Raggedy Ann and Andy: a Musical Adventure - Movie Review (Part 2)

Raggedy Ann and Andy: a Musical Adventure (Part 2)

Welcome back my beautiful fairies to my Fairytale Theater! I'm you're host, Your Clairy Godmother. And we're continuing our deep dive into the toy chest of madness that is Raggedy Ann and Andy: a Musical Adventure. We've gushed about the trippy yet terrific visuals and the bizarre and somewhat tragic history of Raggedy Ann herself, but playtime is over now. Let's begin our review and analysis of the movie itself.

The movie begins in live-action rather than animation, presumably to make the spectacular art seem all the more grabbing when it arrives. A school bus drops off a little girl cheekily named Marcella, played by Richard Williams’s seven-year-old daughter Claire Williams (animation genius and excellent taste in names, I see!) But if you’re wondering why these live-action segments are here, it’s because this film was originally envisioned as a live-action direct-to-video movie at one point, before the people actually making the movie thought live actors portraying dolls would be a bit too silly, and the rest is animation history (Dick van Dyke was originally slated to play Raggedy Andy). We see Marcella rush up to her nursery where she drops off her beloved Raggedy Ann doll and leaves to prepare for her birthday party. And because we need to get to the insanity as fast as we can, all the toys quite literally become animated. Despite all the rough playtime with Marcella, Raggedy Ann is an infectiously positive and grateful character who adores being Marcella’s favorite toy, as all the other toys both look up to her and envy her for being the only toy who regularly sees the world outside the house.

I'm glad it's only Ann who gets out, though, and not Marcella's creepy Pinocchio Betty Boop monstrosities who walked straight out of a haunted toy shop. For those wondering why these horrific twin abominations are in this movie, those are Dutch dolls, also known as pennywood dolls. They used to be popular dolls in the 1800s and were the stars of a famous and now banned children’s book. With that in mind, count your blessings that they didn’t bring their friend or else this movie would’ve aged like baby spinach. But that DOES bring up the ethical questions about what racist toys are like in this world. Do they act like racist caricatures, or are they themselves prejudiced against others? If so, are they prejudiced against other toys or just the groups they were designed to mock? Are those little plastic Aboriginal toys you get with cowboy figurines bigoted towards other indigenous tribes? Or are racist toys instead self-aware and loathe how offensive they are? How sad are their lives? Do political bobbleheads have the same beliefs as the people they were modeled after? Do dolls based on actors act like the actors themselves or the characters they’re based on, or do they have original personalities? Are they aware of what and who they’re based on? ...No time to think, I guess! Because we’ve got songs to get to. And it’s fitting we start off this musical adventure with one its best songs.

"I Look and What Do I See?" from Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.

“I Look and What Do I See?” is such a great introduction song. The lyrics are as sweet as gingerbread and they’re so gently yet enthusiastically sung; Ann’s voice can go from soft and sugary to bold and playful. Raggedy Ann herself is voiced by Edith "Didi" Conn, who is most famous for playing Frenchie in Grease, and she has such a unique voice for the character of Ann. Didi actually was suffering through a throat infection during the recording of this movie, and claims to have hated how her voice turned out for the film, but the filmmakers loved how her voice sounded despite that. And I really think that sweetly-weird and childish throatiness adds a lot to the character. Ann is a humble little ragdoll who just likes to play and be kind to others, so having this beautifully innocent yet rougher voice adds so much personality. 

And thankfully the good stuff keeps coming, as we’re soon introduced to Ann’s brother Raggedy Andy, who was squished under Marcella’s birthday present like a red-shoed witch. Andy might be my favorite character; he’s like a little boy as imagined by a girl with no brothers. He’s very superficially macho, always wanting to pick fights and is very protective of his sister. But at the same time he’s extremely sweet and supportive of Ann with a lot of soft moments, as well as being generally the most self-aware and sarcastic character. The concept of a male doll hating the idea of being a girl’s toy because he finds it emasculating is a cute idea. Remember that Raggedy Andy walked so Ken could run. Thankfully, he also has my absolute favorite song in the movie! I told you all the best ones were at the beginning.

"No Girl's Toy" from Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.

Know what? As a homoromantic asexual, this song is the national anthem of my sexuality. In all seriousness, this is probably the musical's most famous and memorable song. The music is incredibly catchy, the lyrics are jam-packed with cheery sass and spunk, it plays around with an adorable concept, and it has a really nice rhyming flow. Andy’s performance is incredible too, with his voice provided by the late Mark Baker. He sounds rough-and-tough but still has that light-hearted cheekiness that keeps him very likable. Though there is a lot of irony in someone singing about how they’re no "sissy girl’s toy", all the while effeminately swinging their hips and singing a bubbly ragtime number. (Oh my godmother, I just got the pun.) It’s rumored that Richard Williams himself animated this musical number, and I’d believe that with the downright mesmerizing way Andy moves. I actually went back and slowed down the footage while writing this review just to watch how incredibly he moves from pose to pose. It's like a surreal art showcase just from one character moving. (And yes, before you indie animation fans say anything in the comments, I am well aware Raggedy Andy was the main inspiration for the character Jax in The Amazing Digital Circus, but that's a show I don't really care for other than supporting independent animation studios. His actor, Michael Kovach, also ended up releasing a cover of this very song doing his Jax voice.)

So Marcella opens her birthday present from her French aunt, a porcelain doll named Babette... that any real kid would break in an hour. 

...The animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, you say? Yeah, apologies for this, but Babette’s kinda hot. I’m sorry! I know it’s weird to say that to a cartoon doll, but look at those eyes, that body, all that hyper-feminine and expressive detail! She’s drawn as gorgeous as possible. I’m not weird, she’s just drawn that way! ...Oh no, the humans reading this review can’t know I’m lusting for a cartoon doll, um- HEY! Babette doesn’t like it here, so we get another song from Ann and Andy.

"I'm Just A Rag Dolly" from Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.

"I'm Just A Rag Dolly" is super sweet and super catchy, really capturing Ann's humility and wholesomeness and Andy's sincerity towards his sister. Babette also immediately gets a song afterwards about missing her homeland of France, performed by Niki Flacks. And as someone who does speak French, I do find her accent cute; instead of sounding like an English woman doing a bad French accent, she sounds like a French woman doing a bad English accent. It’s pretty adorable. Though the song itself is one of the weaker ones, I do appreciate Babette singing about wishing to be "happy and gay", which means that my delusional fantasies of me having a chance with this cartoon doll are (hopefully) less insane.

"Poor Babette" from Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.

Throughout both songs, though, we keep cutting back to this snowglobe with a pirate inside named Captain Contagious. The figures inside of snow globes are sentient too? My word, thou art forever doomed to be a permanent zoo attraction. If you’re wondering why the captain’s red-faced design and booming voice are so familiar, he’s voiced by the late George S. Irving, who you might recognize as the Heat Miser from The Year Without Santa Claus. I guess angry short guys with red hair who hate the snow was just his typecasting. Parade line of chins aside, I really enjoy his design. That mustache of his has so much personality and they do great visual gags with it. I wish his sneezing and screaming didn’t interrupt “I’m Just A Rag Dolly”, though. Especially when Andy joins in, because he’s just so sweet and supportive of his sister. But the plot actually kickstarts when The Captain sees a woman for the first time and instantly starts musically declaring his horniness with "A Miracle". (See? I’m not the only one who thinks she’s hot, they knew what they were doing!)

The Captain: (singing) “A miracle, everything I’ve waited for, now at last, my lonely heart has found the shore! A miracle…”
Grandpa: “She sure is a picture.”
Raggedy Andy: “I think she’s kind of a pill.”
Raggedy Ann: “Oh, she’s probably homesick.”

With these bits of dialogue going on, I do love how the characters completely ignore the bombastic love song playing in the background; implying that the musical numbers in this world are only acknowledged by the people performing or watching them and that the characters don’t notice any other musical number. It’s weirdly both diegetic and nondiegetic; like the characters living in two separate musical realities. Also, Captain dude! I know you’re keeping it in your pants, but keep it in your pants!

"A Miracle" from Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.

Look at this man! Poor guy’s pouring his heart and soul into this love ballad and literally no one can be bothered to care! Anyway, the conflict truly begins because The Captain is virgin incel. But since Twitch hasn’t been invented yet for him to donate to Babette’s streams and she has no bath water for him to purchase, the next best thing is to resort to kidnapping! He tricks Raggedy Ann into breaking his snowglobe, which causes his ship to grow giant and a literal sea storm of other pirates to pop out of the globe's waters to act as The Captain's crew, taking Babette to be his bride as they literally paddle up the nursery walls and out the window.

Again, I love how the characters just sit around bewildered at first. It's like these characters are so cuddly that they can’t comprehend that someone could be mean, or flat-out do something so ludicrous. The weird, overly-innocent attitude this movie has does make it incredibly charming. Though, I will say that this happens 25 minutes into the movie and we only have an hour left. The worst part of this movie is the snail's-speed pacing at the beginning; they spend too much time in this nursery and they keep dragging out things that could easily be trimmed down. The main appeal of this movie is the insanity, and that doesn’t happen until far later into the film. If you go into this movie expecting all the wacky stuff, you’re going to be fairly bored until much later into the film and I can easily see the beginning not capturing much attention aside from the songs. But luckily, Ann and Andy make no hesitations in going after Babette and have no hesitations with singing perhaps the musical’s most famous song.

"Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers" from Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.

I fear the risk of sounding too sappy, but this is one of my favorite songs in any animated musical period. This is one of the songs I love singing to myself the most. Whenever I am saddened, stressed, or just humming a tune to my dog, I often sing this song. It is one of the most earnest, sincere, and whimsical melodies I’ve ever heard. Everything just fits so right, like a warm hug from an old friend. It’s a beautiful and humble song about how loved ones and simple gifts from said loved ones can mean and do so much for a person, how love is never too far away. The lyrics are as perfect as they can be for a song like this. Didi Conn and Mark Baker perform it perfectly as well, with Andy’s confident yet gentle mannerisms and Ann’s innocent optimism. The visuals, with the coffee-stained fields of flowers and tangling trees, look straight out of a fairy tale adding dark atmosphere but also a sense of adventure. This is behind, of course, the outstanding character animation. The song gives a genuine feeling of a subtle, gentle love between family and finding hope in dark situations through unusual objects like paper daisies and the memories associated with them.

It’s no wonder why this song sounds as lovely as it is, as apparently this was the final bit of singing recorded for the movie; all reportedly performed in a single take. Production memoirs cited that Didi Conn only auditioned for Raggedy Ann because she originally thought the film was for a commercial, but burst into tears after she had finished recording her takes for the film (including this song). Joe Raposo approached Didi Conn and Mark Baker to comfort them both as the sung. As Ann is quoted as saying, “Times get bad, but I don’t worry, ‘cause I know you’ll see me through.”, Didi had looked over to Raposo and felt "like she had found a kindred spirit". The voice actors and directors clearly saw a lot of passion and love from this story. The intent in their vocal performances is clear and can be felt miles and years ahead of this movie’s release. Despite the director’s sourness towards the project, a lot of the staff were sad to see themselves at the end of it. There’s a lot of genuine heart and soul in this movie, even with its frenzy of flaws. I have so many words for this movie and especially this song and yet it’s not enough. This song is just love. It embodies love, and how can I do anything else but love it?

Now that the adventure has truly begin, we're going to wrap this part of the review up now. Join me next week for part 3 of this movie analysis, with Your Clairy Godmother.