Toy Theatre in Film

Toy theater has always fascinated me. I remember as a child building various toy theaters out of cardboard, dioramas out of shoeboxes, and a full-sized handpuppet theater out of a fridge box. Toy theaters were originally mass-produced miniature facsimiles of famous opera and stage-play productions, made of card cut-outs. Some examples of the traditional toy theatre can be found below.


Sliding the small figures back and forth in these theatres might be considered an early version of moving picture. Many films pay homage to....

Oh my goodness! It's snowing! In London! In October?

Anyway, back to business. Many films have paid homage to the form, in particular the films of Ingmar Bergman. Below is the opening to his film "Fanny and Alexander"



His film version of The Magic Flute takes place within the world of an old theatre, the sets of which have a very toy theatre feel to them, which I suppose isn't unusual, considering how most stage sets were built at the time: Flat painted panels.



It's best illustrated at the 4:30 mark as winter transforms into spring.

Below is the trailer for the excellent "Dante's Inferno" by Sandow Birk, an entire film created in a toy theatre:




Other films of interest:
"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
"The Thief of Baghdad"

Below you will find some great toy theatre resources:
Penny Plain Twopence Colored, a wonderful blog devoted to toy theater.
Great Small Works is a theatre company that curates toy theater exhibitions and toy theater festivals at St. Ann's Warehouse in NY.

And here are some clips from more traditional toy theatres: