The Phantom Tollbooth

I love the story of "The Phantom Tollbooth".  This is a book that I checked out from the library every summer to read again, and as an adult, I was thrilled to find the movie on DVD, and it does a WONDERFUL job of telling the story, and features the voice talent of Mel Blanc.

The general storyline is about a boy named Milo who is bored in school, and doesn't understand why he has to bother learning all of these useless things.  One day, when he comes home, he finds a large box in his apartment addressed to him.  It is a model tollbooth, with a small red toy car.  Having nothing better to do, he decides to take a trip, and goes through the tollbooth.  He finds himself transported into another world, following a road driving his car.  The movie does a GREAT job of this transformation, as Milo in the real world is an actor, and when he moves to the fantasy world, he and the world around him becomes a cartoon.

Along the way he runs into some interesting places and people, like a watchdog named Tock (a dog with a pocketwatch in his body), and a Whetherman (who asks lots of questions).  He visits the lands of Dictionopolis, where words are more important than numbers, and Digitopolis, where numbers are more important than words.  Milo learns that the Princesses of Rhyme and Reason have been trapped in the Castle in the Air.  Milo undertakes this quest along with Tock the Watchdog, and the Humbug.  They encounter more interesting characters along the way.  I don't want to give away the total story, because you'll want to experience it for yourself.

I think this is a great book, because it helps to show young children in an entertaining way the value of education.  I think adults would enjoy it as well, it'd be a great book for parents and children to share together.

The movie is even more entertaining, because they do a great job of telling the story using animation that makes the story really come to life. Milo is played by Butch Patrick, best known as Eddie Munster from "The Munsters". Many of the voices are provided by Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny. The animation is the work of the legendary Chuck Jones, who was the chief animator on so many of the Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and other Warner Brother cartoons.