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March of the Wooden Soldiers Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 23 Reviews)

DVD Presentation Trumps Other Formats
This is a great family film, and a special treat for Laurel and Hardy fans like myself. I consider myself a film purist, and usually stay away from "colorized" versions of black and white films. However, since reading that Stan Laurel regretted that this film was not shot in color, I took a chance and purchased the original VHS copy. It looked very good, and the colorization was natural. When it came out on laserdisc, I purchased it again, and it looked even better. Now I have purchased the DVD version, and it looks even better! The color only enhances the fantasy of Toyland.
This restored print includes much that was cut out during televised showings of the past, and is as complete a version as you are likely to see. Picture quality is amazingly sharp. Contrast is perfect. This film looks like it was shot recently, and in original color.
A fine job all around, and I'm sure Stan Laurel would approve.

A MID-DECEMBER CLASSIC!
Our local FOX affiliate always shows this movie on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of December and I always watch it. It's nowhere near laurel & Hardy's best film but it's enjoyable in a quirky sort of way. The boys play Stanley Dee and Ollie Dum living in Toyland, sort of a real life Mother Goose land with the Three Little Pigs, the Old Woman in the Shoe, Little Bo Peep, and all the rest. The boys live with the Old Woman in the shoe and are trying to help her come up with the money for her mortgage that she owes to the evil Barnaby.

The boys get a job with the toymaker and end up messing up an order for toy soldiers and making 100 six foot tall soldiers instead of 600 foot tall soldiers. The toymaker fires them and now Bo Peep, the Woman in the Shoe's daughter is forced to marry the snide Mr. Barnaby so her mother can keep her home. Stan & Ollie fool Barnaby into Marrying STan instead. Barnaby then gets Tom Tom, Bo Peeps real fiancee, banished into Bogeyland for supposedly killing one of the three little pigs.

Stan & Ollie go into Gogeyland to rescue Tom Tom from the bogeymen who are guys dressed up in some rather cheesy looking, furry outfits with bestial masks. Barnaby sends the Bogeyman to attack Toyland and the residents are helpless until Stan and Ollie remember those 100 toy soldiers who are ready to march. The sight of the toy soldiers marching out to the trumpets still gives me goosebumps!

The set pieces of Toyland are really gorgeous and Stan & Ollie are funny as always. The only real bad point would be some of the horrendous musical numbers. Still a holiday classic!

Holds up well indeed!
When I was a youth, I often watched MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS on our local independent TV station on Thanksgiving afternoon. Would it still seem witty and fun a generation later when I was old and crochety, I wondered? I ordered the DVD and found myself surprised and delighted.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy deliver a bold yet campy performance as two inept assistants to the Toymaker of Toyland, a surreal fairy tale monarchy where summary justice, cruel landlords and maudlin Victor Herbert songs intertwine the viol, the violet, and the vine.

The unlikely and supremely witty duo must overcome their generic ineptitude and save Toyland when the evil Barnaby unleashes bogeymen on paradise in a fit of unrequited love.

The odd plot and fun ending are still watchable for kids and adults over 70 years after the film first came out.

The colorized DVD is surprisingly sharp. Still a holiday classic and a nostalgic gift!

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