Review – The Phantom Tollbooth

Imagine The Point done over by Chuck Jones (though I believe this movie came out first) and you’ve got some idea of what’s in store for you here. The animation is okay, though it suffers from that late 60s cheap feel that takes it down more than a couple of pegs from Jones’s classic shorts from a decade or two earlier. Other than a few “hey, I recognize that from a Bugs Bunny cartoon” moments, however, this picture doesn’t have a lot to offer. It’s one of those animated – well, animated plus a live action bracket featuring Butch “Eddie Munster” Patrick – productions that seems like it would be for kids but contains a ton of “clever” references clearly aimed at the grownups. It isn’t stealthily smutty like such productions tend to be in the 21st century, but it is overtly boring and cram-packed with ham-handed allegory and dreadful musical numbers. The animated art has a moment or two – I was fond of the demon of useless tasks – but otherwise this is mostly just the sad death of whatever chance Jones might have had to break into feature-length work (this is the only one he ever did). Mildly amusing