The Phantom Tollbooth (film)

Plot

Milo, a bored boy who lives in a San Francisco 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 in the Lands Beyond, and the states of Dictionopolis (kingdom of words) and Digitopolis (kingdom of mathematics).

Accompanied by Tock, a "watchdog" who actually has a large pocketwatch in his body, Milo has a series of adventures in places like the Doldrums, Dictionopolis, Digitopolis, the Mountains of Ignorance, and the Castle in the Air. Together they must rescue the Princesses Rhyme and Reason, who are being held captive in the Castle in the Air, and restore order to the Kingdom of Wisdom. The many eccentric characters they meet include the Whether Man, the Humbug, the Spelling Bee, the noisy Dr. Kakofonous A. Dischord, King Azaz the Unabridged, the Mathemagician, and Officer Short Shrift as well as demons like the Senses Taker, the Demon of Insincerity, the Terrible Trivium, and the Gelatinous Giant.

Cast

Voices

Home release

The film was released in VHS, Betamax, CED, and LaserDisc formats in 1980s by MGM/UA Home Video. In 2011 it was released in a remastered DVD edition by Warner Archive Collection. The DVD is matted in similar manner as Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection.

Soundtrack

Music by Lee Pockriss; lyrics by Norman Gimbel unless otherwise noted.

Differences between the book and the film

The following characters appear in the book and not in the film:

The only original character in the film is the Hideous Two-Faced Hypocrite.

Reception

The film was not a box office hit. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 100% of eight surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 7.2/10. Time Out Paris wrote that the story has "too many lessons" but "some very nice ideas". TV Guide rated it 3/4 stars and described it as "a charming film that combines some fairly sophisticated ideas [...] with cute and likable characters that are sure to grab a child's attention". Tom Hutchinson of the Radio Times rated it 4/5 stars and wrote that the film has "wonderful ideas", but they are "likely to be a bit above the heads of very young children".

Remake

In February 2010, director Gary Ross began development of a remake of The Phantom Tollbooth for Warner Bros., the current owner of the film. Alex Tse wrote the first draft. As of August 2016, the remake has moved to TriStar Pictures, with Michael Vukadinovich writing the adaption.