The Phantom Tollbooth (film)
| The Phantom Tollbooth | |
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Theatrical Poster
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| Directed by |
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| Produced by | Chuck Jones |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on |
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Dean Elliott |
| Cinematography | Lester Shorr |
| Edited by | William Faris |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Phantom Tollbooth, also known as The Adventures of Milo in the Phantom Tollbooth, is a 1970 live-action/animated film based on Norton Juster's 1961 children's book The Phantom Tollbooth. This film was produced by Chuck Jones at MGM Animation/Visual Arts and stars Butch Patrick as Milo with the voice talents of Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, Candy Candido, Hans Conried, June Foray, Patti Gilbert, Shepard Menken, Cliff Norton, Larry Thor, and Les Tremayne. Jones also directed the film, save for the live action bookends directed by fellow Warner Bros. Cartoons alum Dave Monahan. The film was released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on November 7, 1970, and was the last MGM feature film release to include both live-action and animated segments. MGM's United Artists subsidiary would release its first fully animated film The Secret of NIMH in 1982.
Completed by 1968, the film was held up for release by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer until late 1970 due to internal problems. The animation studio closed soon after the film's release, with MGM leaving the animation business for good. Juster had no input into the adaptation, and has expressed his hatred for the film in an interview: "It was a film I never liked. I don't think they did a good job on it. It's been around for a long time. It was well reviewed, which also made me angry."
Milo, a bored, lonely 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 cities of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis.
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Wikipedia