Babes in Toyland is a movie that has a fantastic pedigree. It was the first live-action musical from Walt Disney. It starred Annette Funicello, Tommy Sands, Tommy Kirk, Ray Bolger, Ed Wynn, and Henry Calvin, among other Disney staples of the 50s and 60s. It was written by Ward Kimball who worked in Disney’s animation department working on countless shorts and Disney features.

It should have been an incredible film, but instead it’s just kind of not. Disney wouldn’t perfect the live-action musical formula for a few more years with Mary Poppins, so I’m grateful to this film for being that laboratory.

I loved this film as a kid, and that’s where all of its charm lies. I put it on for my kids and my daughter absolutely loved it and wanted to watch it again. My son, on the other hand, literally decided he’d rather clean his room than watch another minute of Babes in Toyland. I was excited to see how it held up to my nostalgia and I’m sad to say my nostalgia was greater than the movie. It was long, plodding, and the plot isn’t something you can really care about. It follows Mary Quite Contrary (Annette) and her marriage woes. She’s in love with Tom Piper (Tommy Sands) and wants to marry him, but the greedy Barnaby (Ray Bolger) hatches a plan to get rid of Tom and marry her himself. That’s pretty much it. The movie doesn’t even get half interesting until they find themselves inexplicably in Toyland, and Ed Wynn and Tommy Kirk (as the Toymaker and his assistant, respectively) liven up the film considerably.

In fact, I think the best thing about this film is the toy soldier fight and special effects extravaganza that caps off the film. For 1961, the effects are absolutely incredible and on Blu-ray, it just pops.

In fact, the thing I loved most about this rewatch was the color. The look of that old three-strip technicolor on Blu-ray is intoxicating to me. It doesn’t look real and looks like something out of a storybook. But it doesn’t just work here, the Blu-rays of all the films of that era have that same magical quality (especially The African Queen.)

The music, in its moments, can be rather catchy. The visuals are larger than life, and the colors are dazzling. But the story is just too kiddy. I think that might be what Disney hit upon in later years is that you don’t have to pander to children, you need to make a movie for the whole family. It’s something he did with his cartoons and I guess he just had to learn that lesson with movies, too.

You can get it on Amazon for less than $20. It’s far less offensive of a Christmas movie than some of the drivel being made today, it’s pure nostalgic fantasy. And if you have young kids, this movie is perfect.