Der tapfere kleine Toaster

Really a good, underappreciated gem to be honest, I liked its quest, its dark side, the 'Incredible Journey' of Household appliances could Not have been done better, I think. My nephews have watched this and love it. Gotta like the vacuum cleaner and the scenes in the woods.

*** outta ****

Having seemingly been abandoned in their country cottage by their owner, five small household appliances (radio, lamp, blanket, vacuum cleaner, and toaster) set out cross-country on a journey to find their master, a young boy. Along the way, the five appliances encounter various adventures and trials, like a waterfall, a pond with frogs, and a fat little repairman.

In the transference of human emotion to everyday objects, the story's theme is the yearning to be included, to be relevant, to be needed and loved. The five adventurers display varying human traits. Radio is the most verbal, and something of a comic. Blanket is a tad snugly and sentimental. Kirby the vacuum cleaner is proud and brave. Lamp is "light"-hearted and upbeat. Toaster seems the most ... "grounded" with common sense.

The film makes these low-tech appliances sympathetic and heroic. But contrast, the "cutting-edge" electronics are portrayed as mean and possibly deceptive. I wouldn't disagree with that.

Color visuals are fine. Animation is acceptable. Even though the lyrics to some of the songs are hard to understand, I like the soundtrack, especially "Trutti-Frutti", "B-Movie Show", and "Mammy". I don't quite understand the rationale for including multiple references to Roosevelt. And radio is forever referring to past historical events. I'm not sure why.

Entirely appropriate for kids, "The Brave Little Toaster" works for adults too, mostly through its all-too-human emotional themes, and as a pleasant change from real-life actors, their dramas, and their careers.

It's funny to watch The Brave Little Toaster over the years and see how your tastes change. As a young boy I loved this movie. As a teenager I thought BLT was stupid and nonsensical. Now I'm in my twenties and have a different opinion about this movie. BLT has a strong subtext of time passing and becoming obsolete by the new generation. Then being abandoned and forgotten about. This movie is full of hidden meanings which I did not realize when I was young.

The first thing I noticed when I watched BLT was how simple the animation looked. You get kinda desensitized after watching the graphics on Toy Story & Finding Nemo that it takes a little getting used to the animation in BLT. Some scenes look now better than a flash movie you'd play on Quicktime. The animation is like a mixture of The Lion King and The Simpsons. The characters expressions, on the other hand, are as good as it gets. From the Radio pointing his antenna to Lampy using his cord like hand gestures is brilliant!

Story:9/10 Acting:9/10 Animation:7/10 Characters Expressions:10/10!

This is excellent stuff, thank god for Channel 4 in the UK for showing it from time to time. I caught it one early morning, straight after a night of serious zonked-out clubbing - probably in the "right" frame of mind for it, you could say - and ten minutes into it I was hooked. Funny, witty, crisp and unusually dark for a cartoon kiddies story, it does work throughout, bar a couple of plodding moments. But the points the film makes and the motives it revolves around, although not new or original, are well placed and executed - companionship, callousness, bonding, slip shoddiness, arrogance, transience and loyalty are all treated in a way which justifies even the occasional lapses into exaggerated sentimentality.

What's even more interesting is to see how the film works in the setting of it's own initial premise - that is, an "older" apparatus, with cruder animation, compared to the marvels of CG graphics which nowadays we take as set standards. And even there it's an overall winner, it shows that one doesn't need a high flying budget, the latest technology or big name voice characterisations to make a point and come up with a thoroughly enjoyable and heartwarming cartoon flick.

Whether this will become a true children's animated classic is yet to be seen, but it's on the right path, and it's ageing really well. Recommended for pre-teens and their parents everywhere, plus just about anyone who gives it a chance. True, there are a few moments of horror which very young children might find upsetting (I myself never really got over my first viewing of "Bambi" all those years ago -even my mum was in tears) - but that's the deal.

Watch it, highly recommended.

I saw this for the first time when I was four or five, and I've loved every second since. It's more than a kids' movie; it's actually incredibly funny and insightful. (My mom started cracking up when she heard the 'They couldn't. I lied' part when I was watching it last week.) Great work from the entire cast, great animation, great script, great, well, great everything.