7 Wild Things That Happened on the Set of Annette Funicello’s 1961 Disney Film ‘Babes in Toyland’

We are gathered here today to witness what exactly happened on the Babes in Toyland set back in 1961. The musical extravaganza follows a young girl named Mary Quite Contrary ( Annette Funicello), who is about to marry a man named Tom Piper (Tommy Sands), but, instead, gets kidnapped and taken to Barnandy Barnicle (Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz ), who also wants to marry her. Not for love, but for her inheritance ! Henry Calvin and Ed Wynn also star.

Despite all that star power, the film ultimately ended up being a box office flop. But that didn't stop Disney Studios from making sure it — and the film’s wooden toy soldiers — earned a place in movie history though. And now, we take a look back at how it got there all those years ago. Keep scrolling for more.

‘Babes in Toyland’ was a first for Disney

While Disney had long excelled at making animated musicals, Babes in Toyland marked the studio’s first attempt at a live-action one released to theaters, yet despite heavy marketing, the film stalled at the box office. Because of this, it would be three years until they were ready to give the genre another shot, which they did — quite successfully — with 1964’s Mary Poppins .

The film starred a very famous acting duo at the time

Babes in Toyland was one of six Disney films that Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran worked on together — however, this was the only one where they didn’t play brothers. The other Disney titles were Old Yeller (1957), The Shaggy Dog (1959), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Bon Voyage! (1962) and Savage Sam (1963).

The film was referenced in another Disney musical

Speaking of Mary Poppins, did you know that Babes in Toyland was referenced in the 1964 film? That’s right, the toy wooden soldiers appeared in the film’s nursery sequence.

The soldiers are also always featured in the Disney Parks Christmas-themed holiday parade.

‘Babes in Toyland’ was based on a hit musical

Originally opening in 1903 at the Grand Opera House in Chicago, Illinois, the opera version of the musical ran for 192 shows. Then, in 1905, it opened in New York City but only had 24 shows. The third revival took place in 1929 with a total of 32 performances. Finally, Babes in Toyland hit the Broadway stage one last time in 1930 for 33 shows.

In 1934, the comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy starred in a musical Christmas film version also called Babes in Toyland in Europe and released in the United States as March of the Wooden Soldiers .

The Disney version was released 31 years after the last on-stage show and was the first-ever Disney movie based on a musical. It had the same songs as the 1903 opera, but the rest of the plot was very different.

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Director Jack Donahue’s voice can be heard in the film

Director Jack Donahue voiced Sylvester J. Goose in Babes in Toyland. His other notable titles include Close-Up (1948), The Lucy Show (1962 to 1968), Assault on a Queen (1966), Here’s Lucy (1968 to 1974) and Chico and the Man (1975 to 1978).

Annette Funicello was already Disney royalty before she was cast in ‘Babes in Toyland’

Before she became Mary Quite Contrary in Babes in Toyland, actress Annette Funicello made quite a name for herself as one of the original Mouseketeers in the Mickey Mouse Club. She was also in the 1959 Disney movie The Shaggy Dog alongside her Babes in Toyland costars Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran.

A large reason that Funicello was cast, though, was not because of her acting skills, but due to her height. At the time of filming, the actress was only 5 '1”, making it easy for the studio to create toy soldiers tall enough to tower over her. Yet despite that, Funicello reportedly loved working on this film because she finally got to dance on screen.

People could actually walk through the set of the film

A Disneyland attraction opened a month before the film hit theaters, where parkgoers could actually walk through Mary's garden and fountain, the pumpkin house, the shoe house and the trees from the forest. It was used as a way to promote the movie and also show fans what being on a movie set felt like. This attraction remained open for about a year before closing in 1962.

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