Cast and Crew:   Hal Roach (Producer)

What It’s About: Ollie Dee (Oliver Hardy) and Stanley Dum (Stan Laurel) engage in various schemes to stop the villainous Barnaby (Henry Brandon) from using his mortgage on Widow Peep’s (Florence Roberts) shoe to force Bo Peep (Charlotte Henry) to marry him.  When all else fails, Barnaby releases the Boogeymen from their caverns to attack Toyland.  Can Dee and Dum save the day?

Why Watch it Today?:  Growing up Babes in Toyland was a staple of our holiday viewing, though we knew it as March of the Wooden Soldiers.  A little research turned up this article, which tells how the film became a New York TV tradition, like the Thanksgiving Day King Kong airings which are also fondly remembered.  If you haven’t seen Babes in Toyland before, it’s worth it for the nightmare fuel Boogeymen…and for Mickey Mouse, who’s played by a monkey in a costume!