Troubled and Hampered Animated Feature from Legendary WB Cartoonist Chuck Jones. Based on the Book by Norton Juster, Published in 1961.This is an Underrated, Overlooked, and Forgotten Film that was Ignored, Botched, and Not Bothered With by MGM as the Studio was On Life Support and Disintegrating. There was Trouble in Paradise and this Movie Suffered from Budget Shortfalls and Lack of Promotion, and was Mostly Abandon as the Studio was Indifferent and was Infected with Infighting.It is a Clever and Interesting Amalgamation of Dr. Seuss, Disney, WB Shorts, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and Psychedelia. The Movie doesn't Quite Match the Charm of its Inspirations, but is Nevertheless a Noble Attempt to Make an Educational, Inspirational, Entertainment. Sesame Street Sensibilities can be Found in Abundance.Overall it is a Plethora of Pleasures with Gargantuan Amounts of Word Play, Puns, and Witticisms that Can Challenge Younger Viewers and Charm Older Kids and Adults. The Script is Better than the Animation where the Lack of Funds Diminishes the Art a bit, but it is Good Enough to be Enjoyable and Somewhat Surreal if Lacking a Certain Amount of Depth.Still the Film Remains a Unique Experiment and it Reflects the Talent of its Creators and Delivers an Offbeat and Intriguing Intellectual Concern and Attempts to Raise the Consciousness of its Target Audience Out of the Doldrums.

This is why we have cable. Our sons (now 25 and 27) discovered this on a "family" cable channel over 20 years ago, and loved it. Their sister arrived a few years later and did, as well. For parents, the familiar San Francisco scenery, late 60s childhood fashions and impressively clever lyrics made the few slow scenes bearable. For the kids, it was all a joy. The aforementioned sons even dressed as Tok, the "watch"dog, once in a while (footie jammies + toy clock...). We videotaped it and watched often, until the tape broke! Now planning to buy, as we miss it so. The Doldrums might be my favorite, and even now I tell my students how impossible and very, very wrong it is to be bored. The Castle in the Air, the feud between Words and Numbers, all are a perfect manner for children to begin CRITICAL THINKING. Of course the book is a treasure and not to be missed however as another review mentioned we prefer the strong Milo in the film... and his theme song still brings me to tears with nostalgia. Next we buy this and introduce this to the girlfriends...

A youngster from San Francisco, bored with school and with time to kill, is offered an educational round-trip from a Phantom Tollbooth; he turns animated and takes a journey to the Castle in the Sky, where Rhyme and Reason have been banished by Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, the feuding worlds of words and numbers who each believe they are most important. Uneven animated feature (with live-action prologue and epilogue featuring Butch Patrick) is an erratic but interesting adaptation of Norton Juster's book, punctuated with musical interludes (and some odd "Wizard of Oz"-isms). Veteran animator Chuck Jones co-wrote the script and co-directed the animated sequences (the first and final cartoon effort from MGM). Jones makes a mistake getting our young hero stuck in the Doldrums in the first act (there's no fascination in lethargy), but he picks up the pace soon after. Digitopolis has a nifty look (and lively Hans Conried as the MathemaGician), and there's a lovely "conducted" sunset and an exciting race to the castle. The animation is alternately crude, clumsy, expressive, colorful, and routine, and the songs are an equally mixed lot (they're pleasant, if not especially catchy). Patrick has a marvelous deep voice for a little kid, but he isn't given anything clever to say; better are Conried, June Foray and Mel Blanc in the voice-over department. Not too popular with child audiences at the time, this may have been a bit high-brow for the matinée crowds. If anything, the film has improved with age, and some of it is quite imaginative. **1/2 from ****

I've never read the book "The Phantom Tollbooth". The movie version has some fascinating visuals, but the singing doesn't add anything. I understand that Chuck Jones and Mel Blanc had to find something to do now that they were no longer creating Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, but a musical doesn't seem like the right thing. Still, I should affirm that the movie portrays some neat things happening (especially when Milo first drives through the tollbooth).So, it's the sort of movie that you watch if there's nothing else. I now notice that Milo was played by Eddie Munster himself, Butch Patrick. Also featuring the voices of Daws Butler, Candy Candido, June Foray (best known as Rocky the Squirrel) and Hans Conried.