The big budget Disney extravaganza is the second of three adaptations of the operetta. I generally enjoyed it when I was a kid, but seeing it again recently cooled my enthusiasm about it. Still better than the 1980s version. Mother Goose with the goose puppet that has a bit of an attitude was fun. Annette Funicello as Mary was impossibly sweet and young. Tommy Sands is okay as the male lead Tom. I think Disney changed the musical styles of some of the songs to "modernize" them for the tastes of 50s audiences. It may have been the perfect kind of fairy tale story for 60s audiences still stuck in the 50s. Ed Wynn plays the highly agitated clown Toymaker very well. The Toymaker is preparing for Christmas, but the Christmas themes of the musical are lessened. Tommy Kirk, the ever present Disney boy next door, is wedged into the story as the Toymaker's assistant. His role is pleasant enough, but nothing special. I did not like the scenes with the kids and the dancing, singing trees. Not great puppetry work. I did not like the two actors trying to imitate Laurel and Hardy. The real Laurel and Hardy do a MUCH better job in the 30s version of this story. And Ray Bolger as the villain Barnaby provides an unending stream of cartoon-ish, vaudeville villain mugging. His style of dance just doesn't seem to fit the part. The other supporting fairy tale characters are pretty much ignored, but at least the stop-motion war near the end with actors shrunken to toy size contains some enjoyable effects.

A flick from my youth. This was Disney's first live action musical production and I think it's pretty good. There isn't much to it story wise or even with the acting but I think it's a good one for the kids. Upon watching it again for the first time in decades I was happy with the nostalgia of the film but a little bored in the watching of it.