March of the Wooden Soldiers

Received on time and well packed.

Having read the book from our local library I was curious as to what the movie would be like. Most times the movie is not as good as the book but not this time. The movie is the BEST! We watched this as a family and everyone enjoyed it. I am sure we are going to have a lot of imaginative play around here and endless talk over the next few days based on March of the Wooden Soldiers.If you like the character of Scrooge you will also like the character of Barnaby in this motion picture. Barnaby holds the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe. Poor Mother Peep has no money to pay. Ollie and Stannie (Laurel and Hardy) try to help! Meanwhile Barnaby asks Little Bo Peep for her hand in marriage but she is not interested one bit. Instead she agrees to marry Tom-Tom Piper. However with no money to pay the mortgage and Ollie and Stannie in trouble with King Cole, Little Bo Peep feels pressured into accepting Barnaby's proposition in exchange for the release of Ollie and Stannie plus the full payment of the mortgage.Is there any way out? Ollie and Stannie are not giving up. Barnaby is tricked! However he comes back with a dirty trick of his own which lands Tom-Tom in Bogeyland! The chase is on! Our 8 year old daughter was scared of the bogeymen in this part but the boys (12 and 5) thought they were great!Where do the wooden soldiers come into this? Well, the order for Santa was wrongly interpreted. Instead of 600 one foot soldiers as ordered, 100 six foot soldiers were made by the toymakers! These "guys" are BIG and will march through everything. See them 'fight' the bogeymen at the end.A truly delightful, family classic. Please note that this review is for the 1934 color version of March of the Wooden Soldiers, the original Babes in Toyland. See if you can spot all your favorite nursery rhyme characters!As you watch this please keep in mind that this is OLD footage. None of the film looks like a movie that is filmed today. Sometimes the faces of the characters are blurred when seen in the distance. (Up close footage is clear.) BUT we need to be grateful that this has been saved and converted to color for us to continue to watch with our families for years to come. There are many comic moments with Laurel and Hardy that will at least have you smiling if not laughing!

While I wouldn't rate this as Laurel & Hardy's best feature, it certainly rates in the top-5 and is quite enjoyable for the whole family (though as my 5-year old daughter can attest, smaller children may find the bogeymen in the last part of the story just a little too scary without Mom and Dad nearby!). L&H have several enjoyable routines, Henry Brandon does a wonderful overacting job as the evil Silas Barnaby, and -- for the men reading this -- Charlotte Henry plays a very fetching Bo-Peep!As other reviews have pointed out, this DVD release contains both the original black-and-white version and a colorized version. While I am one who is glad the practice in the 80s and early 90s of bastardizing B&W classics by colorization is largely ended, I have to admit that colorization improves this film given it's fantasy nature (imagine what "The Wizard of Oz" would have been like if it had been in B&W...Dorothy skipping down the light-gray road just isn't the same!). The purist in me, though, is glad to see both available on this edition. That same purist is also delighted to see that, despite the name on the box, Legend's source material still has the original "Babes in Toyland" title in the opening credits (the title was changed to "March of the Wooden Soldiers" for a 1940s re-release, and it's had that title on every TV broadcast and DVD up until now).Finally, and this is probably something only die-hard L&H fans like myself will appreciate, this DVD also contains the rarely seen "The Tree in a Test Tube". This short was produced by the federal government during WWII to show the public the variety of products containing wood. Supposedly L&H filmed this on their lunch hour, and it shows. It's only mildly amusing, but of course the main goal of the film was information, not entertainment.In conclusion, if you are looking to buy a copy of this movie, this is the version to purchase. If you already own a copy, I would say there's no reason to buy this one unless you are a huge L&H fan and want a copy of this movie with the original opening credits or a copy of "The Tree in a Test Tube".

Excelente

Good product

This 3D colourized version is beautiful and with a 3D television is a joy to watch. The colours look great and still somehow preserve the classic feel of the film. Without exaggeration this is one of the best looking 3D movies I've seen, even counting more recent ones. I've seen that some people are upset about this not being the B&W version, but I've watched both and there is very little difference (77mins for this version versus 79 minutes for the other) between the two. Nonetheless if you want there is a DVD version that has both the colour and black & white versions also available through the same distributor. Unless you're a film purist though, this version is just fine, and looks fantastic.For those unfamiliar with the film, this movie is a mash-up of fairy tales and numerous other material, all done as a great fantasy/comedy with Laurel and Hardy, two of the most hilarious actors of their time. This movie is both a great holiday film and a classic feel good fantasy film that delivers lots of laughs and really takes you back to being a kid with its great sense of imagination. For those like myself who feel that CGI is terribly overused and often makes movies look less rather than more realistic, it is refreshing to see a film like this with so many imaginative and fun costumes. It also has a breathtakingly beautiful soundtrack, sung by some truly talented people. I first saw this as a kid on a classic movie station and then forgot about it for years until seeing it again recently on TV at Christmas time. I immediately went online and found this version and ordered it. I was not disappointed.This is a definite must for any holiday movie fan, film buff, and anyone who enjoys classic comedies. This movie is still timeless almost a hundred years after its release, and is a great one to add to your classic/holiday film collection. They did a great job with this version, and I highly recommend it.

This film was excellent in every way and the delivery 1st class. The seller can be 100% recommended for excellent service..

Der Film aus dem Jahre 1934 erstrahlt in sehr guten Farben und überzeugender 3D-Plastizität. So machner aktuelle 3D-Film kann sich technisch dahinter verstecken. Bis in die kleinsten Details (sich bewegende Federn in der Kopfbedeckung einer Schauspielerin) sind alle Objekte des Film liebevoll bearbeitet worden. Zugegeben ist die extrem aufwendige 3-D-Konvertierung des Cameron-Titanic-Films nicht angewendet worden, aber das Ergebnis ist trotzdem bestechend.Die Handlung poltert ein wenig dahin; was aber durch faszinierende Schauspieler wie den erst 21jährigen Henry Brandon, der als alter(!) Bösewicht sehr eindrucksvoll ist, und Stan und Ollie locker wettgemacht wird.Ein paar Lacher passieren jedem Zuschauer garantiert.Man sollte meinen, dass sogar Peter Jackson für seine Trilogie "Herr der Ringe" dort abgekupfert hat. Es gab eben schon 1934 brutale Monster-Heerscharen. (Der Einsatz eines Äffchens im Kostüm wäre heute unvorstellbar; aber es waren natürlich andere Zeiten.)Auch die Umsetzung der Spielzeugsoldaten-Armee mit Stopp-Trick-Technik ist kolossal.Eine lohnenswerte Anschaffung für erwachsene Filmfans!