When I was little, my brothers and I used to love Disney's The Brave Little Toaster. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, it's about a bunch of old appliances left at a summer home that has just been sold. They reminisce about their master, an eight year-old boy. They decide than rather sit around the old house and hope for the best, they travel to the city to find him!I recently downloaded the movie so I could watch it again. It's been many years, and I could only remember random bits of plot line and song (it wouldn't be a Disney classic if it wasn't a musical!). I decided it was time to revisit some beloved childhood moments from a different point of view.
I was not disappointed.
First of all, the characters are awesome just because they're talking appliances. Blankie tends to get annoying since he is interpreted as a whiny-ass child, but is still lovable. You may find yourself wondering if the toaster is supposed to have a gender, however. While all the other characters have definite male/female voices or characteristics, the toaster does not. It was voiced by a woman, but that doesn't necessarily matter in animation.
The plot line has its fair share of continuity issues and oddness but is full of adventure. Our characters face many challenges: dark forests, dangerous waterfalls, a parts mechanic, city streets, thunder storms, and a junk yard with a pissed off electro-magnet. Just about anything that could possibly pose a threat to electric appliances can be found in this movie.These adventures lead to a lot of scenes that can throw you off just because of the sheer triposity that abounds. We're talking about things like the toaster having a nightmare about being chased by a clown throwing forks and dangling over a full bathtub. Or the air-conditioner flipping out and exploding. Or a flower falling in love with its own reflection. Counting the "what the hell" moments would probably make a good drinking game...
There are a surprising amount of frightening scenes for a kid's movie. Watching it again, I'm kind of surprised that I enjoyed it so much as a child. I mean, I was a straight-up wimp. Sid from Toy Story scared me. I refused to watch it for quite some time, but I'm digressing).
Take the scene at the parts store. Here, our beloved household appliances are found by a very rotund man and taken to his shop, which is depicted as a place of horrors. Here, other broken or abandoned appliances are maliciously torn apart and sold. Even though this would be very scary for something like a radio or a vacuum cleaner, the way it's depicted could easily scare a weak-bladdered six-year old. You don't actually see the guy take a blender apart. Instead, dramatic music plays. You see sinister shadows on the wall, course hands are ripping cords and dismembering plastic. Other appliances look on in horror and shield their eyes!Again, this is just one scene.
But I would hate to sound like I am complaining. While the heart-warming tale of adventure and catchy little songs made it a great movie when I was little, the intense and trippy moments make it awesome now. The Brave Little Toaster is a wonderful stoner movie that I greatly recommend.
