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Up On The Shelf

Monthly Archives: July 2019

Fourth Anniversary Review: March of the Wooden Soldiers/Babes in Toyland (1934)

31 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1930's, Action-Adventure, Christmas, Comedy, Disney, Fantasy, Musicals, Romance

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

babes in toyland, barnaby, black and white, black and white movie, bo peep, bogeyland, bogeyman, bogeymen, boogeyland, boogeyman, boogeymen, boogieman, boogiemen, classic, classic Hollywood, colorization, colorized movie, Comedy, cult classic, fairy tale, fairy tales, Fantasy, golden age of musicals, hal roach, hey diddle diddle, Hollywood musical, march of the wooden soldiers, mother goose, music, musical, musical review, nursery rhyme, nursery rhymes, old king cole, old woman in the shoe, oliver hardy, ollie dee, operetta, pantomime, santa claus, silas barnaby, stan and ollie, stan laurel, stannie dumm, stop motion animation, stop-motion, three little pigs, tom tom, toy factory, toy soldier, toy soldiers, toyland, vaudeville, victor herbert, wooden soldier, wooden soldiers

We all have our good years and our bad years that we can recall. For me, 2013 was not a very good year. To make a long story short, everything from February onward culminated in a deep depression that lasted through most of the fall. What helped me out of it? Well, Team Starkid released what is to date their best show, Twisted, for starters. But that same Thanksgiving weekend Twisted premiered online, I rediscovered a piece of my childhood almost untouched by time. A movie that, despite its age and subject, wore down the walls of cynicism, made me forget the troubles of the outside world for 75 minutes, and had me smiling genuinely for the first time in months.

That movie is what I’ll be reviewing today.

Babes in Toyland began life as an operetta/pantomime by Victor Herbert in 1903, and you’ll never find a straight adaptation or production of the original libretto put on today. Why?

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There’s gruesome murders, convoluted schemes, love octagons, too many characters to keep track of, needlessly dark subplots, and I’m not even touching the random fantasy elements thrown in. If you want some idea of what the story is supposed to be, then by all means read Jay Davis’ Babes in Toyland retrospective (coincidentally written in 2013). Despite this, the show was tremendously popular and led to many theatrical reimaginings of magical family-friendly stories like The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. In the former’s case, it was those stage adaptations that paved the way for the classic 1939 movie. But because Babes in Toyland was first and foremost a musical, a film adaptation had to wait until silent pictures became talkies. And when it did come to the big screen, it took a turn that few expected.

Enter Hal Roach, famed producer of comedy vehicles for stars of the 20s and 30s such as Will Rogers, Thelma Todd, the Little Rascals, and of course, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Once movie rights for Babes in Toyland were made available, Roach saw the comic potential for Laurel and Hardy and snagged ’em. His initial treatment didn’t impress Stan Laurel much, though. Few know that Laurel took his craft very seriously and was prone to rewriting scripts to milk as many laughs from it as possible. While this might sound like the workings of a control freak prima donna, he actually knew what he was doing. This Babes in Toyland, later re-titled March of the Wooden Soldiers to differentiate it from the others, is full of entertaining comic setpieces, lines, and characters, and has a tight plot that ties them all together. It is very much Stan Laurel’s movie more than it is Hal Roach’s.

And in hindsight, we have him to thank for the grand tradition of rewriting Babes in Toyland so it’s almost nothing like the operetta and no two versions are the same. That’s something I’m also grateful for.

But perhaps the greatest contribution Laurel might have made to March of the Wooden Soldiers is how naturally he and Hardy step into the role of main character. See, the leads in all the other takes on Babes in Toyland are love interests usually named Tom and Mary, and they are so mind-numbingly boring. If Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry hooked up with Kevin Costner and Robert Pattinson, their non-existent chemistry wouldn’t be half as dull as the parade of Toms and Marys doing nothing but pining for each other. They take time away from the characters who have real personalities and make those other Babes in Toyland far less interesting or fun to watch.

March of the Wooden Soldiers, on the other hand, does something radical when it comes to naming its leads – it takes the funny side cast we want to see more of and makes them the focus while putting the traditional romantic protagonists in the background. Normally handing over the spotlight to the comic relief characters is a bad idea (COUGHMINIONSCOUGH). But when those side characters-turned-leads are played by the most iconic comedic duo of all time, well, let’s just say we’re in good hands.

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Rest In Peace, Russi Taylor

29 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

actress, death, Dewey, Disney, disney legend, Donald Duck, ducktales, gonzo, Huey, Louie, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, passing, rest in peace, Russi Taylor, voice acting, voice actor, voice actress, voiceover, Webby

As some of you may have already heard, voice actress Russi Taylor has passed away. And as a lifelong fan of her work and the studio where she made the biggest impact, Disney, I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t pay my respects to this legend.

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Emergency Donation Review Time Again!

02 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in Updates, Voting & Results

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

border, charity, detention centers, donation, emergency, families, family, funding, human rights, human rights violations, immigration, justice, movie review, save lives, stop fascism, stop injustice

One of my greatest fears, even before the events of 2016, was that one day my country would go the route of Germany in the 1930’s. In school we were told America was a land of freedom, equality and opportunity. Our teachers, comfortable in the routine of standard education, assured us it could never happen here.

But it’s happening right now.

Anyone who’s been on social media as of late has seen the stories of human rights violations at the border that recreate the concentration camp experience almost verbatim making the rounds, all of them perpetrated by those whose duty should be to protect and serve all people of this nation. George Takei is having flashbacks to his childhood in similar camps. The United Nations is actually trying to do something for once. It’s gone on record that the military is actively shutting out any attempts at press coverage because public outrage is the one thing that could shut down this whole operation immediately.

And guess who’s responsible for this nightmare scenario?

Like I told my parents, who both recently confessed they voted for the opposition because they thought the openly racist misogynist ableist homophobic xenophobic violence-encouraging war-mongering white supremacy-endorsing tax-dodging pussy-grabbing fake news-generating fast food-guzzling Russia-fraternizing blame-shifting North Korea-condoning wall-obsessed Twitter addict seemed more trustworthy than a woman with a slightly sketchy internet history, I’m taking the high road and not saying I told you so. As wrong as they were, please don’t hate on my folks. They’ve regretted it since, apologized, promised they would never doubt my political intuitions ever again, gave me some ice cream and a puppy and wished me good luck on my date with Chris Hemsworth that evening.

Okay, I may have exaggerated with the last two, but at least it’s not as bad as what the current administration has been pushing as “the truth”.

So you may be asking, “Shelf, what can I do? I’m just one person who can’t spare the time to rant at my senator or risk my safety by going to a protest or march. I just want to get my mind off of everything by reading funny movie reviews.” The good news is there’s plenty of charitable organizations working tirelessly to get as many detainees out of these awful conditions as possible. One of them is Fair Fight Bond Fund. They reunite them with their families and ensure they’re given their due process. It’s been proven that immigrants that are out of the cells and represented by a true lawyer have a substantially higher chance of winning their cases than those who are stuck in detention indefinitely. There’s also Freedom For Immigrants, Community Bond Project, LGBTQ Fund, Lawyers for Good Government, and Immigrant Families, all working towards the same goal of getting as many people out of these horrifying centers and to a safer place.

And that’s where you come in.

Donate anything, literally anything to this cause, and boom, movie review just for you of whatever you want that’s on The Shelf. That’s it. Even if it’s one fucking dollar. There’s no limit this time. And most of these organizations are tax-exempt. These people, these children, who are being starved and abused, more often than not to death, need whatever help they can get right now in any form, so who am I to hold anyone back from donating because they can’t give the price I arbitrarily demand in exchange for a reward?

However, if you care to donate $50, which by Fair Fight Bond Fund’s calculations is enough to free one person, then I will review a movie of your choice that isn’t on The Shelf. I do have my limits, of course, basically no porn or anything The Cinema Snob would recommend. Also it has to not be currently in theaters. But if it’s not on The Shelf then it’s fair game just this once.

And that’s it. Spread the word, please! Give multiple times if you’re able! And whatever you do, do NOT look away. As reprehensible as the truth is, we can’t afford to ignore it any longer. We…no, THEY deserve better.

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Big News and VOTE For August’s Movie Review

01 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in Updates, Voting & Results

≈ 9 Comments

Boy, it sure was nice getting reviews back up on time, wasn’t it? Oh well, all good things and so forth. But trust me, it’s for a very, very good reason this time. No writer’s block, no destination weddings, no compulsive desire to put movies in chronological order, not even computer trouble. No, this time, it’s good news.

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