The Brave Little Toaster
I’m not sure what was going through the minds of the animators at Disney when they came up with this film, but whatever it was we ended up with a Toaster. Oh, not your every day plugged in the wall, flick the switch and pop, up comes your toast kind of toaster, no, Disney had to take it one step further....by making it a brave little toaster. And we all know that Brave Little toasters are only good for one thing, being brave, as well as saving the day. The fun doesn't end here, no, the toaster has friends, which makes this story more intriguing. His companions include a vacuum cleaner, a radio, an electric blanket, and a bedside lamp. Sounds like another Disney classic to me.... Upon reading the back of the box I soon discovered a line that summed up the movie better than I ever could, “You and your family have never seen a movie quite like the Brave Little Toaster.” ....”Five electrical appliances in a country cottage suddenly feel dumped when their young master mysteriously disappears!” Lets examine this statement, taken straight off the back of the box, for a moment. First off, the opening lines, “..appliances in a country cottage..” now if the people who lived in this house only had five appliances then, they had some issues, now our story wouldn’t be as interesting if the appliances were a washer, dryer, refrigerator, oven...etc, but it had to be a toaster. Now let’s move on the second half of the statement, “...young master disappears..” This is the part which should scare parents away from the purchase of this video. The word “master,” to me at least, implies some type of brain-washed cult, but Disney in all their infinite wisdom, made the worshipers electrical appliances. I forgot to mention that the lovely country cottage is surrounded by trees, cotton candy pink trees. But the fun doesn't end here. The creators of Disney had an idea, and they weren’t going to let it go. They had a crazy character, so why not have an insane plot. The appliances wake one morning to find that their master has disappeared, and to their dismay the cottage in which they reside is now being sold. This tears the little toaster’s heart to pieces, knowing that his beloved has left him alone with a vacuum. So the brave little guy formulates a plan in his heating coils, and sets out on an adventure to find his “master.” The other appliances accompany him on the journey, with the vacuum towing them around on an office chair for transportation. They have perils along the way, such as extension cord problems, and a light bulb going out. Along with the adventures the group of five experience, they are constantly on a journey in search of the “city” where they will find the master. Except for the voices of Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman from the cast of Saturday Night live, this film has no preconceived stardom to brag about. In my mind these two probably lost a bet and ended up speaking for the appliances. That is, unless, they too were sucked into the cultic nature of this film. I believe that the idea of “master” is a common theme throughout Disney movies, lets explore Toy Story for a moment, a favorite for many, but the cult idea occurs when the little green aliens in the claw machine began chanting, “I have been chosen”, and phrases including “master.” Disney has always had an impact on children with their imaginative ideas, and wild characters, but we ask “where did the ideas come from?” Rumors, that will probably never be proven, have circulated that the creators of Disney are users of hallucinogens, which allow for fantasy worlds to be created, one movie in particular that has come under such scrutiny, is the adventures of Alice in Wonderland. Disney has been accused in past years for also having underlying meaning to their films, in this case a cult situation seems to form during the viewing of the show. The animators at Disney really flunked out on this film, the whole idea, as original as it may be, is totally unappealing to audiences, that is unless your under the age of five. The sad thing though, that really sent Disney into a downward spiral, is the fact that they continued to make other films based on these same appliance characters. They are featured in The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, we can’t wait to see that one! Overall, the movie was fair, the story was bearable, except for the whole “master” part. I give the movie two stars, just for attempting to think outside the box, wait, toaster.
Review by: Peep 2