The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars is the name of both a children's book by Thomas M. Disch in 1988 and a film released in 1998 based on it. Both are sequels to the book, The Brave Little Toaster.[1] The film was produced by Hyperion Animation and distributed for video by Walt Disney Home Video, It was released in 1998 in United States. It featured the last performances of actors DeForest Kelley, Paddi Edwards, Thurl Ravenscroft, and Carol Channing, before their deaths in 1999, 2005 and 2019, respectively.
| The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Robert C. Ramirez Greg Sullivan (overseas animation director) Pierre DeCelles (animation director: Morning Sun Animation Group, Inc., uncredited) |
| Produced by | Donald Kushner John Bush Tom Wilhite Kurt Albrecht Executive: Peter Locke Willard Carroll |
| Written by | Willard Carroll |
| Based on | The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars by Thomas M. Disch |
| Starring | Deanna Oliver Tim Stack Thurl Ravenscroft |
| Music by | Andrew Belling Alexander Janko |
| Edited by | Julie Ann Lau |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 72 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Although set after the events of The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue, Goes to Mars was the first of the two sequels to the original film, as both were in production around the same time and the latter was the first to finish production.
Plot
Now being married anew and having moved to a farm, Rob and Chris have an infant son named Robbie and Rob operates a veterinary clinic and repair shop in a barn outside their house. At first, the appliances all fear that their masters will pay more attention to Robbie but later grow accustomed to him. One night, Toaster awakes to find the hearing aid in the attic receiving a message which appears to be transmitted from space. The next morning, Toaster informs the other appliances and Ratso, the family's pet rat, of the events occurring the previous night, leading to the appliances and Ratso agreeing to carefully watch the junk drawer in case of Hearing Aid suspiciously escaping again. The following night, Hearing Aid escapes from the drawer and to the attic once more. Robbie, awakened by the sound of the transmission, climbs out of his crib and follows Hearing Aid. The appliances awaken, find Robbie going up the stairs and pursue him, leading them to enter the attic just as a beam of light appears. The shocked appliances pursue Hearing Aid, but in spite of this, Robbie is beamed into space. After grilling Hearing Aid and learning that Robbie has accidentally been transported to Mars in his place, the appliances contact Wittgenstein, an old supercomputer and friend from their days in college, for advice by connecting a computer to a security camera in the museum that acts like a phone. The appliances, as per a plan by Wittgenstein, create a makeshift spacecraft with the ceiling fan, a laundry basket, the microwave, and microwaveable popcorn as fuel (Calculator is also provided with the required data to be their navigator) and launch themselves into space, leaving only Ratso to prevent two baby monitor intercoms from alerting Rob and Chris. During their flight through space, the appliances meet a pack of sentient balloons who have been let go by human hands and now float endlessly through the cosmos.
Eventually, the appliances reach Mars and, upon a rough landing due to Blanky foolishly turning off the microwave, encounter multiple satellites sent from Earth, among them being Viking 1, in addition to a Christmas angel named Tinselina who was sent to Mars with the former. They also find Robbie, now encased in a bubble to enable him to survive out in space. However, soon after their arrival, the appliances and Tinselina are taken hostage by an army of military toasters who escort them to their 'Supreme Commander', a colossal refrigerator. As revealed by Tinselina, the appliances Mars were built on Earth by a corrupted Austrian manufacturer named "Wonderluxe" and designed to fail from the get-go under a scheme of planned obsolescence. Angered with their design flaws, the Wonderluxe appliances escaped, left to Mars, and built a missile rocket set to destroy the Earth. Intent on averting the earth's destruction, and with an upcoming election, Toaster decides to challenge the Supreme Commander for his seat, appointing Hearing Aid as her running mate. As Toaster and the Supreme Commander engage in a heated debate, Robbie is able to push a hand out of his bubble and touch the Supreme Commander, who is briefly overcome with warmth.
The election ends with Toaster the victor. They then meet with the defeated Supreme Commander, who allows the appliances to discover what is behind his doors. As they venture into the icy interior of the Supreme Commander, they find his true form, who Hearing Aid recognizes as his long lost brother, who he has not seen in sixty years. Hearing Aid's brother then reveals that he was also created by his original owner Albert Einstein, who left him in the wake of World War II, during which he fell into the hands of a Nazi leader, whose ideals influenced him, leading him to become disillusioned with mankind and to escape to Mars, where he assumed an alternate identity to rule through fear. Only after experiencing "the touch of the small boy's hand", combined with Toaster's convicted campaign, did he realize that not all humans are bad. With the conflict resolved, the appliances and Robbie, now joined by Tinselina and Hearing Aid's reformed brother, are about to return to Earth while the Wonderluxe appliances stay behind to wait for the next generation of humans to arrive in the future. After clearing the ground on their spacecraft, Hearing Aid's brother realizes that he forgot to deactivate the missile. Risking being left behind on Mars, Toaster and the ex-Commander jump out of the spacecraft, race to the missile's control panel and successfully abort its launch. The others turn back to rescue Toaster and the commander, and after the two are back on board, Tinselina gives up her clothes and hair so the spacecraft can be provided with organic fuel necessary to return to Earth. The appliances happily ride back to Earth and manage to return Robbie to his room as well as returning themselves to their original posts by sunrise. Tinselina, now stripped of her beauty and deemed 'worthless' by herself, throws herself into a trash can.
Later, on Christmas morning as Robbie is unwrapping his presents, Rob and Chris hear him speak his (second) first word: "toaster". Then, they watch as Robbie gathers Toaster, Blanky, Lampy, Kirby, and Radio around the Christmas tree. As the gang celebrates, Toaster turns on the lights on the tree, on top of which is Tinselina, who was previously rediscovered and restored by Rob and Chris. Meanwhile, Ratso and the other appliances all celebrate Christmas in their own ways.
Voice cast
- Deanna Oliver as Toaster: A brave, optimistic toaster who is the main protagonist.
- Thurl Ravenscroft as Kirby: A cantankerous, but well-meaning vacuum cleaner.
- Roger Kabler as Radio: A wise-cracking, pretentious radio.
- Timothy Stack as Lampy: A neurotic, slightly iracible, yet enthusiastic goose-neck lamp.
- Eric Lloyd as Blanky: A child-like security blanket. In the movie, he has matured slightly and forms a bond with baby Robbie.
- Andy Milder as Ratso: Rob and Chris's pet rat who is friends with the appliances. Sarcastic, slightly cantankerous but helpful, he stays on earth to keep the baby monitor at bay, keeping Rob and Chris unaware of baby Robbie being sent to Mars.
- Fyvush Finkel as Hearing Aid: An elderly hearing aid who was created by his former owner Albert Einstein. He accidentally beams Robby onto Mars, triggering the rescue mission. During the adventure, he is reunited with his brother.
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Calculator: A smart and adventurous calculator. He serves as the coordinator of rescue.
- Farrah Fawcett as Faucet: A motherly faucet living in Rob and Chris's new home.
- Redmond O'Neal as Squirt: A kitchen-sink shower-head who is Faucet's son.
- Wayne Knight as Microwave: A glib microwave oven from Taiwan who powers the appliance's makeshift aircraft to rescue Robbie.
- Chris Young as Rob McGroarty: the appliances master, husband of Chris and father of Robbie. Works as a vet in a barn right next to his house.
- Jessica Tuck as Chris McGroarty: the appliances mistress, wife of Rob, and mother of Robbie.
- Russi Taylor as Baby Robert "Robbie" McGroarty Jr.: Rob and Chris's infant son. He was beamed into outer space and sent to Mars. He is seemingly aware of the appliances' sentience, going so far as bringing the five main appliances in front of the Christmas tree in the film's ending.
- Brian Doyle-Murray as Wittgenstein
- Carol Channing as Fanny: A sardonic, grouchy but helpful ceiling fan from Germany. She provides the propulsion of the appliances' makeshift aircraft, using power from Microwave microwaving the popcorn. Her face is similar to that of her voice actress, Carol Channing.
- Susie Stevens Logan as Wild West Balloon
- Marc Allen Lewis as World's Fair Balloon
- Rick Logan as Woodstock Balloon
- DeForest Kelley as Viking 1: The Viking 1 Spacecraft who is among the first Mars denizens to greet the Earth appliances. He serves as a fatherly figure to Tinselina, seeming sad when Tinselina decides to leave Mars to Earth with Toaster and the gang.
- Kath Soucie as Tinselina: A beautiful Christmas Angel ornament living on Mars. Kind, soft-spoken, knowledgeable and sensitive, she becomes the appliances' guide on Mars. In the end, she sacrifices her beauty as a replacement for popcorn for Microwave so the appliances can return home. Thinking herself as unworthy, Tinselina despairingly throws herself into the trash, only to be found and restored by Rob.
- Patti Edwards as Satellite #1
- James Murray as Satellite #2
- Jeff Robertson as Military Toaster
- Ross Mapletoft as Mixer
- James Murray as Iron
- Alan King as the Supreme Commander: As the main antagonist of the film, the Supreme Commander is the leader of Mars' appliances, later revealed to be Hearing Aid's long-lost twin brother. Believing that humans are cruel and take advantage of appliances due to their obsolescence, the Supreme Commander plots to destroy Earth. However, he has a change of heart after baby Robbie touches him, followed by Toaster's speech that humans are not all bad. He first appears as a giant refrigerator, but after opening his doors to Toaster and her friends, he revealed to be a simple hearing aid (remenising to the Wizard of Oz's identity and true form in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.)
- Jim Cummings provided the singing voice of the Supreme Commander
- Marc Allen Lewis as Freezer
- Scott Menville as Intercom
Music
Though the movie lacks an official soundtrack album, the film's score was composed and conducted by Alexander Janko. The film contains four original songs:
- "I See a New You" (performed by Liz Callaway; in montage)
- "Floating"
- "Humans"
- "Home Again"
Comparisons to book
In the book, only the fan, the computer, the microwave, the hearing aid, Toaster, Radio and Blanky (after stowing away in the laundry basket) travel to Mars, with Kirby, Lampy and Calculator staying behind, whilst in the film, all the main cast go to Mars, excluding Ratso, who was not included in the book.
Reception
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars was met with mixed to negative reviews from critics and fans of the original film, with criticism concentrated on its contrived plot and its perceived inferiority to its predecessor.
References
- "M. THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER GOES TO MARS by Thomas Disch - Kirkus Reviews". Retrieved 9 November 2018.
External links
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