March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)

Opposing the evil Barnaby, Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try and fail to pay-off Mother Peep's mortgage and mislead his attempts to marry Little Bo. Enraged, Barnaby's boogeymen are set on Toyland.

Directors:

Gus Meins, Charley Rogers (as Charles Rogers)

Writers:

Frank Butler (screen play), Nick Grinde (screen play)

Stars:

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Virginia Karns

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Virginia Karns	...	Mother Goose
Charlotte Henry	...	Bo-Peep
Felix Knight	...	Tom-Tom
Florence Roberts	...	Widow Peep
Henry Brandon	...	Barnaby (as Henry Kleinbach)
Stan Laurel	...	Stannie Dum
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie Dee

Storyline

Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby into marrying Stanley Dum instead of Bo Peep. Enraged, Barnaby unleashes the bogeymen from their caverns to destroy Toyland.

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Plot Keywords:

toy soldier | toy maker | forced marriage | sheep | fairy tale land | 

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Taglines:

1 and 1/2 hours of laughter!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

March of the Wooden Soldiers

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min 73 min (re-release) (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hal Roach and Walt Disney were good friends, and it paid off for Roach in this picture. Roach asked to borrow the tune "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" from a Disney cartoon of the previous year, and Disney obliged.

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Goofs

As the wooden soldiers approach the Boogey men, Barnaby is holding Bo Peep in his arms, but when they fire the cannon shot that knocks him down, she is gone.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Chief of Police: Come, come, children. On your way to school.

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Crazy Credits

The titles appear on a child's toy building block that falls into position onscreen.

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Alternate Versions

The film was restored and colorized for TV showings and video release in 1991 by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. In 2006, the complete print was restored and colorized by Legend Films, using the latest technology. Although the Legend Films release was advertised under its reissue title, both the color and black and white prints featured the original title and opening credits. Both colorized versions correctly depict Stan's hair as being red, not medium brown as it appears in other colorized Laurel and Hardy movies.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

The Ku-Ku Song
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by Marvin Hatley
Played by the orchestra over first opening credit

User Reviews

A Dreamland Journey- -You Can Come Back Again

Babes in Toyland was the first movie I saw on a big screen- -a holiday presentation in my grammar school auditorium, circa 1957- -uncut, unlike the many subsequent presentations I saw on TV in after years. I fell in love with Stan and Ollie, with Toyland, with the magic of the movies, all at once- -all of us watching laughed and thrilled to see all of the characters we had heard of in nursery rhymes come to life- -even the Three Little Pigs (with "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" on the soundtrack, courtesy of Uncle Walt Disney's studio!)- -we trembled with ecstatic terror at Silas Barnaby and his army of Bogeymen and cheered the house down when Stan and Ollie discovered the Perfect way to rout them and save the day!- -and yes, many of us, watching Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight as Bo-Peep and her plucky suitor Tom-Tom (the Piper's Son), found awakening within ourselves the realization of what romantic love might be about.- -and Stan and Ollie?- -a funny, wonderful duo, children like ourselves, joyously silly and giddily amazing. I dreamt of Toyland that night, and many nights after- -sweet dreams, scarey dreams, dreams of Ollie and Stannie as wonderful friends- -and once I woke crying, realizing that once I was grown up, Toyland would fade to a distant memory. Well, I was wrong. You can go back to Toyland, that Childhood's Dreamland, any time you watch this movie. I love it. You may, too. Note: current video versions are mostly also uncut, some are colorized, which in this instance (perhaps the only one)improves the presentation!