Five dejected appliances led by the courageous toaster set off on the journey of a lifetime to find their young master. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 03/02/2004 Starring: Voices Of Jon Lovitz Phil Hartman... more » Run time: 90 minutes« less
Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 03/29/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Entertaining, suspenseful and with a good moral, The Brave Little Toaster works on many different levels for children. It's well made and written. This actually isn't a Disney production but an independent production company. The production design and use of colors will captivate your child's attention. Additionally, the conflicts and some of the suspenseful situations mirror experiences that little ones have in their day to day experience.My only complaint is that the sequels produced aren't up to the high quality of the first film. While the third film in the series (but second produced) The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars is very close in quality to the first film, the second film suffers from a lower budget and is missing the imaginative direction of the first film.As to the viewer who mentioned that there were images inappropriate for younger children--honestly, my kids can't operate the pause button and never noticed the "image". It isn't nasty or subversive and I find it doesn't effect the overall quality of this fine children's film. The cliche about not being able to see the woods for the tree applies to children's movies as well. While all movies have something we may not like (and books or toys for that matter), it's the overall values communicated not a single image (and your interpretation of it) that makes or breaks a child's video.The Brave Little Toaster doesn't have any hidden agendas and is perfect entertainment for little ones and adults can watch it with them to explain the story as it goes along if necessary."
Sweet, fun story but has some scary parts.
Christi Terry | Salt Lake City, UT | 11/21/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"My 3 year old son and I both liked this movie. It has good animation and is entertaining for both young and old. However, it has a pretty scary junkyard scene where old cars get smashed by a crusher into scrap metal. The cars are singing songs about their lives before it happens which makes the scene even more disturbing. An ominous looking magnet chases the toaster and his friends, trying to get them in the crusher too. My son was literally trembling on my lap. Afterwards he was afraid of our living room ceiling fan, saying it was a magnet and was going to get him. Overall though, the movie was fun and it ends well. My son still talks about it and wants to see it again but I think we'll wait until he's a little older. I would recommend this movie for kids 4 and over or younger ones that are not easily scared."
Great movie, very bad DVD
L.K. | Ohio | 10/23/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Oh boy, did I love this movie when I was little! I must've wasted half my childhood watching this thing. Yes, it's got some scenes which may scare some young kids, but plenty of other animated movies have scary scenes, too. I didn't get scared when I was watching this at the age of eight or nine. If your child is old enough to watch Bambi or the Lion King, he or she should have no problem with the Brave Little Toaster. Parents of very young children (i.e. four or five year olds) may want to preview the movie beforehand, though. For those who don't know, this 1987 movie is not actually a Disney film. It was made by the independent studio Hyperion, and Disney ended up buying the TV and home video rights.
I gave this two out of five stars because while the movie is excellent, the DVD itself is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. This might be the very worst DVD release I've ever seen. The picture shakes left and right throughout the entire duration of the movie. Not to mention there's plenty of dirt and debris littering the picture. It's almost as if someone ran this movie on a projector, then recorded it with a camcorder. The problems are very noticeable, and very distracting. Disney should be ashamed of itself for releasing this DVD in such poor quality. This movie deserves more respect than that, especially considering that one of the writers of the Brave Little Toaster is the late, great Pixar storyman Joe Ranft. Don't buy this DVD, but instead, hunt down an old copy of the VHS. Show Disney that substandard releases such as this one will not be tolerated by us fans!"
A SIMPLY CHARMING CHILDREN'S STORY
Tim Janson | Michigan | 01/25/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This was one of my son's favorite animated movies to watch when he was young. He's now 13 and when it was on TV recently, he sat down to watch it again with his little brother who is 2 1/2 years old. It's a delightful, sometimes sad, and a little scary, tale of several appliances who come to life and try to get home to their master, a young man named Rob.
It seems that the appliances have all been left behind in an old cottage and the cottage is soon to be sold. The five appliances: Radio (Jon Lovitz), Lampy (Tim Stack), Kirby the vacuum Cleaner (Thurl Ravenscroft, voice of Tony the Tiger) Blanky the electic blanket (Timothy Day) and the Toaster (Deanna Oliver. Phil Hartman does the voice of the Air conditioner at the cottage who tells the other appliances they are going to be left behind.
They tie a car battery to an office chair and plug in Kirby as he pulls the rest of the appliances like a wagon. Literally over hill, dale, and river, the comrades face a world of peril including "the collector" who takes apart old appliances and sells parts, a dangerous waterfall, and the climax at a junk yard.
A very cute little Movie NOT made by Disney although Hyperion pictures would eventually be acquired by Disney. The movie was based on a story by renowned sci-fi and Horror author Thomas M. Disch who gives us a modern day fable. The voice actors, particularly Lovitz and Ravenscroft are outstanding and the animation is quite good considering it was done in the 1980's when studios were not spending a great deal on quality animation.
This would be followed up by two sequels: The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars and The Brave Little Toaster to the rescue. Neither sequel managed to capture the charm of the original although most of the cast (minus Lovitz and Hartman) would return for both films.
A minor classic!"
The movie of my childhood
Shadowman | USA | 08/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Brave Little Toaster will always have a special place in my favorite movies. I used to watch this movie all the time when I was younger. At one point, around the time I was 12, I felt like I was "too big" to watch the Brave Little Toaster. I was really full of it at that age. When I was 15 I watched it again as a nostalgia thing, and it really reminded me of how great it was.
The Brave Little Toaster is a little bit bizarre, but it's believable, and I think it's great for kids. When you're younger and you have a wild imagination, movies like the Brave Little toaster are great. I heard that some kids were scared by this movie. I wasn't scared by it when I was younger, but now that I'm older, I understand the message more clearly, and I understand why some people felt disturbed by it. The message is about being unwanted and having to make way for newer generations, but the message is also positive because it shows how sometimes older things are the most important.
There are a few scenes that may frighten some kids, like when the air conditioner blows up, and the toaster's famous clown dream. A scene that I find somewhat depressing today is a scene in the junkyard towards the end where cars are lowered onto a conveyer belt to be smashed, and are singing a song about their lives and what they will miss most. That's a pretty deep scene for a kids movie, and it's also one of the best musical sequences ever put into an animated movie.
The story is about 5 appliances who haven't been used in a long time and decide to set out on a journey to find their master. Along the way, they encounter many troubles, which make for a great story.
The simple animation gives this movie a certain feel that not many cartoons have. The music sequences are excellent, and not cheesy like many other cartoons, and for a kids movie, Brave Little Toaster is wonderfully twisted. Don't let that turn you off, because it's a great children's movie.
I highly recommend this movie for kids, but parents may want to view it first to make sure they won't get too scared by certain scenes. I also recommend this to anyone who likes a good animated film."