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Nearly four decades ago, NBC brought Babes in Toyland back to life with an all-star cast.

The holiday project was based on the 1903 operetta, which features Victor Herbert’s score — including Christmas staple “Toyland” — and a libretto from Glen MacDonough that draws together numerous Mother Goose characters. It followed such previous adaptations as a 1934 Laurel and Hardy film, a 1960 Shirley Temple-led TV version and a 1961 Disney movie starring Annette Funicello.

Filmmaker Clive Donner — whose 1965 comedy What’s New Pussycat? marked Woody Allen’s first produced screenplay — directed Babes in Toyland from a script by Paul Zindel (Mame).

Shot in Munich, it starred 11-year-old Drew Barrymore as Lisa, who has no interest in toys until she gets magically transported to Toyland on Christmas Eve, where she teams up with the Toymaster (Pat Morita, fresh off The Karate Kid Part II) to stop the villainous Barnaby Barnicle (Richard Mulligan) from taking over the realm.

Questlove, Black Thought, bass great Pino Palladino and more have partnered with pianist-producer Ray Angry and artist Katherine McMahon for a new rendition of the Christmas standard, “Toyland.”

“#Toyland” is part of Angry and McMahon’s ongoing Public Domain project, which has found the pair — and a revolving door of collaborators — creating new versions of old songs that are no longer beholden to copyright protections. The original “Toyland” was penned by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough in 1903 for their holiday operetta Babes in Toyland; the new Public Domain version also features Marcus King,...