In the last Little Mermaid thread, someone called the scene with Sebastian and the chef sociopathic and "the product of someone lacking in empathy". Someone also brought up this scene and it's interesting to compare the two.
They're both scenes of nonhuman main characters forced to watch their peers be dismembered by humans, but the Mermaid scene is treated as a wacky farce and wants us to laugh at Sebastian's misfortune. The Toaster scene doesn't callously disregard that they've anthropomorphized the appliances; We're supposed to take the blender's mutilation and Toaster and friends' dread seriously.
There's not so much of a clanging disconnect between subject matter and tone, in other words.
But as to your point: What do you think of Air Conditioner's emotional breakdown and death, and the way it was immediately followed by Kirby's dismissive statement of "He was a jerk, anyway." Which I always thought was supposed to be a darkly humorous way to end a pretty visceral scene.
Honestly the whole thing was oddly bordering on funny and painful, with all the puns, and lines like "It's a conspiracy", and "It wasn't my fault the kid was too short to reach my dials", while clearly demonstrating that all the appliances were breaking down both physically and mentally, emphasizing that something needed to happen or they'd share his fate.
Jonathan Phillips
also Les Poissons and Be Our Guest are literally the same song. Fuck off Menken
Ian Morris
There's a story to The Brave Little Toaster. It was screened at an independent film festival. The proprietors of the festival told the director that Toaster was the best film shown, but didn't want to compromise their credibility by giving a children's animated movie any awards.
Now that A Goofy Movie is finally headed to Blu-Ray, my fondest hope is that Disney will get off their duff and release this one too.
Jonathan Sullivan
It's a very potent scene. The whole movie is an example of where animated films in the US could go if people actually cared.
Jeremiah Fisher
>compromise their credibility by giving a children's animated movie any awards. Awards shows and indie shit is so pretentious it hurts. Fuck all of 'em. Phony ass self important bullshit.
Wyatt Russell
Well you have to admit, it's kind of juvenile. I mean, moving drawings? Of household appliances? Why would I give that an award? It doesn't feel like live action.
Luis Brooks
True. If we gave just any well told, beautifully crafted story an award people might not realize how mature and sophisticated we and our little club are. And at the end of the day, isn't that what really matters?
Austin Cox
>when you want to call out circlejerkers but you just end up circlejerking yourself
Colton Howard
Difference being I'm not handing out awards for it and begging to be taken seriously for my precious grown-up cred.
If you don't have a problem with how fake that is you can just say so, no need to undermine my nonexistent credibility.
Christian Flores
The more I think about it, the more I don't have a problem with it. Artistic endeavors are a risky business. A poor artist gambles their own life (financially) when they focus on their art. Not every movie is gonna be a blockbuster, but spreading a little buzz and positivity for worthwhile movies can be pretty helpful. Even though Brave Little Toaster didn't win the festival, it still got a boost from being in the festival.
Cooper Flores
I believe a factor in halaal foods is that an animal should not be slaughtered in front of other animals. thats all ive got to contribute to this. i have no idea what other lesson a kid could derive from these types of scenes. little mermaid is the funniest disney movie.
Noah Morgan
That's a nice way to look at it. But I still dislike the notion that the vanity of the showrunners and others supersedes individual merit.
But we're getting away from the subject of Brave Little Toaster. I don't mean to derail the thread with my own cynicism toward the cynical.
I like Les Poissons a lot better than Guest personally. Auberjonois really sells the malice.
Bentley Richardson
>little mermaid is the funniest disney movie. I think it's funnier than the average Disney feature film. But Emperor's New Groove takes the comedy cake for me.
Lincoln Brooks
The award is meaningless, but the exposure isn't. The producers of Brave Little Toaster chose to submit Brave Little Toaster to the festival because they needed that exposure, and they received it.
Jonathan Richardson
Phil Hartman's performance sure nailed that quality you describe.
It's smart how they used humor in that scene and such mild reactions (even Blanket going "poor air conditioner" sounds sympathetic but not too upset, like he knows AC can be repaired) to contrast with the tenser scenes that would come later. Like when Kirby sees the waterfall and has a seizure; it's way more understated than the air conditioner's scene, but the characters' sincere worry & fear allow the tension of the film to keep building up as it goes.
Jack Ward
>The award is meaningless, but the exposure isn't. But an award means more exposure, more attention and recognition. Not to mention it's a credential that can impress studios and help a film to influence the industry.
Yeah, something is better than nothing, but it's crappy when anyone loses a well-earned reward because of such a petty & superficial thing.
Ayden Butler
I always liked the chef scene. The old lady finds it disturbing, but I appreciate the black comedy of it. And the way it relates to the message of Sebastian's earlier musical number, the more widely beloved "Under the Sea"
Connor Wright
>But an award means more exposure, more attention and recognition. Just a few moments ago you seemed to be thinking that we shouldn't have any awards or awards shows at all.
Brody Torres
That wasn't me, boss. I said I'd try to pipe down.
But I will add that the reason I think awards and award shows are full of shit has much to do with the content of his post, and were that not the case I'd resent them less, if at all.
Isaac Diaz
"I'll turn him into a flea, a harmless little flea. And then I'll put that flea in a box, and then I'll put that box inside of another box, and then I'll mail that box to myself. And when it arrives AHAHAHAHA I"LL SMASH IT WITHA HAMMUH!"
also "The only ones who know about that are the three of us, soon to be the two of us" "And I'm one of those two right?"
That movie is fucking GOLD.
Owen Bell
Yzma's cut villain song was so damn good though
Gavin Foster
The thing is, though, Sebastian is well aware of sea creatures being food. He's probably seen friends and neighbors and random strangers being chowed on by sharks and whatnot. So to him, it's upsetting but not traumatic. The appliances in The Braves Little Toaster don't have anywhere near that kind of experience. Pretty much all they know of humans is their benevolent Master.
Jose Peterson
I often wonder what the world of comedy would be like if we didn't lose people like Phil. I bet that world would have been great. Man, Im really sad now.
