The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)

Milo is a boy who is bored with life. One day he comes home to find a toll booth in his room. Having nothing better to do, he gets in his toy car and drives through - only to emerge in a world full of adventure.

Directors:

Chuck Jones, Abe Levitow

Writers:

Chuck Jones (screenplay), Sam Rosen (screenplay)

Stars:

Butch Patrick, Hans Conried, Mel Blanc

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Butch Patrick	...	Milo
Mel Blanc	...	Officer Short Shrift / Dodecahedron / Demon of Insincerity (voice)
Daws Butler	...	Whether Man / Senses Taker / Terrible Trivium / Gelatinous Giant (voice)
Candy Candido	...	Awful DYNN (voice)
Hans Conried	...	King Azaz / The MathemaGician (voice)
June Foray	...	Ralph / Faintly Macabre / Princess of Pure Reason (voice)
Patti Gilbert	...	Princess of Sweet Rhyme (voice)
Shepard Menken	...	Spelling Bee / Chroma The Great (voice) (as Shep Menken)
Cliff Norton	...	Kakofonous A. Dischord / Tollbooth Speaker (voice)
Larry Thor	...	Tock The Watchdog (voice)
Les Tremayne	...	Humbug (voice)

Storyline

Milo is a boy who is bored with life. One day he comes home to find a toll booth in his room. Having nothing better to do, he gets in his toy car and drives through - only to emerge in a world full of adventure.

---

Plot Keywords:

part live action | flight | child driving a car | close up of eyes | live action animated hybrid | 

---

Taglines:

It's an Alphabeautiful Mathemagical New Musical Movie!

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

---

Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was actually made in 1967-8 but due to MGM's financial problems and frequently changing management, the film was not heavily promoted. When it was finally released in 1970, the studio only exhibited it for matinees on weekends for two weeks, and it was not a box office success.

---

Goofs

When Faintly McCabre offers Milo and Tock some cookies, Tock eats all of them, yet in the next shot they are back.

---

Quotes

Awful DYNN: [singing] Did you ever hear an elephant tap-dance on a tin roof late at night? / That's noise, beautiful noise! / Did you ever hear a centipede crying because his shoes don't fit him right? / That's noise, beautiful noise! / Did you ever hear a hungry dinosaur hiccup on a windy day? / Did you ever hear a nervous butterfly nibble on a cheese soufflé?

---

Crazy Credits

The opening credits, set immediately after the prologue, revolves around Milo (Butch Patrick) walking from school into various places before he heads home. The text is white, upper-cased and hand-written, while the title itself is purple and in two lines, with the "THE" at the top-left position.

---

Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Being from Another Planet (1992)

---

Soundtracks

Milo's Song
(1969)
Music by Lee Pockriss
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Performed by the Cast

User Reviews

An interesting mix of numbers and words!The animation was decent!!

This movie is about a boy named milo. He is very bored with his life. One day , he comes home to discover a giant package in his bedroom . Milo then goes on a magical journey to rescue "rhyme and reason" . They are royalty of the two kingdoms of words and numbers. Along the way, Milo picks up a few friends to help him in his task. They eventually save "rhyme and reason" . Milo then goes home to a happier life. The animatiin was about the type of the Chuch Jone's "Looney Tunes". There is a segment with milo checking out the tollboth as a human and animated!!!This movie is fine for families, just do not expect any of the disney stuff they see all the time nowadays!!!!It has no swearing, violence or sex, so everyone under 10 can enjoy this classic underated movie!!!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1972 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Phantom Tollbooth

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chuck Jones Enterprises, MGM Animation/Visual Arts, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1