The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

Rating:
Summary: The Disney dept f bad animation does it again....
Review: Adults and kids will fall asleep watching this movie where the old formula of talking animated characters that work from a bad script is clearly here from first to last frame. Then again it's Disney, so why be surprised?!

Rating:
Summary: Best along with Disch's book
Review: I'm a Grade 12 student who recently got back into watching the Toaster movies because I remember the "Brave Little Toaster" from when I was little. I noticed on the back of the video box, the credits said "Based on the novella by Thomas M. Disch".

So what did this Grade 12 student do? I went to the library and signed out the two books that correspond to the first two movies (there is no third book for "Toaster to the Rescue").

The books are very different from the movies, and in watching "Goes to Mars" I realized that a lot of aspects would be hard to understand if you haven't read the book, which is quite supplementary to the plot in the movie. There is no baby in the book (the appliances, in the first book, end up with a retired ballerina instead of the Master they had been looking for) and Einstein's hearing aid actually helps Radio to pick up signals from the Wonderluxe appliances on Mars which tell them that they plan to destroy Earth. The reason for going to Mars is essentially the same as in the movie. And the Christmas angel was really sent to Mars with the Wonderluxe appls. (NOT the Viking 1) as a free gift for buying them (when they were on Earth). Her role stays the same in the movie.

As for the quality of this movie, I was expecting it to be really bad, but I loved it. The weakest point was the soundtrack ...the words (apart from the campaigning song between Toaster and the Supreme Commander) were inane and the music was rather uninspired (again, except for the campainging song). I was happy that the characters themselves were almost unchanged (despite obvious casting changes to the voices of Blanky and Radio) but this time, they had an annoying tendancy to all speak at once, which they would have never done in the first movie.

I give it 4 stars for the animation (which could have been a disaster considering it was straight to video), the message (basically the "brave" thing we got the first time around with Toaster) and how well it stuck to the plot of Disch's novella. Most of all, I loved seeing Toaster and his friends in another adventure after having seen the first movie so many times in my life.

Rating:
Summary: Solid and entertaining sequel almost up to original film
Review: I've never seen so many applicances get around so often. Perhaps NASA should hire the Toaster and his pals to get them to Mars! This is an entertaining installment but the plot is a bit confusing for some small children. There are very few little ones who know who Albert Einstein is, much less the theory of relativity (or the unified theory). There's also few children who know what hearing aids are for. I'd suggest watching this movie with your kids to explain (to their comprehension)the confusing bits of the story.

The second film to be produced in this trilogy (although the last in it), Mars is the second best. The colorful backgrounds, songs and adventure will capture your child's attention. It also provides a great dialog about values, misunderstandings and prejudice. It's also a entertaining movie. It's a pity that Disney didn't invest a bit more money in this sequel (it was actually done outside of Disney if I'm not mistaken and picked up by the company). The animation could have been a bit smoother but your kids probably won't notice.

The songs are enjoyable and the difficulties the characters have provide excellent examples of conflict resolution for kids. The plot is less dark than the first film but, again, may require a bit of explaining.

Rating:
Summary: Cute but a little farfetched sequel.
Review: In this "Brave Little Toaster" sequel, the talking toaster and his pals build their own spaceship to travel to Mars and save their master's baby son. This is already a little corny. Even the reason for which the master's baby is sent to Mars is strange - an original hearing aid once belonging to Albert Einstein but now living with the master tries to send himself to Mars, but the baby is sent instead by mistake! Then there's the refrigerator who's the Supreme Commander but who really has a strange secret identity. The strangest aspect of the film is the relationship between a space machine on Mars and a Christmas fairy who a little kid left in the machine. However, despite its uniquely strange parts, "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars" is still cute enough to receive three stars by my system.

Rating:
Summary: The Toaster sequel to AVOID
Review: It pains me to have to think about this movie again, but I thought I'd write a review to warn people away, if I could. Some of the other reviewers don't sound too fond of the Brave Little Toaster movies, period, but that's not the case with me! I loved the original movie, and the other sequel (part two in the Disney-adapted storyline) "The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue," is an enjoyable extension of the Toaster series, if not quite up to the original. This dreck, just forget it. I don't care how nuts you and/or your kids are about the Brave Little Toaster, if you're over 3 years old this monsterpiece will give you brain cramps. (And why would you want to traumatize a 3 year old with this!?) I watched this film with a 7 year old and a 9 year old, and we all agreed about how awful it is.

When I first watched this very convoluted movie, it brought every "what were they smoking" cliche to mind about the screenwriters and director. Seriously, it was hard to imagine that people whose brains weren't chemically fried could POSSIBLY think that some of the nonsense and downright creepiness in this flick was a good idea. Then I finally read the Brave Little Toaster books by Thomas M. Disch (which are excellent, by the way, and I highly recommend them.) A large part of the awfulness of the "Mars" movie sequel seems to result from the unfortunate collision of the Disney- and Disch-authored plots. Disney pretty much took Disch's concept of anthropomorphic appliances and ran with it, adding their own human characters and greatly altering the plot. The "master" of the appliances Rob McGroarty, his girlfriend/wife Chris, the veterinary school thing --all 100% Disney.

Not that I have a problem with Disney re-writing the storyline; as I've said I enjoy both the movies and the books which inspired them. But in the "Mars" movie, Disney seems to have decided to include every bizarre element of the Disch book (appliances travelling to Mars under their own power, gigantic talking refrigerators, talking toy balloons surrounding the Earth, "Christmas Angels" on Mars etc.), failed to integrate said bizarre elements into the Disney storyline or explain them, and then they added MORE convoluted nonsense of their own. The Disch story is a lighthearted fantasy with a sci-fi edge; the Disney adaptation never gets off the ground.

Anyway, enough about how the plot of this mess is, well, a mess, and onto to the creepiness! One of the constants of the first two Toaster movies, and a feature of most "inanimate objects coming to life" movies (think Toy Story), is that the talking appliance characters only come to life when people are NOT around. But in "Mars" we watch a truly terrifying musical number with the McGroarty's new baby and the appliances... something about how Rob's appliances are watching out for the kid while they dance around and cuddle. And for the rest of the film, appliances can "come to life" around the baby. (That kid is REALLY going to need some therapy when he grows up.)

Perhaps the creepiest aspect of "Mars" is the fuzzy boundary about what can and cannot "come to life" with human speech and sentience. Usually in Disney films, this includes people and non-human animals. The Toaster films extended this to electrical devices, which was charming and unique since we tend to think of our favorite and least favorite appliances and electronics as having personalities anyway. In "Mars," not only do animals and appliances talk to one another, the kitchen sink talks! And toy balloons can talk! Christmas ornaments can talk! It's a regular talking extravaganza, and it raises eerie metaphysical questions about what ISN'T alive in this whacko movie.

As other reviewers have noted, "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars" has some serious plausibility problems as well. That may sound like a funny complaint about a film whose title character is a talking toaster, but believe me, you'll be scratching your head too. The plot (such that it has one) revolves around the McGroarty's infant son being kidnapped by a rebellious band of appliances who have somehow relocated themselves to Mars. It's not too well explained how the baby is transported to Mars, but once he's there, he floats around in some kind of impervious air bubble (which can survive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, of course.) Thomas M. Disch may have written some far-out stuff, but at least in the book he made a point of explaining how ONLY machines could survive the extreme temperatures of Mars and the vacuum of space. (I mean the absence of air, not Kirby:))

I could cite many comparable examples about how this movie was very poorly adapted and put together, but already my brain is cramping up from too much thinking about it. Bottom line: Watch the OTHER Toaster movies and read the books, just avoid this one!!!

Rating:
Summary: Pay Attention to What The Kids Are Watching??
Review: My grandson, age 2 1/2, loved the Brave Little Toaster Goes to the City; however, after watching the BLT Goes to Mars, he started this thing, "I hate God.." He just kept saying it from time to time and we realized that he associated the 'refrigerator' or Supreme Commander in this movie with God, as his conception of going up to Mars was like going up to Heaven where he, through this movie, was introduced to 'God'.... or so he thought, and he was upset by the refrigerator character. It's just good to try and find out where the kids 'thoughts' are...

Rating:
Summary: Pay Attention to What The Kids Are Watching??
Review: My grandson, age 2 1/2, loved the Brave Little Toaster Goes to the City; however, after watching the BLT Goes to Mars, he started this thing, "I hate God.." He just kept saying it from time to time and we realized that he associated the 'refrigerator' or Supreme Commander in this movie with God, as his conception of going up to Mars was like going up to Heaven where he, through this movie, was introduced to 'God'.... or so he thought, and he was upset by the refrigerator character. It's just good to try and find out where the kids 'thoughts' are...

Rating:
Summary: This is worse than the first one! (Now that's BAD!)
Review: The Brave Little Toaster goes to Mars is on my list of my top five least favorite animated kids movies (Number one is Tarzan and Jane, number two is Cinderella 2 dreams come true and number three is the movie you're reading the review of)! The hair-brained idea (for starters) is terrbile. What are the chances of a Martian taking the baby that happens to be in the same house that has the talking accessories? Probably a 21% chance because we don't even know if Martians exist! Anyway, the plot is so gooney, and the movie is so slow, and animation is so corny, you'll be sorry if you watch this! I can't think of enough bad things to say about it! And the rat can talk to the toaster! Who ever heard of a rat talking to a toaster??? It's so bad, it makes you wish you would have watched the first one! And if you think THAT you KNOW it's a bad movie (By the way, the first Brave Little Toaster is number 4 on my list, I haven't seen the other Brave Little Toaster movie and I hope I NEVER do!) Look, if you want satisfaction in a video, either buy: Uncensored Bosko Volumes 1 and 2 (That's a DVD), Out of the Inkwell Vol. 3 The Birth of Ko-Ko, The Bugs Bunny/ Road Runner Movie, or Betty Boop the definitive collection (all of these are available at Amazon). If you don't want to be bored out of your skull, do NOT watch this movie. Over and out...

Rating:
Summary: Great for preschoolers
Review: This is a great little movie that my 3 year-old son loves. It is definitely the best of the three toaster movies. I really like the soundtrack (so does he).

Rating:
Summary: Bizarre but Worth it.
Review: This movie opens with the same underlying conflict in the heart of every appliance; the fear of not being useful. The bickering of our main characters with the microwave (similar to the high-tech appliances in the original) reminds us of this. Then, when Little Master is born, he forges a bond with the appliances. A hearing aid in the junk drawer, once belonging to Albert Einstein, plans to be beamed up to the moon by a colony of rebel 'built-to-break-down' appliances, led by a giant refrigerator "Supreme Commander" who is in actuality the brother hearing aid. Unfortunately, Little Master is beamed up instead. Ratzo the rat is forced to tussle with the Monitor in the baby's crib while the five main characters, a Carol Channing ceiling fan, a hyper calculator, and the hotshot microwave are forced to fly out to Mars in an oversized laundry basket. With the aid of popcorn and their old pal Wittgenschtein, of course.

On Mars, they encounter Viking I the satellite, and a Christmas angel who's never seen a tree. Also, the colony of rebel Wunderluxe appliances have a serious vendetta against man, and plan to destroy earth with a missile launch; they might remind one of the pokemon Mewtwo, created by humans but resentful of them and with a free will, wishing freedom, and to rebel against their former 'Masters' and creators.

This movie raises the dubious question of what's alive and what's not, as has been rightly pointed out. I don't want to say this a goof that wrecks an otherwise satisfying film, however, it's worth considering. The Christmas ornament, clearly not an electrical appliance, but rather a little doll with organic hair and robes, is alive. But the garbage can she's placed in at the end is not. Okay, chalk it up to enchantment. Christmas is supposed to be magical. The kitchen faucet can also speak, but that's even acceptable. It's those balloons in space that make one wonder; a balloon is also, in this film and clearly not the other two, is to be extended the privilege of possessing a soul? In the other two this was reserved for all humans, all animals, and all electrical devices alone. What separates a balloon from a sofa? Sure, it was the obvious object that would be living out in space due to the unsteady grip of a child. Yet still...

If one simply listens to their song and appreciates it for what it is, and doesn't analyze it, it's easier. In the end, peace comes to the reconciled appliances, the baby returns home, and essentially everyone is content, perhaps except Viking I...but even he will remain in contact with Angelina, the ornament. The songs are weakest in this film. The plot is utterly weird. But the song Chris sings to Little Master, "I see a new you," is actually very pretty when you hear it multiple times. And overall the movie is not a huge disappointment.