Babes in Toyland (1961) - Dec. 11, 2012

[zackisthewalrus]

Babes in Toyland Blu-ray

Special Features not yet announced.

[bluskies]

I liked this when I was a kid but saw it in the last couple of years and it was pretty terrible...but I will buy it, LOL. Thanks, OP.

[zafisher94]

I've never seen this, but I'll be blind buying. I love Disney movies, and I love Christmas movies. Seems like a win to me.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by bluskies

I liked this when I was a kid but saw it in the last couple of years and it was pretty terrible...but I will buy it, LOL. Thanks, OP.

One documentary pointed out that this was their first live-action musical, and looked like it was made on the Mickey Mouse Club sets--
Three years later, the studio was making Mary Poppins...Quite the difference!

(And even though neither Disney or Laurel & Hardy got the original Victor Herbert musical right...there's just something even farther removed from the original that grates--Although it's good to see Henry Calvin and Gene Sheldon from "Zorro" actually playing Laurel & Hardy this time.)

[Adam_WM]

Keanu Reeves - Babes in Toyland (the song) (1986) - YouTube

KEANU OR NO SALE. LOL

[Donnie D]

I remember watching this on the telly as a kid.

[Show spoiler]The scene that I love and scared me was when the people got shrunk.

I hope the blu-ray will be better than the DVD release.

[Arkadin]

Holy crap--an older Disney live action release!!!
OMG!!!
could Disney finally be coming to their senses after a 6 year wait??
I don't want to get my hopes up, but this seems to be a very good sign.
(dreams of parent trap, swiss family robinson, pollyanna, old yeller, etc. etc.)

[Chloenator]

Originally Posted by Adam_WM

Keanu Reeves - Babes in Toyland (the song) (1986) - YouTube

KEANU OR NO SALE. LOL

Dude! I actually prefer the 1986 version of Babes in Toyland over the 1961 version. I would totally buy it on Blu-ray!

[Adam_WM]

Originally Posted by Fragile Line

Dude! I actually prefer the 1986 version of Babes in Toyland over the 1961 version. I would totally buy it on Blu-ray!

I have an odd nostalgia for it, although I'm sure it's terrible if I watch it now. On a positive note, I can always spell Cincinnati because of it.

[CinemaScope]

I have happy memories of seeing this in the cinema when I was ten, I might buy the Blu for old times sake. I'll see what the reviews say.

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by Donnie D

I hope the blu-ray will be better than the DVD release.

I absolutely LOVE this movie...probably because I love Annette. If you are of a certain age, Annette was the first girl you fell in love with.*

When the DVD was released several years ago, I was crushed to discover it was a plain 4x3 transfer. I didn't buy it. Based on the fact that the DVD was 4x3 full screen SD, we can safely assume that the Blu-ray will be much better.

*Ironically, growing up in Canada in a city with two TV stations, I saw the Mickey Mouse Club in reruns in the mid-1960's; almost 10 years after the original airing in the U.S.. Of course, I had no idea that these were reruns. For me, they were new shows. So, like every other boy on the continent, I fell in love with Annette...but 10 years AFTER everyone else!

[Frightener22]

Never had the chance to see this so this will be a welcome addition to my Disney collection, just in time for the holidays too.

[The Mad Kiwi]

I can't help but like this film even though I know it's got a lot of issues. If the transfer is done right, it should look beautiful. I'm assuming this will be a barebones release? You would think Disney would at least put the "Backstage Party" episode from The Wonderful World of Color on this.

[Crimson King]

my fave is the Laurel and Hardy version

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

Holy crap--an older Disney live action release!!!
OMG!!!
could Disney finally be coming to their senses after a 6 year wait??

No, they just needed a Christmas mass-market title, and had run out of Santa Buddies sequels.
Cheap up-dump of the 1-disk DVD (with the Walt TV special), but I know which of the two I'd prefer, and hopefully it'll get them on the horse for live-action.

Originally Posted by Fragile Line

Dude! I actually prefer the 1986 version of Babes in Toyland over the 1961 version. I would totally buy it on Blu-ray!

So...you like the "Out of season local amusement park" version over the version done with actual sets and stars who didn't need the post-rehab work?

No: You REMEMBER the 80's Irwin Allen version more clearly because it was the first one you saw, let's not start getting "Like" or "Prefer" into it.
And so help me, the first person who mentions the Allen "Alice in Wonderland"...

(I remember my sister always asking me where she could find that cheap 70's TV-movie version of "The Thief of Baghdad" on tape, and was disappointed when I showed her the 40's Technicolor Criterion version. Don't think that's not the exact same psychological factor we're talking about here.
And for that matter, the Disney Toyland was the first version I ever saw, on the old Disney Channel, so there.)

[The Mad Kiwi]

Originally Posted by EricJ

So...you like the "Out of season local amusement park" version over the version done with actual sets and stars who didn't need the post-rehab work?

No: You REMEMBER the 80's Irwin Allen version more clearly because it was the first one you saw, let's not start getting "Like" or "Prefer" into it.
And so help me, the first person who mentions the Allen "Alice in Wonderland"...

Umm, I'm sorry, but who are you to tell him what he likes or how he likes it? I have a friend in her mid-20s who loves that version, and she didn't see it till maybe a year or two ago. Pompous, much?

And before you label me as another deluded fan, I don't care for Allen's version at all. I do, however, love his Alice miniseries, and I saw that well after the Disney animated film. Hey, you mentioned it first.

[rexxriot]

Originally Posted by EricJ

No, they just needed a Christmas mass-market title, and had run out of Santa Buddies sequels.
Cheap up-dump of the 1-disk DVD (with the Walt TV special), but I know which of the two I'd prefer, and hopefully it'll get them on the horse for live-action.

Nope, we're getting both Babes in Toyland and a new Santa Buddies sequel this year. Disney must really love us. (BTW, I almost typed Satan Buddies. Now that might be a movie I'd want to see.)

[Ernest Rister]

Watching the Mickey Mouse Club episodes available on DVD and Walt's TV productions helps to put the Babes in Toyland film in perspective. It's essentially a "Mickey Mouse Club" Christmas movie, and that's how I approach it when I view it. It's not trying to equal an Arthur Freed MGM musical, it's just using the talent and resources available to make a Christmas romp, with some *really* fun stop motion animation from X Atencio for the climax. And Bolger is aces in it. It also includes some wonderful songs -- some of which have been covered by later musicians in other projects that are a joy in their own right.

If you're on I*Tunes, Check out "Forest of No Return" covered by Sun Ra and his Intergalctic Arkestra, and "Castle in Spain" covered by Buster Poindexter. Lots of fun.

This BRD will be a day one purchase for me.

[PuppyJonathan]

will this be the first classic live action film from Disney on bluray?

[zackisthewalrus]

Originally Posted by PuppyJonathan

will this be the first classic live action film from Disney on bluray?

It'll be the first one from when Walt was alive, yes.