What do you get when you add a classic animation director to a classic story?

The Phantom Tollbooth, which as I've mentioned was one of my absolute favorite movies and books as a child (and the inspiration for the name of this blog). The original book was by Norton Juster; the movie was directed by Chuck Jones (w/Abe Levitow).

Here's two extended clips from the movie. If you want to know more about what's going on, there are two good synopses (one brief, one long) at the link above. Other than that I'll just let the clips speak for themselves.

Except, to say that I love the songs in this movie...

The first sequence shows the kingdom of Digitopolis:



Yes, that's Mel Blanc as the voice of The Dodecahedron.

Second is the penultimate sequence of the film.

(It looks like the whole thing can be found in several parts on YouTube at the moment, BTW, should you care to look for them.)