The Phantom Tollbooth (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Phantom Tollbooth


caption = Poster for "The Phantom Tollbooth"
director = Chuck Jones Abe Levitow Dave Monahan (live action)
producer = Chuck Jones Abe Levitow
writer = Norton Juster Sam Rosen
narrator =
starring = Butch Patrick Mel Blanc Daws Butler Candy Candido Hans Conried June Foray Patti Gilbert Shepard Menken Cliff Norton Larry Thor Les Tremayne Michael Earl
music = Dean Elliott
cinematography = Lester Shorr
editing = William Faris
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = November 7, 1970
runtime = 90 mins
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0064806

"The Phantom Tollbooth" is a live-action/animated film based on Norton Juster's 1961 children's book "The Phantom Tollbooth". This film was directed by Chuck Jones and the live action portions by Dave Monahan, produced by MGM Animation/Visual Arts, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to movie theatres in 1970. It was the first animated feature film released by MGM.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer held the film up for release until 1970 due to internal problems, (the live action sequences were filmed in early 1968), and the animation studio closed soon afterwards. Juster had no input into the film adaptation, and has stated that he is not particularly fond of it.Stone, RoseEtta (2001). "An Interview with Norton Juster, Author of The Phantom Tollbooth", The Purple Crayon. Last accessed August 2008: http://www.underdown.org/juster.htm ]

ynopsis

Milo, a bored, lonely boy who lives in a city apartment block, is surprised by the sudden arrival of a large, gift-wrapped package. Inside is a tollbooth, which turns out to be a gateway into a magical parallel universe. As Milo passes through the tollbooth, the character moves from live action to animation, and his toy car transports him to the enchanted Kingdom of Wisdom and the cities of Digitopolis and Dictionopolis.

Accompanied by a watchdog called Tock (because he has a large clock face embedded in his body), Milo has a series of adventures in places like the Mountains of Ignorance, the Forest of Sight, the Valley of Sound and the Island of Conclusions. Together they must rescue the Princesses Rhyme and Reason, who are being held captive in Castle in the Air, and restore order to the Kingdom of Wisdom. The many eccentric characters they meet include the noisy Dr. Dischord, the Mathemagician, King Azaz, the Soundkeeper and Officer Short Shrift.

Voice actors and their characters

* Butch Patrick - Milo
* Mel Blanc - Officer Short Shrift, The Spelling Bee, The Dodecahedron, The Demon of Insincerity
* Daws Butler - Whether Man, The Terrible Trivium, The Gelationous Giant
* Candy Candido - Awful DYNNE
* Hans Conried - King Azaz, The Mathemagician
* June Foray - Rhyme, Reason,Faintly Macabre, voice of Ralph
* Patti Gilbert - Princess of Pure Reason, Princess of Sweet Rhyme
* Shepard Menken - Tock the Watchdog, Chroma the Great
* Cliff Norton - Spelling Bee, Senses Taker
* Larry Thor - Kakofonous A. Dischord
* Les Tremayne - Humbug
*Thurl Ravenscroft, Mel Blanc, Larry Thor, Candy Candido - The Lethargians

Video releases

*A VHS version of the film was released in 1992 by MGM.
*No DVD release is planned by Warner Home Video for 2008.

References

Stone, RoseEtta (2001). "An Interview with Norton Juster, Author of The Phantom Tollbooth", The Purple Crayon. Last accessed August 2008: http://www.underdown.org/juster.htm ]

ee also

*Norton Juster
*The Phantom Tollbooth - the original book

External links

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