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Thursday, March 11, 2021

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH (1970)

While bookended by live-action scenes directed by Dave Monahan, this adaptation of Norton Juster’s YA fantasy is the only feature credited to Chuck Jones, master of the Warner Bros. animated short.*  And though a spirited and entertaining piece of work in many ways, it’s obvious long form doesn’t particularly suit him; the film a series of hit-and-miss vaudevilles with ADHD connective episodes.  Former boy MUNSTER Butch Patrick is the daydreaming latch-key kid who finds life a bit of a bore till a mystery gift box pops up in his room.  It’s the eponymous gateway to a road of learning & adventures, new friends & cunning enemies as he battles thru warring kingdoms of WORDS & NUMBERS to reach RHYME & REASON at the Castle in the Sky.  Sounds a bit didactic, but charm & laughs win out along the way, with Jones working in a style familiar from his tv classic HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS/’66.  That well-packed/well-paced half-hour saw Jones profitably influenced & inspired by Dr. Seuss source material, drawing on its distinctive use of volume & color.  Here, the book’s original Jules Feiffer illustrations, all line & empty space don’t really come into play.  (See book cover.) 

But it works on it’s own terms, with the last couple of reels, excepting an unmemorable anthem capping an unmemorable score, unexpectedly touching, if not a patch on the heart-swelling GRINCH finale.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *No features other than compilations of his classic shorts and (possibly) U.P.A.’s GAY PURR-EE/’62, a wan one-off animated feature where Jones takes story credit, but possibly did more.  Note GAY PURR-EE director Abe Levitow co-directs here.

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