Le Petit Grille-pain courageux

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!

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved this movie. I watched it essentially every week. Now, of course, I watch it a lot less, but it's still a great movie. With some awesome voices (Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz etc.) and some good humor for adults, it's excellent family fun. A movie that kids love, and then adults can stand to watch with little pain. If you have kids, then I really suggest this movie.

I watched this film about a thousand times when I was a kid and upon a nostalgia induced viewing of it on the Disney Channel, it has joined my list as one of the most oddly pleasurable films ever made. First of all, you have to give it credit for its premise alone. Take a standard road trip buddy picture and cast it with talking household appliances. Acid induced? Maybe. But they take this ridiculous premise and roll with it, turning it into something that is honestly funny, sometimes sweet and strangely enough, kind of thought provoking in it's own way. The dialog is almost Toy Story sharp at times, referencing everything from Joan Rivers to Teddy Roosevelt, and just like it's computer animated descendant, throws around some heavy ideas. We watch as cars reminisce about their glory days before being crushed into cubes, look on in horror as appliances are gutted barbarically at a used parts store and root our quaint heroes on as they are confronted with the techno marvels of the modern age. The characters just struggle to get home but the movie is about the struggle to stay relevant when you're constantly being replaced by a faster model. An interesting idea when you think about it, and a fun, cool little movie worth seeing no matter what your age.

I'm not sure which is more surprising: that this movie still holds up, or that it wasn't really a Disney production (while still being a proto-PIXAR movie). And just like everybody else, I'm surprised by just how dark things get in this story.

It's a story that doesn't patronize its audience, and I loved that aspect. It's what made this a joy to watch with my own kid. The movie strikes just the right affective tone, the performances feel genuine, and even the songs are still catchy. You find yourself getting attached to these characters while still wincing at some of the imagery. Seriously, this is a strange film, yet somehow still endearing.

7/10

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 ****