The Pixar Blog: Toy Story 3 is highest grossing Pixar film ever

The Pixar Blog: Toy Story 3 is highest grossing Pixar film ever: Toy Story 3 has brought in over $895 million worldwide, surpassing Finding Nemo's $867.8 million worldwide gross over the weekend to become Pixar's highest grossing film to date. (via The Pixar Blog.)

Toy Story 3 (2010) and The Brave Little Toaster (1987)

I recently saw Pixar's Toy Story 3 (IMDB, Amazon), which I sincerely believe may be Pixar's best feature to date.  (I'd put it in a dead heat with WALL-E [IMDB, Amazon].)  The plot of Toy Story 3 got me thinking about The Brave Little Toaster (IMDB, Amazon).

I watched The Brave Little Toaster again today and realized that it must have been more than 15 years since I last watched it.  (I noted that the master's name is "Rob" and that the last time I watched this film was years before I started calling myself Rob; I used to call myself Bobby.)  The Brave Little Toaster is worth watching again and I highly recommend it.

What I remembered most about the movie from my youth was that it was scary.  In fact, the only scene I could remember was the repair shop scene where the Frankenstein-esque mismash of broken, quasi-repaired appliances sing to the protagonists (Kirby the vacuum, Lampy, Blanky, the Radio, and the Brave Little Toaster) about the desperate state of broken appliances at the repair shop.  (The shop owner disassembles them and uses them for spare parts.)

***Toy Story 3 spoilers alert***

The similarities between Brave Little Toaster and Toy Story 3 are remarkable.  (I believe I heard that Pixar/Disney's John Lasseter had worked on Brave Little Toaster, although I couldn't find his name in the credits at IMDB.)  Both stories center around a group of living inanimate objects; paradoxically, humans believe that these objects are lifeless but secretly they live.  The toys of Toy Story 3 and the appliances of The Brave Little Toaster live to please their "owner" ("master" in the vernacular of The Brave Little Toaster).  Thirdly, both sets of protagonists mistakenly believe that they have outlived their usefulness and are destined for the trash heap, which they nearly are.  The protagonists in both films are miraculously saved from certain destruction by the Brave Little Toaster (demonstrating its bravery) and by the deus ex machina of the Pizza Planet aliens operating "the claw" in The Brave Little Toaster and Toy Story 3, respectively.  In both films the protagonists finding that they aren't worthless after all.  The Brave Little Toaster, et al, join their master, Rob and his shapely female companion (presumably his girlfriend) on his journey off to college.  In Toy Story 3, the toys' owner, Andy introduces his toys to a new owner upon whom they can refocus their adoration.

The films excel at conveying the story of these supposedly inanimate objects and convey the emotion of being an unused appliance/toy.  The Brave Little Toaster, unlike Toy Story 3, makes extensive use of song; the characters themselves often sing.  Toy Story 3 is a more humorous take on the same basic story without sacrificing the sincerity of its more dramatic and emotional moments.

As I mentioned above, Toy Story 3 is probably Pixar's best.  However, The Brave Little Toaster is certainly worth watching and re-watching.  It also serves as a reminder that Disney/Pixar is not the only studio that can succeed in feature-length animation.  It has inspired me to make a point of watching some other non-Disney animation that I recall watching as a youth:  An American Tail (IMDB, Amazon), Fern Gully (IMDB, Amazon), All Dogs Go to Heaven (IMDB, Amazon), and The Secret of Nimh (IMDB, Amazon).  (The last of which, The Secret of Nimh, I haven't actually seen, but it has been recommended to me.  Additionally, I've been told that it's available on Hulu.)