Christmas DVDs Babes in Toyland (1934 film)Image via Wikipedia

Today I’d like to talk about one of the Christmas DVDs that I personally don’t like very much. Nevertheless it’s a holiday classic.

In the mid-30s a new trend occurred: Laurel and Hardy were put in fantasy, medieval, musical film. Many fans complain about today, because these genres were too “abstract” for the world-famous comedy duo. No doubt one can really say that these films are not necessarily their best ones. But there is one exception: Babes In Toyland aka March of the Wooden Soldiers.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play two workers of a toy factory who live in a shoe. Their opponent in the film is the unscrupulous Barnaby (barely recognizable – Henry Brandon), who is portrayed accordingly: Mean eyes, dark clothing and a general unsympathetic appearance. These three performers surpass all the others in this movie by far.

Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight played two annoying characters. Now everything wouldn’t be that bad if these two characters would not sing all the time. If it would at least sound nice, but no. It is simply a pain in the ears. I want to follow the plot of the film and not listen to two annoying characters singing. Why annoying? Here’s an example: In one scene, Tom-Tom wants to seduce Bo-Peep but she rejects him. A gentleman would simply leave, or continue more subtly. What does Tom-Tom so? He binds his “sweetheart” at her feet and says something like “I won’t let you go until you like me!” Finally Bo-Peep agrees and Tom-Tom is delighted. That’s what I call true love!

However, we want to see Laurel and Hardy. But once again everybody is singing!

Surprisingly the end of Babes in Toyland is almost like a horror film! Barnabe kidnaps Bo-Peep and brings her to a dark cave. Later he returns with an army of awful creatures with which he wants to conquer the country. Some of these creatures are more horrifying than many of today’s movie monsters. In the end they are conquered by a life-sized army of toy soldiers. Everybody’s happy and dancing.

Now the movie is not what you would otherwise expect from Laurel and Hardy. The two are simply better when they play normal people. They are naturally funny and generally loosen the film but they fit better in other settings. While Barnabe was pleasantly frightening the rest of the cast is simply annoying. The numerous songs simply do hurt.

Nevertheless Babes in Toyland aka March of the Wooden Soldiers is a holiday favorite in many households yet still so strange to see Laurel and Hardy in such a surreal environment. The movie can drag along at points, but when the boys come to life, it’s business as usual and hilarity ensues!

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