Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure

Marcella returns home and goes to her nursery playroom to put away her favorite doll, Raggedy Ann. When Marcella leaves, the toys come to life, and Ann tells them of the wonders of the outside world. She then shares that it is Marcella's seventh birthday, and the toys notice a large package in the corner. Marcella opens the present to reveal a beautiful bisque doll from Paris, France, named Babette. Ann and the other toys welcome Babette, but she is too homesick. Meanwhile, Captain Contagious notices Babette and he becomes immediately smitten. After tricking Ann into freeing him, he kidnaps Babette with his band of pirates and leaps out of the nursery window. Ann and Andy decide to rescue Babette. Ann and Andy enter the Deep Deep Woods. As the dolls travel, they meet the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees, a blue stuffed animal who has been abandoned and hallucinates ghostly camels beckoning him to a home. Ann promises that once they find Babette, he may return with them. With Ann and Andy in tow, the Camel chases down the caravan and mindlessly rushes off a cliff. They find themselves in the Taffy Pit, where the Greedy lives. The Greedy explains that he feels unsatisfied despite endlessly eating. He thus attempts to take the candy heart inside Ann, but the toys successfully escape. The toys then encounter the looniest knight Sir Leonard Looney, who welcomes them to Looney Land. Looney pursues the toys into the court of its monarch, King Koo Koo. Koo Koo laments his tiny stature and explains that he can only grow by laughing at other people. He intends to keep the toys as his prisoners, but they are able to distract him and escape on a boat. The furious king follows them with an enormous sea monster, Gazooks; as he finds hilarity in seeing heroes in trouble, Koo Koo intends to get the "last laugh" by having Gazooks tickle all the heroes with his many arms. While sailing, Ann, Andy, and the Camel notice Contagious' ship, only to discover that Babette had become the new captain while imprisoning Contagious. When Ann tries to tell Babette to return, Babette is enraged and has the trio tied to the mast. Meanwhile, Queasy successfully unlocks Contagious' shackles, allowing him to return above deck, free the others, and pledge his love for Babette. King Koo Koo and Gazooks then attack the ship and capture all but Ann and Babette. He subjects them to tickling, making the monarch swell to mammoth proportions by laughing. Babette begs for forgiveness, only for her and Ann to be captured and tickled. The dolls realize that King Koo Koo's inflated ego is "full of hot air," and Andy tells Queasy to pop him, which creates a massive explosion that sends them spiraling. The following day, Marcella discovers the toys lying in her backyard. She returns all but the Camel to the playroom, where Babette apologizes for her actions and accepts Ann's offer of friendship and Contagious' affection. While in harmony, Ann notices the Camel through the window. The dolls welcome him to their family. The next day, Marcella finds the Camel among the dolls and hugs him tightly, accepting him. ==Cast==

Live-action cast • Claire Williams as Marcella, • Mark Baker as Raggedy Andy, Babbitt divided the design of the character into three personalities: a "pretty dumb" back end, a "little bit smarter" front end, and a head. • Joe Silver as the Greedy, a taffy pit that eats sweets and candy. Silver was chosen by casting director Howard Feuer to play the Greedy. His main animator is Emery Hawkins. • Alan Sues as Sir Leonard Loony (The Loony Knight), the server of the Loony Land. His main animator is John Kimball. • Paul Dooley as Gazooks, a sea monster that is accompanied by King Koo Koo. His main animator is George Bakes. • Mason Adams as Grandpa, a doll that advises whether Marcella is coming in or out of the playroom nursery. His main animator is John Bruno. • Allen Swift as Maxi Fix-it, the repairer of the toys. His main animator is Spencer Peel. • Hetty Galen as Suzy Pincushion, the sewer of the toys. Her main animator is Spencer Peel. • Margery Gray and Lynne Stuart as the Twin Pennies, the toys that performed in brief musical numbers towards the beginning of the film. Their main animator is Gerry Chiniquy. He has once admitted that animating the Twin Pennies was a challenge since their dances had "eighth beats and a rock feel". • Ardith Kaiser as Turvy-Topsy, the toy clown. Her main animator is Spencer Peel. • Sheldon Harnick as Barney Beanbag, a beanbag with a painted face. The animator for the character is Spencer Peel. • He also voices the Sockworm, a toy sock in a shoe. His main animator is Chrystal Russell. • Richard Williams and Joe Raposo (uncredited) as the Pirates, all of whom aboard the ship with Captain Contagious. In addition, all the cast provided the voices of the Loonies. Their animator is Grim Natwick. ==Production==

Development and writing After the success of the live-action television adaptation of The Littlest Angel, producer Richard Horner was looking for a similar project. One day, Horner was in a conversation surrounding the promotions of an independent merchandiser of children's products during lunch. Raggedy Ann & Andy was chosen, and after it got popularity from a Friars Club roast for Johnny Carson, he acquired permission to The Bobbs-Merrill Company to begin the project. When the project was greenlit, it started out as a stage musical before it was transformed into a live-action television special for Hallmark Hall of Fame named Rag Dolly: The Raggedy Ann Musical. Horner brought in writer Pat Thackray for permission to research Johnny Gruelle's material and write a live-action script as a treatment. Afterwards, Pat Thackray and Max Wilk wrote the script for the special. Considerations for Raggedy Ann include Liza Minnelli and Goldie Hawn, while a consideration star for Raggedy Andy was Dick Van Dyke. Raposo and Williams traveled back to New York City afterwards. Shortly after Levitow's death, Williams was pressured to replace him as the director of the film. The location was found by set and costume designer William Mickley. On October 14, 1975, the location was repaired. Mickley and a pair of scenic artists tore rooms apart, painted and wallpapered Marcella's bedroom, built a ceiling grid for the lights, dug a backyard pool, and enhanced the autumnal foliage by spraying the leaves red and gold and brought more leaves from nearby neighborhoods. Principal photography was held on the week of October 20, 1975. Filming involved a crew of 35 people and took four days from early in the morning to midnight for the scenes to be finished. Williams shot the film quickly, with no more than five or six takes for each scene of the film. Williams' love interest at the time, Margaret French, and his wife at the time, Lois Catherine Steuart, watched Claire Williams to keep her well-supplied with her favorite orange sherbet without being exhausted. After shooting was finished, the house was restored to its original condition for two weeks. Animation Williams' idea was to employ a full range of animation without looking like it was animated by Disney. He spent a week researching the original illustrations by Gruelle. He eventually decided to base the animation on his work. As a result, the animation was challenged to compete with Disney films at the time. Over time, cameraman Al Rezek designed and built the Xerox processor and camera that outlined the original paper drawings directly onto cels. Animation drawings were inspected by Xerox planners before they are Xeroxed to figure out whether the mechanics used were correct. The approved animation would then be shipped from two independent companies in Hollywood to an art department in New York City. The animation was painted by more than 45 individuals that included men and women in the art department managed by Ida Greenberg. Some characters had a lot of color keys, including Suzy Pincushion and Topsy-Turvy. The Greedy faced a problem with painting, as Greenberg stated that the "big masses of taffy took an awful long time to paint, and it was a 'wall-to-wall' painting." Approximately 85,000 cels were painted to complete the film. The soundtrack received generally positive reviews. Billboard chose the track "Rag Dolly" as the album's highlight, reviewing the album as an "attractive disk" led by the team. A.H. Weiler of The New York Times commented that "Candy Hearts" is "pleasantly tuneful." R.C. Staab criticized the singing performances of the characters, but recalled that "Rag Dolly" is a "catchy number in the style of Scott Joplin." Jay Alan Quintril stated that the songs are of the "Tin Pan Alley school of composition" and fit the "charm and warmth and sheer joy of the entire project." Barbara Corrado Pope commented that "["I'm No Girl's Toy"] seems ill-placed in a movie that [would] probably have wide appeal for little girls." Track listing == Release ==

The film was originally planned for a release on March 1, 1975, but was later scheduled for December 1976. By April 1976, the film was moved to early 1977 for extra three months of work. According to a two-page advertisement for Variety from December 8, 1976, it was estimated that over 70 million viewers watched Didi Conn and Mark Baker as Raggedy Ann and Andy dancing to "Rag Dolly" for two minutes in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The promotional campaign for the film reportedly cost $2 million, with hundreds of manufacturers licensed to make more than 500 products. The film was a box-office failure. Home video The film was first released on RCA CED Videodisc, VHS, and Betamax by MGM/CBS Home Video in 1982. It was followed by a VHS release in 1985 by Playhouse Video (in association of CBS/Fox Video) and 1992 by Fox Video. The film never received an official DVD release nor a Blu-ray release. Broadcasts The film aired on Disney Channel for six days in June and July 1988. ==Reception==

Initial release Upon its initial release, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure received mixed reviews from critics. The film was praised for its animation, voice cast, and songs. Film critic Roger Ebert stated that he "enjoyed [the film] fully, without the slightest need to revert to my childhood." He praised the animation and concluded that "[children will] enjoy Raggedy Ann anytime." Jay Alan Quantril called it the "most delightful film to be released in many a year." He praised the animation as "all done with such artistry and integrity" and the songs as "memorable if a little less than inspired." Candice Russell of Knight-Ridder Newspapers was favorable about the film, stating that the film has a "psychedelic array of colors, delightfully goofy characters, an ingenious story filled with danger and escape, a score by Joe Raposo, and humor sure to please mom and dad as well as the kids." Suzanne Bowers of Film Information called the film's animation "excellent", the songs "easy for all ages to take", the music "catchy", and the film's mood "buoyant". Film Feedback from the Communication Commission, National Council of Churches stated that "children and adults who are young at heart will find much to enjoy and think about in [the film]." Peter Schillaci of Mass Media Newsletter stated that "creative style, gorgeous color, clear action, and some fine voices make this one children's film which won't put adults to sleep." A.H. Weiler of The New York Times commented that the film is "both a rare and welcome addition to the entertainment offered pre-teens these days." The Marin Motion Picture and TV Council reviewed that the characters made this film a "rare treat". Bob Thomas of Associated Press praised the animation and characters in his "At the Movies" review. R.C. Staab praised the "good" animation and "pleasant" songs in his review. Other aspects were criticized, including some of the characters and its screenplay. Lou Gaul of Courier Times Entertainment was mostly favorable about the film, describing the production as "full of marvelous sights, pleasant sounds, and sparkling color." Although he criticized the film's ending for "fraying slightly", he praised the film's balance, music score, and production. David Sterritt of Christian Science Monitor called the film "the most unusual family-fun find of the season." He criticized the film's pace, but recalled that "once the plot is underway, it contains some cleverly conceived and brightly drawn situations." Judith Martin of Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post called the film "pretty" and "tuneful", but criticized the plot as a "vague chase, peopled by formless villains." Barbara Corrado Pope was mixed about the characters in the film, praising the Greedy, Sir Looney Knight, and King Koo Koo as "characters guaranteed to delight children", but criticized Raggedy Ann and Andy as "obnoxious" and a "sexist updating of the story". Greg Ehrbar of Animation Research called the film a "bold, spectacular enterprise", praising the "mammoth talents" and its animation, particularly the Greedy sequence. According to ''Halliwell's Film Guide: "[In this] attractive fully animated cartoon feature [...] only the central story is lacking in pace and humor". In the book Masters of Animation, author John Grant stated that the film was "filed to the brim with all kinds of excellences." Grant praised the animation, but criticized the overabundance of "largely mediocre songs". In the book The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide'', reviewer Bryan Theiss stated that the film's animation was "fun to stare at the details of the drawings." He described the story as "unabashedly juvenile" and the songs as "saccharine". He also criticized the Twin Pennies as "creepy" and the Greedy as "disgusting". Sandra Brennan of AllMovie gave the film two out of five stars. Tom Hutchinson of Radio Times also gave the film two out of five stars, criticizing the characters for having "appeal but no story to tell that will interest children above the age of five." ==Stage adaptations==

1981 drama adaptation In 1981, Thackray reworked the story for Raggedy Ann & Andy, a play which is available to license for performances at schools and community theatres in the United States and Canada. 1986 Broadway musical In 1984, Raposo and playwright William Gibson crafted a much darker variation of the story, first called Raggedy Ann and then briefly retitled Rag Dolly. Raposo retained two songs ("Rag Dolly" and "Blue") and reworked the opening title theme into a song called "Gingham and Yarn". The plot was completely different and follows the dying young Marcella, who goes on a journey with Raggedy Ann and her friends to meet the Doll Doctor, who can mend her broken heart. This version ran in three theatres (including one in Moscow) before landing with a thud on Broadway on October 16, 1986, at the Nederlander Theatre. After five performances and 15 previews, it was closed on October 19. The Broadway show received negative reviews, and it was considered a failure. It developed a cult following from bootleg recordings. ==See also==