Babes in Toyland (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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

1 and 1/2 hours of laughter!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

---

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

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 signed Henry Brandon to play Barnaby after seeing him play the evil old Lawyer Cribbs in the long-running Los Angeles stage melodrama "The Drunkard". Roach wasn't aware that Brandon was only twenty-one years old at the time, and demanded to know where the old man was when Brandon appeared at his office. Heavy makeup made Brandon credible as the old Barnaby, a role he repeated in the Our Gang short Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937).

---

Goofs

During the scene in which Ollie pushes Stannie into the ducking pond. Stannie at first holds a half loaf of bread. When Stannie is first seen in the water and stands up there is no bread in the water. The scene cuts to Ollie and then back to Stannie. When the scene comes back to Stannie in the water the bread is seen floating in the water.

---

Quotes

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

---

Crazy Credits

(main title of re-release version) March of the Wooden Soldiers formerly Babes in Toyland

---

Connections

References The Devil's Brother (1933)

---

Soundtracks

March of the Toys
(1903) (uncredited)
Music by Victor Herbert
Played by orchestra

User Reviews

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.