Film #163 - The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
Viewed June 12, 2006
Right off the bat, I’ll point out the similarities between The Brave Little Toaster and several of the Pixar films, since it is that connection that led me to watch it. BLT presents a world where inanimate objects come to life when their owners aren’t around. A small group of abandoned appliances (a Toaster, a Lamp, an electric blanket called Blanky, a Radio, and a vaccuum cleaner named Kirby) go off in search of the young boy who used to own them (and whom they call “The Master”). Along the way, they face many challenges and learn to work together to achieve their goals.
The connections to films like Toy Story are hard to miss: the anthropomorphic nature of the appliances, the devotion they hold to their owner, etc. But that’s where the similarities end. The biggest difference is with BLT’s rather negative view of the world. Of the appliances we meet, only our intrepid heroes are in any way really appealing. The rest are nasty, insane or at the very least, incredibly self-centered. Even among the group, there is an awful lot of arguing, right from the get-go. They do, eventually, find peace with each other, but even Toaster isn’t exactly as friendly as he might have been, and he’s our nominal hero.
It is in the late Jo Ranft, co-screenwriter of BLT, that the connection is made. He had a long career in and out of Disney, ultimately settling at Pixar, where he worked on several movies, including the Toy Story films and the recent Cars. It’s difficult to distill what he brought to the Pixar productions, but whatever it is, it is hardly evident in BLT. It lacks the originality that marks most Pixar productions, and even as a formulaic “journey” film it’s structure is lacking. Far too much relies on coincidence and happenstance, particularly in the ending to the film.
Vocal performances are mostly good, although the main humans could have been more colorful. Most notable are John Lovitz, who gives a typical Lovitz performance as the radio, Phil Hartman as the acerbic air conditioner and a scary hanging lamp, and Thurl Ravenscroft (longtime voice of Tony the Tiger) as the curmudgeonly vacuum cleaner, Kirby.
The largest roles, however, are not filled as well. Deanna Oliver is okay as the Toaster, but she does come off a bit to much of a simpleton. Timothy Stack’s Lamp is far too shrill and eventually becomes irritating. So does Blanky, voiced by Timothy E. Day, although in his case it is because Blanky is so whiny.
The songs by Van Dyke Parks are just not up to snuff. Parks tries to work within the Disney tradition (songs are sung in character), but the sentiment they espouse are very non-Disney. One particularly disturbing song is almost cheerful, yet portrays car after car singing about what they used to do before we see them crushed into an ingot.
The animation is rather stilted, as well. Given the fact that it is distributed on video by Disney, I guess I expected it to be more in line with at least their television animation, but it is ultimately sub-par even for the time. Characters are far too simply drawn and the humans don’t move with any kind of a natural feel. I also couldn’t tell when the film was supposed to be taking place. Once we get to the city, it certainly seems like the 1980s, yet all of the radio’s refernces are to the 1940s. I get that he’s and old radio, but it still confused me. I expected them to be a bit time-displaced (having been unused for so long), but they never really connected with the setting properly.
In the end, I suppose The Brave Little Toaster is worth a look, if only to see the work of Ranft, Ravenscroft, Lovitz and Hartman. Kids who are okay with the concept of death may find it entertaining. But most adults will want to strive to get away as fast as they can.