''Babes in Toyland'' is a 1986 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by

Clive Donner Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010)Ronald Bergan]Obituary: Clive Donner ''The Guardian'', 7 September 2010 was a British film Film director, director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as ''Th ...

and starring

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

Richard Mulligan Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and ''Empty Nest'' (1988–1995),. Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Awards (1980 ...

Eileen Brennan Eileen Brennan (born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen; September 3, 1932 – July 28, 2013) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire ''Divorce American Style'' (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's ''The L ...

and

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

. Based on the 1903 operetta of the same title by

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is be ...

and

Glen MacDonough Glen MacDonough (1870 – March 30, 1924) was an American writer, lyricist and librettist. He was the son of theater manager Thomas B. MacDonough and actress/author Laura Don. Glen MacDonough married Margaret Jefferson in 1896 in Buzzard's Bay, ...

, this version features a new score by

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films ''Do ...

along with select portions of Herbert's score. Shot on location in Munich, West Germany, in summer 1986,Barrymore, Drew (1990). ''Little Girl Lost'' (p. 125).

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. . it was broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on December 19, 1986 and released on VHS in 1991. The film was shortened to 94 minutes for overseas theatrical release; it is this version that received a worldwide home media release, leaving the original 145-minute cut unreleased (check the Availability section below).

Plot

Lisa Piper, an eleven-year-old girl from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, takes care of her siblings and cooks for her family because her father's passing has made her grow up too fast. She has no time for toys, and refuses to be treated as a child. Her older sister Mary works in a toy store run by a man who sexually harasses her and is enraged when everyone leaves in anticipation of a blizzard on Christmas Eve. Mary and her boyfriend Jack are taking Lisa and their friend George home when the snowy roads cause an accident, where Lisa is thrown out of the car and transported to Toyland. Lisa arrives just before Mary Contrary is to be wedded to the unpleasant Barnaby Barnacle, although Mary loves Barnaby's nephew, Jack Nimble. Lisa stops the wedding and, with her new friends, finds out that Barnaby plans to take over Toyland. Lisa, Mary, Jack, and Georgie Porgie go to the kindly Toymaster for help, but he can only help them if Lisa really believes in toys. Barnaby confronts them and the Toymaster, finally showing his true colors, and steals a flask containing distilled evil that the Toymaster had been collecting, before leaving Lisa and company to be eaten by Trollog, a

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

-like monster with a single enchanted eye that Barnaby uses to spy on his enemies. They escape by blinding Trollog with paint and locking him in a chest, but are captured and imprisoned one by one in Barnaby's hidden fortress. Barnaby reveals that he had been creating an army of trolls to take over Toyland, and then attempts to corrupt his captives into being his servants with the contents of the flask, stating he would use it to make Mary his Troll Princess and transform Lisa into a monster akin to Trollog. However, Lisa proves to be immune to the evil, and manages to reverse the effects on her friends. After escaping from Barnaby's stronghold, they return to the Toymaster. By now, Barnaby has ordered his trolls to attack Toyland, where they harass and capture residents. Lisa's newfound belief animates an army of life-sized toy soldiers that the Toymaster had created, and they drive Barnaby into the Forest of the Night. Having lost control of his creatures and having failed at making Lisa his new Trollog, Barnaby is then banished from Toyland. Jack inherits the trust to the Cookie Factory. Jack and Mary are then married with Georgie as best man and Lisa as maid of honor. Lisa is taken home by the Toymaster — who is revealed to be Santa Claus — in a sleigh with wooden reindeer. They travel across the Milky Way until she wakes up at home, as though it has all been a dream (as in '' The Wizard of Oz''). However, she notices a toy soldier identical to the ones from Toyland standing under the Christmas Tree, which promptly salutes her.

Cast

Musical numbers

# "C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I" – Jack, Lisa, George and Mary # "Toyland" – Toyland chorus # "May the Years to Come" – Widow Hubbard and children # "Let's Hear It!" – Georgie and Toyland chorus # "We'll Think of Something" – Lisa, Georgie and Mary # "It's the Feeling" – Mary and Jack # "Monsterpiece" – Barnaby # "I Live in Two Worlds" – Lisa # "C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I" (Reprise) – Lisa, Jack, Mary and Georgie # "Eyes of a Child" – Toymaster # "May the Years to Come" – Toyland chorus # "Eyes of a Child" (Reprise) – Toymaster and Lisa # "Toyland" – Lisa

Deleted scenes

Many

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...

s were musical numbers such as "We'll Think of Something", "It's the Feeling", "I Live in Two Worlds", "Eyes of a Child (Reprise)" and "Toyland". Other transitional dialogue was missing from the European theatrical release; these scenes weren't featured on VHS.

Availability

The original 145-minute cut was never legally seen outside of television. However, through VHS recordings of these airings, it is currently available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, labeled as a "

Director's Cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...

". The edited version is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

References

External links

* * {{Clive Donner 1986 television films 1986 films 1980s Christmas films 1980s fantasy adventure films American television films American children's adventure films American children's fantasy films American Christmas films American coming-of-age films American fantasy adventure films American fantasy comedy films American musical fantasy films Christmas television films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Clive Donner Orion Pictures films Films set in Cincinnati Films about sentient toys Films about children Films about siblings Films about child abduction in the United States 1980s musical fantasy films NBC network original films Films shot in Munich 1980s American films Films shot at Bavaria Studios