Babette is a major character in the 1977 live-action/animated musical fantasy film, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure.
She is a french doll from Paris France who, at first when she showed up, felt homesick for Paris. She was kidnapped by Captain Contagious, however, Babette locked him away to take over the ship so she could go to Paris. But later she realizes her mistakes and apologizes for how she was.
She was voiced by Niki Flacks.
Why she isn't heroic or villainous?[]
- Focus on her own interests: Babette is primarily concerned with her own appearance, mannerisms, and French heritage. She doesn't take sides or get involved in the main conflict.
- Limited screen time and involvement: Babette doesn't play a significant role in the main storyline, and her appearances and relatively brief. This limited involvement prevents her from having a major impact on the plot, making her less likely to be seen as heroic or villainous.
- Personal growth: Babette's redemption and willingness to help the heroes imply a degree of personal growth and self-awareness. This character development makes her a more nuanced and relatable character, rather than a one-dimensional villain or hero.
- Babette's actions (despite taking over the ship, locking away the Captain and tying up Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, & The Camel to the ship to keep them out of the way) are more a result of her own desires and frustrations as she's not necessarily trying to harm them, but she's trying to assert her own dominance. This behavior keeps her in a neutral zone, as she's not necessarily evil, but rather self-serving.
Background[]
At the beginning of the film, Marcella gets a birthday present, from Paris France, and the toys in the playroom are excited to see what it is, they notice that there’s feet sticking out from the bottom of the box, Raggedy Ann recognizes them and says they look like her feet, and then they hear muffling and the feet move, Ann realizes that it’s her brother, Raggedy Andy. And so all the toys help get him out.
The toys continue to wonder what could be in the box. They find a sticker that’s high on the box, and so the toys help Raggedy Ann read what it says, she reads it saying “Happy Birthday, Marcella. From Paris France. Contents: One French Doll”. Andy, not caring at all what’s in it due to him being annoyed about being stuck under the box, tells everyone how he’s tired of it being “another darn doll” and tells them how he’s also tired of being seen as a “girls toy”.
Marcella then comes back to the playroom and opens the box, and introduces her toys to the new French doll, Babette. Marcella then puts her in a dollhouse and leaves the playroom.
The toys greet Babette and Raggedy Ann welcomes her to the playroom. Babette, being shy, eventually walks to the balcony of the dollhouse and asks who they are, and is curious where she is. After Raggedy Andy tells her she’s in the playroom, she begins feeling homesick for Paris. Babette asks what they are, and Raggedy Ann tells her they’re dolls, like her.
Babette then asks again who they are, then Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and the toys start singing “Rag Dolly” while introducing themselves to her.
Babette, still homesick, starts singing about how she much misses Paris, making Andy quite annoyed again.
Captain Contagious is seen spying on them from the snow globe, and he then falls in love with Babette as soon as he sees her for the first time. Babette then goes back inside the dollhouse and doesn’t want to be disturbed.
The Captain manages to get out of the cage with the help of the Cuckoo Clock bird, Raggedy Ann, and Maxi-Fixit. As soon as he’s free from the globe, he announces he has come to claim what is rightfully his, which then he kidnaps Babette, ties her up to his pirate ship, and leaves the playroom. Leaving the toys shocked for what they just witnessed. Raggedy Ann mourns that it was her fault that it happened.
So then Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy set out to rescue Babette.
When they manage to catch up with the pirate ship, it was revealed that Babette locked away Captain Contagious and took over the ship so she could get to Paris, and when she notices Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and The Camel with the Wrinkled Knees trying to rescue her, she arrogantly tells them she is not going anywhere except Paris, and tells them that’s she is captain of the ship now, and tells the other pirates to seize Ann, Andy, and The Camel and tie them up so they will be out of the way until they reach Paris.
Captain Contagious, with the help of Queasy, manages to get out of the dungeon to take his ship back, and notices Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and The Camel tied up, so he tells queasy to untie them. He then tries to confront Babette and tries to ask her if they could let bygones be bygones.
However, King Koo Koo manages to catch up to them with Gazooks, and begins to take everyone on the ship one by one to tickle them so King Koo Koo could get the greatest laugh ever and become the biggest thing in the world.
Babette and Raggedy Ann manage to hide, with Ann telling Babette that Marcella told them never to leave the room, Babette begins to realize her mistakes and starts mourning about what she’s done.
King Koo Koo eventually finds them and Gazooks starts tickling them as well. King Koo Koo eventually becomes the biggest thing in the world and tell Raggedy Ann he’s got the last laugh, until he was popped by Queasy, causing him to explode.
Marcella finds Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, Babette, Captain Contagious, and Queasy and brings them inside.
After they get home, Babette apologizes to Raggedy Ann for causing such trouble, and Raggedy Ann forgives and hugs her, Babette then tells Ann that she hopes she will be her friend. Captain Contagious tells Babette that he still loves her, Babette then falls in love with him and tells him that he may visit her on Sundays.
During the song “Home”, The Captain and Babette are seen together, with Captain kissing Babette while holding her hand, and Babette then kisses him back.
And then during the final song of the film “Candy Hearts Reprise”, they’re seen together again, with Queasy, as they are seen singing with all of the other toys in the playroom.
Appearance[]
Because Babette is a French Doll, it’s quite likely she’s made out of bisque and her eyes could possibly be made out of glass, she also has blonde hair, blue eyes, a light yellow bonnet with a blue bow, yellow gloves, a yellow/light yellow dress.
Personality[]
When Babette was introduced, she was first seen as shy, wondering where she was. She started becoming more homesick due to her missing Paris. She was also seen as a bit stubborn as she didn’t want to be seen in the playroom. And after she was kidnapped by the Captain, she became more jerkish as she locked him up and took over his ship so she could go to Paris and didn’t wanna go back to the playroom.
However, after she realized her mistakes and apologized for how she was, she became nicer and accepted being in the playroom, redeeming herself, and she forgave The Captain for what he did to her and fell in love with him too.