Review of Babes in Toyland (1997) by Josh H — 22 Aug 2012

To sum up this film in 2 words: It's tolerable. It's not great, but it's not terrible either, it's just tolerable. I don't like using the term "It's just for kids" to describe an animated product, but speaking as someone who watched this a child who now has an updated opinion as an adult, that term suits this material quite well.

The story had potential to be great, the material it's made of is what DreamWorks' Shrek films abuse, it's execution however is not entirely engaging, though I have to give props to this film for not using juvenile jokes like a DreamWorks film.

The major problem with the film is the animation: the backgrounds are too simplified thus making the world the characters live in feel less magical, the facial expressions and movements of the characters look stiff, and there are times the style of the characters change make the film feel inconsistent.

So with those factors brought up, what are the finer qualities of this film? Simple answer: The voice acting. I do not like recommending a film to people with voice acting as the sole promotion, but this case is the exception.

The singing talents of Catherine Cavadini with Raphael Sbarge make a pretty duet, while Christopher Plummer is given a catchy song and has a few humorous moments of his vile quirkiness. Charles Nelson Reilly is just fun to listen too.

Overall: a simple story for kids, with unimpressive animation, that has a decent soundtrack with great actors that are worth giving this product some attention.