What makes this movie so durable is the way the ensemble works together to capture the flavor of an American age, as the family anticipates the 1904 World's Fair. Even though this is clearly Judy Garland's movie, there are grand moments with every cast member as they move the story along. The theme of home and what it means to have to leave it lingers from "The Wizard of Oz," and little Margaret O'Brien as Tootie acts our her anger in ways that Dorothy would never have dreamed of. Then there are the songs, woven beautifully into the storyline: "The Trolley Song," "The Boy Next Door," the title song, of course, and the saddest Christmas song ever written, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." This musical has never been equaled for laughs and tears all rolled up with song in one superior package, directed by none other than Vincente Minnelli. --from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013
