Jim on Film
Page 3 of 3

Babes in Toyland
It’s hard to say exactly where Babes in Toyland went wrong. It could be that Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands are grossly out of their league in either singing or acting the roles of Mary Contrary and Tom Piper. Listening to some of the movie’s key songs, such as Just a Whisper Away and Just a Toy, is actually very painful as these two pop voices attempt to sing classic Victor Herbert melodies.

I’ve never seen any other version of this classic operetta, but it seems unlikely the story would have proved such a perennial holiday classic if it was intended to pander down to the smallest audience members as the Disney film does. Beginning with Mother Goose’s introduction, which seems like it was taken from storytime at the library, the film directs itself toward enchanting children. Because of this, even in her moments of dire distress, Mary Contrary never seems very upset (despite how often she dabs at her dry eyes and nose), Tom and Mary never really seem all that in love, and Barnaby never seems to be all that intimidating.

The special effects vary greatly. In I Can’t Do the Sum, there are some great effects of four additional color-tinted Annettes singing and dancing with the real one, including one scene where they pop out of a mirror. But for all the many great effects, there are also some not-so-great ones. The costumes for the trees, for example, in the Forest of No Return seemed to have been taken on loan from a local college production.

But despite all this, there’s something very appealing in Disney’s Babes in Toyland. If Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands are part of the problem with the film, they are also part of its appeal. As so many have said before, Annette’s success probably came from her personality, and in Babes in Toyland, a little of her radiating charm goes a long way. Plus, it is the only film in which we get to see her doing what she loved to do-dancing, though she only gets a few opportunities to really move.

Similarly, if Tommy Sands is really more of a Sunday School teacher than a love interest, at least he has some of the same charm as Annette, giving them a pleasant enough chemistry. And he does get one great moment in the film, playing Floretta the gypsy in disguise.

Much of the rest of the cast is lots of fun as well. Ray Bolger as the villainous Barnaby, though he is more cartoonish than anything Disney ever animated, is fun, getting to sing and dance through several numbers, including Castle in Spain. Gene Sheldon and Henry Calvin are good, basically replaying the roles they played on the Zorro TV Series (though one gets the idea that Bernardo is considerably smarter than Sheldon’s character in this film), including getting to sing one of the new songs for the Disney film, the funny Slowly He Sank Into the Sea. And as always, Ed Wynn and Tommy Kirk are a great addition to any Disney movie.

In addition to the cast, there are the great Victor Herbert songs and some great choreography. And because the film starts on a proscenium stage, the film avoids the odd stage-musical blocking that can sometimes plague musical films where the cast dances for an unidentified audience. Because it is established that we are basically seeing a filmed stage musical (not completely, of course, but the illusion is created), the audience is identified, and it is more understandable why the dances are staged facing the camera. So, despite its many flaws, Babes in Toyland is fun enough to make it a guilty pleasure.

In Search of the Castaways
In Search of the Castaways concerns a group of adventurers (who don’t start out the movie as adventurers) searching for a missing skipper who was thought to have gone down with his ship, the Brittania. Armed with a message in a bottle and convinced that he’s still alive, his two children, played by Hayley Mills and Keith Hamshire, plead with the man who employed their father to find him.

What’s interesting is that the first half of the movie in which the adventurers climb the Andes in search of the father and survive an earthquake, a landslide (aboard an ice sled), a flood, an Ombio tree, a fire, a waterspout, a tiger, and a giant condor, is essentially cancelled out when it is discovered that the father is really in the area of Australia, where they encounter a crazy man, cannibals, and an erupting volcano. It makes for very awkward plotting and an unusual structure to the story.

All this might be more acceptable because it is an adventure tale, but the special effects that provide that adventure vary greatly. The flood is done quite well, but the obvious men running on a treadmill behind a blue screen effect spoils it. Similarly, the waterspout is a great effect, but that’s almost completely cancelled out by the B-movie condor that, in a very B-movie action, carries away Keith Hamshire to feed to her young. By today’s standards, In Search of the Castaways has about everything a cheesy 1960s B-movie would have, and yet, there is still something immensely appealing about it.

Probably most of that goes to the very talented Hayley Mills as Mary Grant. In the six Disney films she starred in as a teenager, she created seven distinct and memorable characters, all without any formal acting training. In watching her films, it’s very clear that she is not some cute little girl who got cast for her charm. She does have charm, but she’s very skillful in creating these specific characters. And she lights up every scene in In Search of the Castaways.

Of course, she’s also surrounded by greatly appealing actors who get to bring to life greatly appealing characters. Maurice Chevalier is lots of fun as the confused Professor Paganel who lives by his wits. Plus, he gets to join in singing a few of the charming Sherman Brothers songs scattered throughout the movie, including a duet with Hayley Mills called Enjoy It. Wilfred Hyde-White is fun as Lord Glenarvan, the ship-owner who has more money than wits, and Michael Anderson Jr. makes for a fun love interest for Mills as John Glenarvan, his cocky and love-struck son. Keith Hamshire plays Mills’ younger brother, Robert Grant, and George Sanders (Shere Khan in The Jungle Book) is a perfect villain. Because these are such fun and endearing characters created by such great actors, their adventures seem all the more fun despite all that is absurd in the movie.

There are also a host of great scenes in the movie. In one early scene, Mary and Robert need to get aboard Lord Glenarvan’s yacht. Since he is hosting a party on board, Mary and Robert get onboard by slowly walking backwards up the boarding plank as others walk on and off.

In one the best scenes in all of Disney’s live-action films, the whole clan is stranded in an Ombio tree after a massive flood that has failed to recede. John Glenarvan, who is trying to make up for his father’s buffoonery by trying to be the one to save the day, is working hard at building a raft. As he works on the ropes, he starts to share his feelings for Mary with her, while she toys with him. Finally, after bumbling through why he likes Mary, John gets around to truly expressing his feelings when he says, “What I really mean is, if we get out of here alive and when we’re old enough . . .�? With a glance to the side, Mary cuts him off saying, “John.�? And he answers with a passionate, “Mary.�? And she continues with, “ . . . There’s the log you needed for your raft.�? It’s so funny because both characters are so richly defined and their crossed subtexts are so clear.

And while the character scenes work best, there is still excitement in the action scenes, such as the sledding down the mountain on an ice chunk shaken free by the earthquake. And the mutiny in the second half of the film is a great twist.

So, In Search of the Castaways is one of those films where by definition, it just shouldn’t be nearly so enjoyable, but somehow, in mixing all these awkward ingredients together, out came something that’s so much fun it’s hard to be cynical.

All that’s needed is a widescreen DVD edition and a CD soundtrack.

Discuss It!

• What are your most guilty Disney pleasures?
  Discuss them on the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards

Related Links

• List of all Jim On Film columns

-- Jim Miles

-- Posted December 3, 2003