YMMV / The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

---

• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Yes, Viking 1 is a real satellite.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: After the appliances leave earth, they run into some sentient balloons for very little explainable reason (and keep in mind, talking balloons didn't appear before this in any of the movies). The balloons sing a song that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, regarding how they made it into space. They close their song by floating away and then... next scene. It's completely thrown away and never brought up again. As if to make it even more obvious how much of a BLAM this scene is, the very next line after the scene ends is "There's nothing out there!" However, the scene was in the book, and wasn't a BLAM: Toaster and Crew picked up a balloon that helped them navigate their "spacecraft" and told them some of the Mars Appliances' backstory, making this an Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole as well.
• Contested Sequel: Both this movie and “To The Rescue” have faced a lot of criticism for being too light and lacking the melancholy and seriousness of the first film. Both sequels have their fans though, they are generally given praise to their plots still being serious when it counts, mostly good music, and having themes that have aged very well.
• Harsher in Hindsight
  • The hippie balloon's verse in "Floating" about Woodstock and how he "heard they tried again," but that "you can't relive a one-time thing." He was referring to the staid '94 festival, but he would eventually be right again come the violent disaster that was Woodstock '99.
  • Tinselena promises to stay in touch with Viking 1 ("Hey, a long-distance relationship! Given our history, I think we can handle that!") when she leaves for Earth. His voice actor, Deforest Kelly, died shortly after this movie came out.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: The first Wunderlux appliances that the heroes encounter are military toasters. Toaster's voice actress, Deanna Oliver, would later be asked by her soldier son to sign toasters for his entire platoon.
• Older Than They Think: Despite the questionable title, this was also adapted from a Thomas M. Disch book and not cooked up by Disney trying to literally recycle the movie in space.
• Sweetness Aversion: Rob and Chris are way too Happily Married.
  Chris: When did I last tell you I love you?
  Rob: 'Bout thirty seconds ago in the driveway?
  Chris: Then you're overdue: I love you.
  Rob: (touched) I love you back!
• Values Resonance
  • The film was released in 1998 and, as such, was probably where plenty of millennials first heard the term "planned obsolescence," let alone knew what it was. As adults, many started using the term more liberally, as companies forcing consumers to buy the same thing over and over again, to the point that many of them don't work the first time, is recognized not only as one of the worse byproducts of late-stage capitalism but also a major contribution to global warming (a lot of disposal means a lot of garbage, which means a lot of pollution). Combine that with these films' internal logic that appliances are happiest when they're being used for their intended purpose and the Wunderlux appliances' motivation has a lot more bite.
  • Related, while Rob's philosophy of never throwing anything away could have been worded a little better, it still speaks to the now-popular belief of creating a little waste as possible by using the things you have for as long as you can.

---