Maria, A few years back I did a lot of research on Victor Herbert's original play "Babes in Toyland," hoping to get a local theater group to stage it as an alternative to the Nutcracker, which sucks the life out of all local theater and arts groups every Christmas season (until now). Turns out half the original songs have nothing to do with the plot; they're just stuck in randomly because the authors wanted them in there. And the plot is mostly nonexistent. So while people may claim that the Laurel and Hardy version or the later Disney version do a "disservice" to the original, the truth is, at least they were coherent. The only one worse than the original is the 1986 version with Drew Barrymore. In the meantime, the March of the Toys is still one of my favorite "Christmas" tunes. Thanks for the reminder!
Maria, A few years back I did a lot of research on Victor Herbert's original play "Babes in Toyland," hoping to get a local theater group to stage it as an alternative to the Nutcracker, which sucks the life out of all local theater and arts groups every Christmas season (until now). Turns out half the original songs have nothing to do with the plot; they're just stuck in randomly because the authors wanted them in there. And the plot is mostly nonexistent. So while people may claim that the Laurel and Hardy version or the later Disney version do a "disservice" to the original, the truth is, at least they were coherent. The only one worse than the original is the 1986 version with Drew Barrymore. In the meantime, the March of the Toys is still one of my favorite "Christmas" tunes. Thanks for the reminder!
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