollie Dee: [Taking bite] Why this isn't pig nor pork. It's beef. I smell a rat.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Married with Children: A Babe in Toyland (#11.18)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Castle In Spain

A personal holiday favorite

I am a huge Laurel and Hardy fan, and while this may not be considered one of their great feature length films, I love to get this out for the December holidays. After the rest of the family watches "Wonderful Life", "Scrooge" and the Nutcracker, I pull this out and laugh until I cry. The only link to the holiday is the use of the "March of the Soldiers" music - but that's enough for me. Stan Laurel's ingenious battle tactics just send me into a fit.