Review of The Pied Piper of Hamelin

I don't object to musicals per se, but you need good songs and this bare bones version of The Pied Piper ain't got 'em. The use of Grieg's music is fine, but the original songs---and the lyrics occasionally put to Grieg's music---are awful. The shoestring budget shines through, as we don't see any rats other than in shadows and during the rather poorly animated 'exodus' scene. And the cast can't even decide how to pronounce the name of their unfortunate sister city---what starts out as 'Hamelot' becomes 'HameLOUT' by the time Claude Rains is through with it. It makes perfect sense that schlockmeister K. Gordon Murray picked this up for theatrical distribution, as the production values and sloppy sentiment are right in line with his other kiddie matinee fare like Santa Claus and Puss N Boots (the Mexican versions, of course). My seven year old was bored with it and even though I enjoyed Jim Backus and Rains (up to a point) I can't recommend this to anyone other than hardcore Van Johnson fans.