History WesternAnimation / TheBraveLittleToaster

* TheEighties: The cutting edge appliances are, indeed, state of the art... by 1987 standards. Their VillainSong even comes complete with characteristically 80s synthesizers and Simmons electronic drums. The mid-20th century is also depicted as having been recent, with the appliances being late 50s/early 60s models and Radio both starting the day with a Music/LittleRichard song and making passing remarks about Teddy Roosevelt.

* AmplifiedAnimalAptitude: Apparently, Elmo St. Peters' dog is not only smart enough to buckle a seat belt, but also drive a huge truck.

** The air conditioner [[spoiler:before the Master repairs him]] seems to be stuck in this state. The movie explains that for appliances, nothing is better than working and playing with their owners -- but as the Master was a baby when the air conditioner was functional, the poor A/C unit had to sit completely motionless and watch as other appliances became friends with the boy. Is it any wonder he [[GoMadFromTheIsolation became a little unhinged?]]

** The appliances that sing "Cutting Edge" flaunt all the amazing things they're able to do to the heroes. In actuality, most of them are terribly dated [=80s=] models (especially when compared to now current appliances), and likely to be replaced when the inevitable improved/better-looking versions come out in the future. The most blatant are the Computer, the Projector and the telephone. In comparison, the heroes are all reliable and sturdy with fairly timeless designs.

* MeaningfulName: The appliance shop owner is named Elmo St. Peters -- as in "Saint Peter", as in "the guy you see shortly after your death". Fitting for a man who runs a store where everything's on its last legs, and alluded to in "B Movie Show" ("You just tell St. Pete/That you got cold feet"). Also, "St. Elmo's fire" is an electrical aura that sometimes appears around pointed objects (like ships' masts) in stormy weather. So "Elmo" is a meaningful name for an electrician.

** In the first movie, during the scene when the appliances are first seen within the city, a large TDK billboard can be seen.[[note]]TDK is a well-known Japanese electronics company that manufactures recordable media and electrical components. Pretty fitting, considering what happens later in the film.[[/note]]

* QuicksandSucks: The appliances get trapped on a muddy swamp and slowly start to sink. They are rescued by Elmo St. Peter, but a worse fate awaits them...

* RightForTheWrongReasons: When the cottage appliances realize the house is being sold and they are deciding whether or not to leave and find The Master, Vacuum says they should just stay behind because "They'll have a new master anyways". Turns out he was right about staying behind but not because of the new master, as their original owner was on his way to pick them up to take to college with him.
* RippedFromThePhoneBook: Upon reaching the city, Toaster looks for the Master's address in a phone book in a public booth and rips out the page.
* RousingSpeech: In the first movie Toaster gives one of these to the rest of his TrueCompanions.

** A plot-relevant one, at that. At the start of the first film, the characters are miserable after being stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere for somewhere around 14 years just waiting for their master to return. They've got cabin fever!

** During his RousingSpeech, the Toaster is lit by a beam of sunlight, which looks like a spotlight. As each of the other appliances agree to join in the journey to find The Master, they get closer to him, effectively "coming into the light."
** As mentioned under MeaningfulName, Mr. St. Peters is named after ''[[ThePearlyGates that]]'' [[ThePearlyGates St. Peters]], but the appliances don't seem to think he's a bad person, they just don't want their parts used when they're still functional. In other words, it's "not their time to meet St. Peters."

* OhCrap: Kirby freaks out upon reaching the waterfall that he now has to cross while hauling the others.

* ShaggyDogStory: Deconstructed. While it doesn't happen in the end, the journey the appliances go on is fairly unnecessary as Rob ends up going to the cottage to get them. Furthermore, he was almost killed because they went on the journey. Granted, the adventure helped them go through CharacterDevelopment as friends and their appearance at Elmo St. Peters' shop led to the appliances there being liberated, but there were bigger reasons they could have [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot avoided this initial ordeal.]]

** [[spoiler:Toaster jumps into the gears of the crusher to save Rob. They fully show her being crushed and horribly bent out of shape as the gears grind her up.]]

** [[spoiler:Toaster jumps into the gears of the crusher to save Rob. They fully show her being crushed and horribly bent out of shape as the gears grind him up.]]

** The air conditioner (a Jack Nicholson sound-alike) and the hanging lamp (a Peter Lorre sound-alike). Of course, what did you expect, what with impressionist extraordinaire Phil Hartman doing their voices?

''The Brave Little Toaster'' is an AnimatedMusical from 1987, based on a children's novella of the same name (with the subtitle ''A Fairy-Tale for Appliances'') by Creator/ThomasMDisch. It was directed by Jerry Rees and produced by Hyperion Pictures and Creator/WangFilmProductions (who also handled the animation), with Creator/{{Disney}} handling distribution.

* ShesAManInJapan:

* TakeThat: "The Cutting Edge" scene is an absolutely scathing satire on the then-current glorification of money and mass consumption in 1980s: the appliances overbearingly boast about their many, many state-of-the-art features and how they represent "an ultra-nylon life of ease" (in other words, "a synthetic world of instant gratification"). They also scoff at our heroes (all presumably made between the '40s and '50s) being "old stuff," which tells us that they know this. The best part? The timeless quality of the heroes ensure they'll remain useful, but thanks to TechnologyMarchesOn, many of those appliances like the computer will be obsolete and headed for the trash (save Plugsy, who is an old-fashioned lamp, but not terribly useful for studying under like Lampy is.)

* ShaggyDogStory: The first movie amounts to this because the journey the appliances go on is unnecessary, as Rob ends up going to the cottage to get them. Furthermore, their master was almost killed because they went on the journey. Granted, the adventure helped them go through CharacterDevelopment as friends and their appearance at Elmo St. Peters' shop led to the appliances there being liberated, but bigger reasons were still needed to avoid this trope.

-->"I was designed to stick in a wall! I like being STUCK! in this STUPID! WALL!" [...] "It's! My! FUNCTION!" Arguably doubles as PunctuatedPounding as he slams himself against said wall.

** During her RousingSpeech, the Toaster is lit by a beam of sunlight, which looks like a spotlight. As each of the other appliances agree to join in the journey to find The Master, they get closer to him, effectively "coming into the light."

* GaveUpTooSoon: Or rather, jumped to the CallOfAdventure too soon, as after seeing a "For Sale" sign being placed outside the cottage and becoming convinced the Master wasn't coming back for them, the appliances decided to set out and find him. If they had just waited a couple more days, they would've seen him come through the door like they always hoped.

* GaveUpTooSoon: Or rather, [[JumpToTheCall jumped to the call of adventure]] too soon, as after seeing a "For Sale" sign being placed outside the cottage and becoming convinced the Master wasn't coming back for them, the appliances decided to set out and find him. If they had just waited a couple more days, they would've seen him come through the door like they always hoped.

* GaveUpTooSoon: Or rather, JumpedToTheCall too soon, as after seeing a "For Sale" sign being placed outside the cottage and becoming convinced the Master wasn't coming back for them, the appliances decided to set out and find him. If they had just waited a couple more days, they would've seen him come through the door like they always hoped.

'''Toaster, Kirby, and Blanky:''' SHUT UP!

** The green truck at the end of "Worthless" decides to [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled drive himself onto the conveyer belt]] into the compactor instead of being picked up and thrown in by the magnet.

* RageAgainstTheReflection: Toaster, after the waterfall incident, considering it was because he panicked that the appliances went over the waterfall, not to mention lost their batteries.

* SuperPersistantPredator: The giant magnet at Ernie's Disposal, who absolutely refused to let any of its victims escape their fate of being crushed, as shown when it obsessively hunted down the appliances throughout the junkyard to put them back on the ConveyorBeltOfDoom every time they jumped off. It got to the point that it even tried to kill Rob when he found and began gathering up the appliances.

* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: After Elmo St. Peters faints and the appliances see an opportunity to escape, his dog freaks, jumps into the truck and drives off (but not before remembering [[BrickJoke his seat belt]]).

* ShaggyDogStory: The first movie amounts to this because the journey the appliances go on is unnecessary, as Rob ends up going to the cottage to get them. Furthermore, their master was almost killed because they went on the journey. Granted, the adventure helped them go through CharacterDevelopment as friends, but a bigger reason than that was needed to avoid this trope.
* ShareTheMalePain: An appliance variation: when Elmo snaps off an appliance's electric cord and plug, the gang pulls their own cords back in silent terror.

* RefrainFromAssuming: The song sung by the modern appliances is called "Cutting Edge", but it's common for fans to think it's called "More" or "More More More".

* SpiritualPredecessor: An animated film, co-written by Joe Ranft, where {{Animate Inanimate Object}}s who don't get along very well have to learn to work together in order to reunite with their owner? [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Sounds familiar...]]

* UnbuiltTrope: This film was already [[AscendedFridgeHorror taking apart]] the concept of living inanimate objects well before ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''.

* CorruptHick: The toaster oven during "Cutting Edge". She has a southern accent, and offers a bit of back-handed "[[SacredHospitality Southern Hospitality]]" to Toaster in the form of some muffins while flaunting how much more advanced she is, and zaps Toaster a second later.

* YouDontLookLikeYou: The designs of the appliances in the films are quite different from their book counterparts. For example, the toaster only has one lever which acts as its nose. Here, he has two which act as his hands, also going the position change of his face. Another being the blanket, whose face takes up its entire body in the book but is just limited to being on the dial in the film.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The appliances aren't as cute looking in the book as they are in the movie. Especially Blanky!
* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: In the original book, the appliances move onto a new owner, in the film they're reunited with their original owner, as they set out to be.