The Brave Little Toaster, directed by Jerry Rees, was released in 1987 as a Disney independent production. Unfortunately, it was unable to get the same love in the ’90s, despite being one of the most revolutionary films. Adapted from Thomas M. Disch’s 1980 best-selling science fiction book of the same name, it tells the tale of an animated toaster, vacuum, radio, blanket, and lamp, and their journey to the city to locate their owner Rob.

Although the movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, it was only thereafter shown in a few arthouse theaters and never managed to get a real cinema run. Despite it all, The Brave Little Toaster is forever acclaimed by its cult following as one of the best, if not the best, animated films of the 1980s for a variety of reasons. There was a charm in it that not even the animated movies from the ’90s or films from the 2000s could compare. In order to commemorate its importance, here are a few reasons why it merits even greater recognition.

Voice Actors Embodied the Characters

     Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesITC Entertainment

Acting, or in this case voice acting, makes or breaks an animated film. It has to be realistic and conceivable for the audience to actually get engrossed in it. Despite being an indie film, The Brave Little Toaster had notable actresses and actors who took these roles and breathed life into all of these characters with exceptional performances. This includes people like Phil Hartman and Deanna Oliver. These voice actors and actresses were completely devoted to their roles. In addition, they did their research on the type of character they were given and tried to give their own little quirks to them, which made these inanimate objects extremely realistic.

One of the greatest examples of their devotion is Jon Lovitz, who did the voice acting for the character called Radio. He not only had to have a transatlantic accent but also was required to switch his accent and tone throughout the entire film in order to mimic how a radio changes its channels. This wasn’t an easy feat, but he does a seamless job. Without their proper skills and virtuosity, this movie would never be believably lifelike.

A Movie for the Entire Family

This movie is anything but merely a kids movie. Oftentimes people misinterpret animated movies to be childish and just for children. The Brave Little Toaster will change its stance.

This animated movie talks about quite a mature topic. Hence, one shouldn’t get deceived by its cutesy art. However, this doesn’t mean it is for only adults, which often implies that it may contain inappropriate material. Mature films are essentially the types of films that play with your emotions, especially your heartstrings. They may require some thought and are conversation starters. This is precisely what this movie is; it will make the audience sink in their seats as they think about it for days.

This is a perfect film for families to watch together, as everyone will enjoy it in their own way. Children will have a good time while singing along to the songs. At the same time, it will help them understand the message it encapsulates. On the other hand, since it subtly depicts some dark topics, it is a perfect watch for adults as well.

Well-Written Characters

Often with an ensemble cast, it is difficult to give attention to each character, especially when it is an animated movie. Once again, this movie defies the norms by having all well-fleshed-out characters. Each of them has a distinct personality that makes them unique to the audience. Not only this, but everyone has a storyline and contributes to the story moving forward. For instance, Toaster is a brave leader who keeps everyone together. Then there is Radio, who is a hyperactive troublemaker. Lampy is the sweet desk lamp, who may not be the smartest, but is always there to help. All of them have their own essences which will make the audience get attached to them quickly.

While they are inanimate objects, their feelings and raw emotions will make them much more humane and the audience will find themselves relating to these objects, more than they might to real people. This was only possible due to how well each of them was written and given proper thought.

Deeper Storyline

While many children’s movies are quite superficial and not given much thought to, this wasn’t the case with this movie. Everything about this film scratches way deeper than the surface. It has mature content that deals with it all: happiness, loss, redemption, and most important sacrifice. There is no denying that it is a story about sacrifice.

The team often makes sacrifices for one another, which is beautifully portrayed in this film, something that is quite rare to see in an animated movie. One of the examples is when they are en route to the city, the gang stops to rest in the forest, where they are awakened in the midst of the night by a thunderstorm. The gang tries to find Blanky when he is flung into a tree but runs out of power. In an act of pure altruism, Lampy chooses to leap and try to summon lightning. Unfortunately, it gets electrocuted, and is severely hurt. This scene subtly shows how Lampy was putting his friends first, even if that meant risking his life.

Animating All of the Inanimate Objects

When it comes to thinking about inanimate objects coming to life, more often than ever, Toy Story is praised. However, The Brave Little Toaster definitely did it first. It takes a tremendous leap of creativity and imagination to make these absolutely lifeless objects come to life, especially when such things never existed earlier to draw reference from. Thus, the skills required to do so cannot be underestimated.

It must have been a tremendous accomplishment to implement this into practice through animation, and it genuinely shows off the talent of the animators that worked on the movie, particularly in light of the severe financial and time constraints they had to work under to finish it. Thinking about the ’80s and technology at that time, it seemed an extremely tedious task to hand-draw these objects and to animate them. Not only this, but to do a believable job in it. However, the team of The Brave Little Toaster does the unimaginable and makes it possible.

Musical Score and Soundtrack

“The Jazz Singer” (1927), and “My Mammy,” sung by Al Jonson in 1918, are just a couple of the timeless songs featured in The Brave Little Toaster. These evergreen songs evoke memories of past eras and introduce viewers to some of the music and film history. Many audiences will recognize some 1950s tunes in it, which will give them a hit of nostalgia. The Brave Little Toaster also features numerous nostalgic, endearing original songs like “City of Light” and “It’s a ‘B’ Movie.”

Most of the time, the scores in animated movies feel out of place, or irrelevant. However, this movie will pull the audience’s heart string with the right score at the right time. One of the biggest examples is the song “Worthless”, which is sung by the automobiles in the junkyard as they face the metal crusher and realize that they have no use in society anymore. This song, just like every other song in this movie, beautifully captures the emotions these objects are feeling, and cannot express through simple words.