THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER (FILM)

'''The Brave Little Toaster''' is an animated film from 1987, directed by Jerry Rees, written by Thomas M. Disch, and produced by Hyperion Pictures. The story followed five household appliances—Lampy (a lamp), Blanky (an electric blanket), Radio (a radio), Kirby (a vacuum cleaner), and the Toaster (a toaster)—on their quest to find their owner, Rob (also referred to as "The Master").
The film was based on the novella of the same name, written by Disch, which first appeared in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' in 1980. Although appearing in a general circulation magazine, the story was written in the style of a children's fable. It was one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy stories of the early 1980s, and was nominated for both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novella. In 1988, it was the first animated film to be exhibited at the Sundance Film Festival, and the only one for 10 years until 1998's ''I Married a Strange Person''.
''The Brave Little Toaster'' received an Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program in 1988. It was followed by two sequels, ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'' (1998) and ''The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue'' (1999). The two sequels were inferior to the original and were released out of order; "To the Rescue" took place before "Goes to Mars", but "To the Rescue" was released afterwards. A DVD version of the film was released in 2003.
Two of the voice actors, Jon Lovitz (Radio) and Phil Hartman (several characters), were then-current cast members of ''Saturday Night Live''. Another, Thurl Ravenscroft (Kirby), was best remembered as the voice of Tony the Tiger.
Many members of Pixar Studios were involved with this film, including John Lasseter, whose trademark A113 appears on Master's door, and Joe Ranft. Lampy is the predecessor to the desk lamps found in ''Luxo Jr.''.
Also, the music of the movie had a more contemporary sound than many traditional musicals.

Contents

Plot

Characters

Production

Release

Trivia

See also

References

Sources

External links

Plot

The film opens with a slow pan into a seemingly abandoned cabin in the woods. A radio clicks on and begins to give the news as the other appliances (a lamp, an electric blanket, a vacuum, an air conditioner, and a toaster) wake up and start the day. We learn that they have been left in the woods for many years by their master, a young child. Every time a car passes by, they swarm to window, hoping that he has returned. This is to the great amusement of the Air Conditioner, who was always jealous that the master played with the main five instead of him. When the others confront him, he loses it and blows a fuse.
After the five appliances find out that the cabin is for sale, meaning a new master, the Toaster announces that they must go out to find him. After settling on a mode of transportation, an office chair pulled by Kirby the vacuum, the group sets out into the world, heading for the "City of Light," with the Radio acting as a navigator.
That night, the appliances get into the first of many fights finding themselves slightly off course. The Toaster suggests that they sleep until morning. Blanky crawls around, wanting to sleep with someone (a typical need of a blanket) but is shot down by all, even the Toaster. He finally falls asleep hugging a picture of the master that he brought along.
In the morning, the group finds themselves in a colorful meadow full of curious animals who have presumably never seen appliances before. When this becomes too much for Toaster, he hides in the woods only to find a lonely flower. The flower sees its reflection on the Toaster and embraces it. The Toaster scampers off in confusion only to look back to find the flower has wilted. Afterwards on the journey, he decides to be nicer to Blanky because of this.
Leaving the meadow, the group camps out in the woods. Lampy, feeling awkward, asks the Toaster why he's being so nice to Blanky. The Toaster tries to explain it, but uses terms like "warm toasty" and "being next to a new loaf of bread," which Lampy doesn't understand. Finally, the Toaster describes the feeling he has as a glow. Lampy gets it and recalls feeling the same way when he thinks about the master.
The Toaster has a nightmare about being reunited with the master only to have him taken away by a puff of smoke. A demon clown (dressed as a firefighter) attacks the appliance with a stream of water in the form of flying forks. The Toaster wakes up as he falls into a bathtub to find a storm is brewing in reality. Blanky is swept up by a gust of wind and disappears into the night. The others try to follow him, but their battery is used up. Remembering the "glow" feeling the Toaster was talking about, Lampy risks his life and acts as a lightning rod to conduct electricity.
The next morning, Lampy turns out to be okay (though a bit charred with a broken bulb) and Kirby helps Blanky out of a tree he was blown into. However, although the others are friends now, Kirby still distances himself from them. The vacuum has a breakdown when they reach a waterfall and almost swallows his own cord. After calming him down, the group attempts to cross by climbing across using their cords. Unfortunately, they slip and fall, leaving only Kirby on the cliffs as he watches the others plunge towards the water. The vacuum finally shows his love for his friends and dives in, saving them. When they come to shore, they realize that, although safe, they are completely lost.
Not soon after the waterfall peril, the group finds themselves sinking in mud. Radio is the last to submerge and plays a final song ("Mammy"). An odd man, Elmo St. Peters, overhears this and pulls the appliances out. They are taken to a junk shop where they meet the insane inhabitants who assure them that every day for them is like a "B-Movie Show."
A customer comes in and asks for radio tubes, putting Radio in danger. As Elmo begins to cheerfully take him apart, the other four decide to break the unwritten appliance code and dress as a ghost to scare the junk man away. The plan works and the group (along with every other appliance in the shop) makes a break for it. Traveling through the night, they finally make it to the city.
Meanwhile, we find the master, Rob, who is now much older and getting ready to leave for college. However, his dorm needs appliances, and the perfect ones are back at his cabin...
Just as Rob and his girlfriend, Chris, leave, the appliances find their way to his apartment. The jealous "Cutting Edge" appliances inside decide to dump the main group into the dumpster below, assuming Rob will take them to college instead.
Rob finds the cabin empty, fixes the Air Conditioner, and goes home in a dejected state. Hope is not lost, for the Black and White TV, a good friend of the appliances, broadcasts advertisements for the dump where the appliances have been taken, advertising it as a glitzy store.
The appliances, meanwhile, find themselves being stalked through the junkyard full of "Worthless" cars by a Giant Magnet who is ready to drop them into a Trash Compactor. Rob arrives just in time to save the appliances (aside from the Toaster, who he doesn't see). As he is leaving, the Magnet comes down and grabs them all, even Rob, and drops them on a conveyor belt headed for the Trash Compactor. The Toaster jumps into the Compactor's gears and manages to stop the machine from destroying his friends.
Rob fixes the Toaster and loads the appliances into his car. The group is finally reunited with their master and drive into the distance for a happy ending.

Characters

'Toaster' (voiced by Deanna Oliver), is the main character. He is, no doubt, brave (although he is afraid of water, though that's understandable for any appliance). He is the leader of the group, often breaking up fights between Lampy and Radio, and trying his best to cheer up Blanky when he's depressed. Despite having a clearly female voice, Toaster's gender is unclear even though the character was masculine in the novella. He could be classified as the stereotypical hero, a "Marty Stu" or "Gary Stu". In the end, he performs the ultimate act of self-sacrifice and destroys himself to save the master by throwing himself into some grinding gears. The Master later repairs him.
'Lampy' (voiced by Tim Stack), is an orange and yellow desktop lamp. Whenever Lampy is annoyed by Radio, which is often, the two always wind up fighting. Lampy can lose patience when his light bulb burns out or breaks out of too much electrical power. Lampy is said to be the most useful of all of the appliances to "the Master." He is the only appliance who is clearly literate, as he was seen writing a list of things to take to Mars, and was seen reading an address book. He has no arms but can use his electric cord and his plug as hands. He had his own brave moment when he electrocuted himself during a lightning storm to get more power for the group's battery. He tends to repeat himself, with sentences such as "All of a sudden you're being so nice to him all of a sudden".
'Radio' (voiced by Jon Lovitz) is a tube-based radio (the rare WFC-11-12-55). Radio and Lampy spend much of their time on screen fighting. He is the only appliance character without a face. He speaks through a certain radio channel; when the station is changed, he becomes mute, though he can easily switch the station back. He loves to narrate his own adventures, frequently making them over-dramatic. Radio sounds like an early 20th century news reporter, making repeated references to that era, such as Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Cab Calloway, the Brooklyn Dodgers and World War II.

'Blanky' (voiced by Timothy E. Day) is a fuzzy heating blanket. He speaks with the voice of a small child, though he is no younger than any of the others. He also has a very simple, childlike mind, and the others treat him much as elder brothers treat their younger brothers; while for Lampy, Radio, and Kirby this means they tease him mercilessly, Toaster is much more affectionate with him.
'Kirby' (voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft) is a vacuum cleaner. Although he is heavy, he can float on water. He doesn't clean up after cats because he is "allergic" to kitty litter. Seemingly always grumpy and yelling at the others, he actually cares very much about them and risks his life to save them several times. His catch phrase is "I just know I'm gonna regret this." Kirby is bossy, mean, and a terrible grouch but has a heart of gold - although he has a lousy way of showing it sometimes. In the sequence of the film in which the vacuum rescues Blanky from the tree he denies it; at the waterfall after the gang revives him after he faints all he says to them is that he'd be better off without them - but saves their lives anyway when Toaster, Blanky, Lampy, and Radio have fallen into the water; and after he saves them he says "I just slipped and fell in. That's all." It is hard to believe that Kirby experienced his moments of glory but still denies it. But on the positive side, he has a change of heart by the end of the story somehow.
'Air Conditioner' (voiced by Phil Hartman) is an appliance that appears at the beginning of the movie. He has lost faith that the master is coming back, and taunts the others for hoping. They say he is only jealous, which sends him into a rage. He overheats and blows himself up. Near the end of the film, he is fixed by The Master. Rumor has it that the character of the Air Conditioner is based on Jack Nicholson.
'T.V.' (voiced by Jonathan Benair) is an old black and white television that the master brought with him when he first moved out of the cottage and into the city with his family. A very friendly fellow, he is overjoyed to see Toaster, Blanky, Lampy, Radio, and Kirby when they arrive at the master's apartment. His anthropomorphic traits differ from those of the other characters; similar to Radio, he communicates via a certain TV channel, on which he displays a newscaster-like man. Like Radio, changing the channel away from this character seems to immobilize him. Later in the story he uses this character to advertise Ernie's Disposal (where the master's jealous new appliances sent the main characters to) as a cheap appliance store in an attempt to get the master to go there and hopefully recover the five missing appliances.
'The Giant Magnet' appears near the end of the film at Ernie's Disposal. He happily feeds the Car Crusher by using his circular surface to grab anything metal. When Toaster and the others escape him for the first time, he seems to become very keen on capturing them. Although merely an antagonist doing his job (not unlike Elmo St. Peters) when we are first introduced to him, he becomes a true villain, stalking the appliances and even trying to kill the master. Silent but deadly, he never utters a word. The Magnet turns a glowing golden-yellow when he gets ''very'' angry.
'Plugsy' (voiced by Jim Jackman), is a purple lamp who is one of the Master's jealous appliances who are responsible for sending Toaster and friends to Ernie's Disposal. Plugsy has a deep voice and a big round bottom lip (like that of '' The Little Mermaid'' 's Sebastian's).
'Other Jealous Cutting Edge Appliances' include an entertainment system, a personal computer, a sewing machine, a food processor, a vacuum cleaner, an egg beater, a toaster oven, a telephone, and a boom box. All of them are ironically dated by today's standards, which may have been intended (of course, the movie was made in a time where they were indeed quite cutting-edge). Their song "Cutting Edge" contrasts strongly with the later "Worthless." Ironically, Plugsy is the only named character in this group, despite not being hi-tech like the rest.
'Hanging Lamp' (voiced by Phil Hartman) The hanging lamp character bears a strong resemblance, both physically and audibly, to Peter Lorre. Although crazy, he is by no means a bad guy and even gives Lampy his bulb. He is also somewhat physically akin to the Giant Magnet.
'Elmo St. Peters' (voiced by Joe Ranft) is the owner of an appliance shop. He has a pet dog named Quadruped, and drives a truck with abnormally large wheels. He could easily be called a villain for dismantling a poor innocent Blender for its motor and attempting to take Radio apart.
'Cars' (voiced by The Disney Chorus) populate the junkyard where the appliances are taken. They sing "Worthless" as The Giant Magnet lowers them to their doom.
'Rob' (voiced by Wayne Kaatz), better known as "The Master" is the owner of the appliances, and has an odd attachment to them.

Production

The film rights to ''The Brave Little Toaster'', the original novella, were bought by the Disney Studios in 1982 two years after its original print appearance. At first, Disney planned the adaptation as an $18 million project, but it was then transferred to the new Hyperion Pictures, the creation of former Disney employees Tom Wilhite and Willard Carroll, who took the production along with them.Beck (2005), pp. 40-41.
With Disney backing the project, ''Toaster'' soon turned into an independent effort; the electronics company TDK and video distributor CBS-Fox soon joined in. In 1986, Hyperion began to work on the story and characters, with Taiwan's Wang Film Productions for the overseas unit.Beck (2005), pp. 40-41. The cost was reduced to $2.3 million as production began.
Jerry Rees, a crew member on two previous Disney films, ''The Fox and the Hound'' and ''Tron'', was chosen to direct the movie, and was also a writer on the screenplay along with Joe Ranft. Rees' inspiration for voice casting came from the Groundlings improvisational group, some of whose members (Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman, Timothy Stack and Mindy Sterling) voiced characters in the film. Lovitz and Hartman were stars of ''Saturday Night Live'' at the time. The color stylist was veteran Disney animator Ken O'Connor, a member of Disney's feature animation department from its establishment.Beck (2005), pp. 40-41.

Release

''The Brave Little Toaster'' was initially released on July 10, 1987, and made its way to the Sundance Film Festival the following year. Despite being a favorite with festival audiences, it failed to find a distributor. Disney, who held the video and TV rights, withheld its official theatrical distribution, intending it to be shown on its new premium cable service instead. The buzz it generated at Sundance dissipated, and it only received limited theatrical airings through Hyperion, mainly at arthouse facilities across the U.S., and most notably at the Film Forum in New York City, in June 1989.
The movie premiered on home video in 1991, and was released on DVD in 2003 along with its sequels, ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'' (1998) and ''The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue'' (1999). The original film has garnered a 73% rating on the reviews website, Rotten Tomatoes.^[2]

Trivia

★ A near likeness of the Toaster can be seen in the Timon and Pumbaa music video ''Stand By Me'' as one of the many things that fall on Pumbaa while Timon is singing the song. It hits Pumbaa on the head, the warthog looks at it, puzzled, and it pops out two slices of toast.

★ Rob looks coincidentally like an older John Darling from ''Peter Pan''.

★ The vacuum, Kirby, is named after the brand of vacuum, "Kirby".

See also

★ List of animated feature-length films

References

1. Datlow and Windling (2001), p. xlv.
2. . Retrieved March 29, 2007.

Sources

★ Datlow, Ellen and Windling, Terri (2001). ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror''. ISBN 0-312-04450-X. St. Martin's Press. Retrieved March 29, 2007.

★ Beck, Jerry (2005). ''The Animated Movie Guide''. ISBN 1-55652-591-5. Chicago Reader Press. Retrieved March 29, 2007.

External links

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