Babes in Toyland is a 1961 American Christmas musical film directed by Jack Donohue and produced by Walt Disney Productions.

It stars Ray Bolger as Barnaby, Tommy Sands as Tom Piper, Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary, and Ed Wynn as the Toymaker.

They are to throw Tom into the sea and steal Mary's sheep, depriving her of her means of support, to force her to marry Barnaby.

Gonzorgo and Roderigo decide to sell Tom to the Gypsies instead of drowning him, in order to collect a double payment.

Gonzorgo and Roderigo return and tell Mary, Barnaby, and the citizens of Mother Goose Land that Tom has accidentally drowned.

Tom, disguised as the Gypsy Floretta, reveals himself, and Barnaby pursues the frightened Gonzorgo and Roderigo, furious at their deception.

While the Toymaker draws out the ceremony, Gonzorgo and Roderigo rescue Tom, and the three of them sneak away and return with an army of toy soldiers to fight Barnaby.

During the battle with Barnaby, Grumio creates and presents another new invention, one that returns miniaturized people and items to their original size.

A few days later, Tom and Mary are married attended by all of Mother Goose Village including Gonzorgo and Roderigo as well as the trees from the Forest of No Return, and everyone lives happily ever after.

[6] By October 1956, Disney had assigned Bill Walsh to produce and Sidney Miller to direct the project.

In his script, he excised the orphans subplot and focused the story on a love triangle between Tom, Mary Contrary, and Barnaby.

In the following months, Kimball worked alongside story artist Joe Rinaldi and effects animator Joshua Meador to ensure the film would be visually interesting.

[10] In June 1960, Disney told the Los Angeles Times: "We're updating the lyrics; the music, of course, is Victor Herbert's.

[20] According to Annette Funicello, Tommy Sands beat out Michael Callan and James Darren to play the male lead.

[22] Tommy Kirk said he enjoyed making the film because of the opportunity to work with Ed Wynn: I thought he was delightful and so did everyone else.

[23]Funicello had a bad experience with William Fairchild, who had directed her in The Horsemasters (1961), but found Jack Donahue to be "simply wonderful.

"[25] In conjunction with the film's release, Babes in Toyland was prominently featured on The Wonderful World of Color television program, with an episode titled "Backstage Party" airing on December 17, 1961.

[3] A. H. Weiler of The New York Times wrote in his review: "Let us say that Walt Disney's packaging of Victor Herbert's indestructible operetta is a glittering color and song and dance-filled bauble artfully designed for the tastes of the sub-teen set.

Adults would have to be awfully young in mind to accept these picture-book caperings of the Mother Goose coterie as stirring stuff.

However, the review cautioned that older audiences "may be distressed to discover that quaint, charming 'Toyland' has been transformed into a rather gaudy and mechanical 'Fantasyland.'

"[34] Harrison's Reports praised the film as "VERY GOOD", and further acknowledged Walt Disney for having "wrapped this one up in gay silk ribbons, beautiful costumes and brilliant splashes of color the envy of the rainbow rangers.

Disney's Babes in Toyland Soldiers are the equivalent of the Rockettes' appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in that park guests and TV viewers expect to see them every year.

The soldiers also appear in the stop-motion nursery sequence in Walt Disney's 1964 musical fantasy Mary Poppins.