The Phantom Tollbooth

Director: Jones Levitow, Chuck Jones, Dave Monahan, Abe Levitow, David Monahan

Overview

Chuck Jones made his feature-length debut with this animated tale about Milo, a young boy who travels to a strange world where numbers are at war with letters.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/16/2010
UPC:	0883316298978
Original Release:	1969
Rating:	G
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:30:00
Sales rank:	25,390

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Butch Patrick	Milo
Mel Blanc	Off. Short Shrift / The Word Speller / The Dodecahedron /
Daws Butler	Whether Man
Candy Candido	Awful DYNN
Hans Conried	King Azaz / The MathemaGician
June Foray	Ralph / Faintly Macabre the Which / Princess of Pure Reason
Patti Gilbert	Princess of Sweet Rhyme,Voices Of
Shepard Menken	Tock
Cliff Norton	Spelling Bee / Senses Taker
Larry Thor	Kakofonous A. Dischord
Les Tremayne	Humbug
Jon-Mikl Thor	Actor
Lee Pockriss	Composer

Technical Credits

Chuck Jones

Sam Rosen

Chuck Jones	Screenwriter,Producer
Sam Rosen	Screenwriter
Les Goldman	Producer
Abe Levitow	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The first full-length animated feature for both Chuck Jones (as a director) and MGM, The Phantom Tollbooth is a mostly faithful adaptation of the classic children's novel by Norton Juster -- but one that lacks the book's unique tone and spirit. The Juster original had an understated, quirky quality which added to the enjoyment of its complicated and entertaining wordplay. The film settles for a more conventional "cartoon" tone, going for easier laughs, softening some of the character design (of Milo in particular) and treating the story slightly too conventionally. The creators also opted to include some very poor Norman Gimbel-Lee Pockriss songs that do little more than slow down the story. While the voices are fine and certainly professional, they are not as special as the material demands. All of that said, the movie still has a number of pluses, not the least of which is the enormously clever original source material. The abundance of puns, fascinating concepts, and delightful ideas ensures that the movie has plenty of surprises. The animation, while not up to "Golden Age" standards, is well done, and obviously influenced by the then-current "psychedelia" craze, and Butch Patrick is very appealing. Not the enduring classic it could have been, Tollbooth will still entertain its target audience.