The Brave Little Toaster (1987)

Director:

Jerry Rees

Writers:

Thomas M. Disch (book)
Thomas M. Disch (story)

Release Date:

10 July 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

Imagine if Your Toaster Went on a Journey of its Own!

Plot:

A group of dated appliances that find themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold...

Plot Keywords:

Toaster | Television Set | Friendship | Reflection | Vacuum Cleaner

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jon Lovitz	...	The Radio (voice)
Timothy Stack	...	Lampy / Zeke (voice) (as Tim Stack)
Timothy E. Day	...	Blanky / Young Rob (The Master) (voice)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	Kirby (voice)
Deanna Oliver	...	Toaster (voice)
Phil Hartman	...	Air Conditioner / Hanging Lamp (voice)
Joe Ranft	...	Elmo St. Peters (voice)
Judy Toll	...	Mish-Mash / Two-Face Sewing Machine (voice)
Wayne Kaatz	...	Rob (The Master) (voice)
Colette Savage	...	Chris (voice)
Mindy Stern	...	Mother / Two-Face Sewing Machine (voice)
Jim Jackman	...	Plugsy (voice)
Randall William Cook	...	Entertainment Center (voice)
Randy Bennett	...	Computer (voice)
Jonathan Benair	...	Black and White TV (voice)

Also Known As:

The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre | West Germany:o.Al. | USA:Not Rated | UK:U

Company:

Hyperion Pictures

Trivia:

Was originally in development at Disney, with John Lasseter set to direct. Lasseter planned to use a combination of traditional hand-drawn animation and computer generated imagery for the characters, making it the first animated feature to attempt it. Executives, however, lost interest when they found that the film would not have been any less expensive with computer animation (they were only interested in CGI as a cost-cutting measure) and pulled the plug on the ambitious project. Lasseter left Disney for Pixar, while the rest of the team took the film outside and managed to produce it independently (without any computer animation). The film was eventually bought by Disney, shown on the Disney Channel and became a cult hit. As for the animators, many of them eventually returned to Disney to work on such films as Beauty and the Beast (1991) and -The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)_, as well as some of Pixar's early feature films.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the appliances are about to leave, there is a shot of the front door with its knob on the left. When Kirby finally opens it, the knob switches sides.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Radio: Good morning, good morning, gooooood morning!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Something Blue (#4.9)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Wooden Meadow

While the master's away, the appliances will play ...

I remember early one morning as an eight-year-old, I caught this film on ITV and thought it was really good, and guess what? More than ten years later, I still do.

Shown on Channel 4 this morning on half-term week, it's more than meets the eye. Toaster, Lamp, Blankie, Hoover and Radio(I think) all go on an adventure to find their master, who appears to have abandoned them in his old childhood cottage.

It seems like this is like an 80s Toy Story or something, only with the appliances coming to life, and having their own personalities. Like Toy Story, it has a good plot and likable characters.

Sure, it has it's dark moments, so parents of young children should take note and check beforehand, but honestly, it only adds to the excitement of the film, and makes you actually care about the characters.

The animation may seem quite dated now, but the story in itself is timeless. This is definitely one to keep for generations to come.