Babes in Toyland (operetta)

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Babes in Toyland is a 1903 operetta by Victor Herbert, which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a musical — mainly because librettist Glen MacDonough wanted to cash in on the Wizard of Oz phenomena sweeping Broadway that year.

Plot

The basic story is about orphans Jack and Jill Little, who now live with their evil Uncle Barnaby. Tom and Mary are swept away into the magical Toyland and go on a quest (with the help of Humpty Dumpty) to stop their uncle from destroying it.

Other characters include pirates (whom work for Barnaby) and goblins (whom once worked for him, but rebelled after he insulted the goblin king).

Large audiences were drawn to the musical by the spectacular settings and sets (e.g., the Floral Palace of the Moth Queen, the Garden of Contrary Mary) of Toyland.

Adaptions

Most people know of the operetta from film versions; either Laurel and Hardy's 1934 version (which includes almost none of Herbert's songs or book), or the Technicolor remake from 1961 from Walt Disney featuring Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, and Annette Funicello. A 1954 adaption for television featured Wally Cox, Dave Garroway, and Jack E. Leonard. A 1986 made for television version featured Drew Barrymore, Pat Morita, and Keanu Reeves.

A new book and lyrics for the show was written for the Light Opera of Manhattan (LOOM) in the 1970s by Alice Hammerstein-Matthias and William Mount-Burke. LOOM played this operetta as a Christmas show for several weeks each year thereafter for about a decade with considerable success, and the rewritten book and lyrics has since been used by other companies. The new plot, which is more sentimental than the original, centers on two unhappy children who run away to Toyland but are eventually reconciled with their parents. The ensemble turns into mechanical militia for the "March of the Wooden Soldiers," and children from the audience are brought up to help "wind-up" the toy dancers.

Herbert's title song "Toyland" and "March of the Toys" occasionally show up on Christmas compilations.

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