History Film / Toys

* PickyEater: Patrick Zeto complains at the factory commissary, not about the food itself, but that the food is touching. As a military man accustomed to eating from partitioned trays, it makes sense.

** "Treat your friends like your enemies and your enemies like your friends." Assuming this is meant to make sense, it might be a sort of echo to UsefulNotes/CardinalMazarin's real life quote that you must always watch out because your friend could become enemies one day and vice versa.

* BrokenAesop: This movie was written to have strong anti-war themes, however it subverts its own premise in that when tyranny and oppression threaten innocence and freedom, there is no choice but to rally up and fight to protect them. The fact that the leads are saved by spamming an army of toys against their opponents also gives weight to Leland's idea of a drone army, even if it is for different reasons.

* {{Hammerspace}}: Apparently where Leslie pulls the devil puppet out of so quickly (hey, he's good): The war toys also seem to carry way more ammunition than their size should allow.

** "Treat your friends like your enemies and your enemies like your friends." Assuming this is meant to make sense, it might be a sort of echo to Cardinal Mazarin's real life quote that you must always watch out because your friend could become enemies one day and vice versa.

* IntelligibleUnintelligible: The Old General (Leland and Kenneth's father, played by Jack Warden) is senile and almost completely unintelligible, but Leland has no problems understanding what he's saying, having been around him so long (f you listen carefully, some of the Old General's conversation is clear enough for you to get the gist). All of their conversations play out like this. See NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent below for an example.

* KickTheDog:
** When playing an arcade game, Leland is annoyed that UN trucks keep getting in his line of fire, and eventually just stops caring about the real enemies and starts destroying the trucks on sight, despite the game only penalizing him for it.
** The general later has his own line of games commissioned that rewards players (all young children) for civilian casualties.

* MildlyMilitary: General Leland Zevo never takes off his hat while indoors, a breach of etiquette that all soldiers (''especially'' officers) are warned about in their first week of basic training. This combined with his general lack of professionalism and seeming enthusiasm for war (and war crimes!) in general. For the informed viewer, it could be seen as a bit of foreshadowing that Leland is more of a ManChild playing at war than a professional soldier.

* PaperThinDisguise: "Yolanda and Steve". Totally a MTV music video and ''not'' just Alsatia and Leslie in red coats and hats. Granted, the possibility that Alsatia and Leslie would make a MTV music video wasn't really unlikely either from the guards' point of view.

** The previous scene, as well as the test of the toy vomit, turn into a satire of the nineties' political correctness when they start ranting about how the toys should represent other races aside from Anglo-Saxons in order not to be racist.

'''Leslie''': We're being attacked by a crossword puzzle.

* MsFanService: Leland has Nurse Debbie dressed up as a World War Two Nurse. The uniform being much more form flattering than normal.

* CharacterDevelopment: Especially for Leslie.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Leslie and Alsatia. They get it from their dad.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: General Zevo, twice: [[spoiler: First one of his own helicopters destroys the central computer, shutting down most of his weapons. Then comes the Sea Swine...]]

''Toys'' is a surreal 1992 comedy directed, co-written, and co-produced by Creator/BarryLevinson. Supposedly it was the film he had always wanted to make, but the film was generally not well received by either critics or audiences; Levinson was given a [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzie]] nomination, while the film earned two technical UsefulNotes/AcademyAward noms.

* PuttingOnTheReich: The Tommy Tanks have a face with a German World War Two style Stahlhelm
helmet embedded in it.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Everyone likes Alsatia, even the dour Patrick.

* IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow: "If I convince the general to stop making war toys, will you let me take off your training wheels?"

* BrokenAesop: This movie was written to have strong anti-war themes, however it subverts its own premise in that when tyranny and oppression threaten innocence and freedom, there is no choice but to rally up and fight to protect them. The fact that the leads are saved by spanning an army of toys against their opponents also gives weight to Leland's idea of a drone army even if by it is different reasons.

* DeadlyRemoteControlToy: Remote-control miniaturized vehicles of war [[HarmfulToMinors unwittingly operated by children]] are the EvilPlan of General Zevo. He gets the idea after inheriting his [[BunnyEarsLawyer much more whimsical]] brother's toy factory and, while visiting a shopping mall arcade by chance, observing how all the kids playing these games have such honed reflexes that they could theoretically outfly a trained military professional. He then puts two and two together and realizes that the only reason they have to make tanks and fighter planes so big in the first place is to make room for the pilots; but if they were remote-controlled, why, they could be made as small as a toy. And General Zevo now owns a toy factory... Of note is that ''Toys'' came out in 1992, only two yearsbefore unmanned drones would be put into regular use by the military.

** "Well, whatever you're doing must be working, because you ''always'' look the same age to me." Alsatia also insists on testing all the doll fashions and accessories herself [[spoiler: because she is one.]]

** Leslie and Alsatia also insist on driving their dad's car in the funeral procession. It's designed like a bumper car, and keeps hitting the car in front of it and being hit by the car behind it.

* BrokenAesop: This movie was written to have strong anti-war themes, however it subverts its own premise in that when tyranny and oppression threaten innocence and freedom, there is no choice but to rally up and fight to protect them.

* DeadlyRemoteControlToy: Remote-control miniaturized vehicles of war [[HarmfulToMinors unwittingly operated by children]] are the EvilPlan of General Zevo. He gets the idea after inheriting his [[BunnyEarsLawyer much more whimsical]] brother's toy factory and, while visiting a shopping mall arcade by chance, observing how all the kids playing these games have such honed reflexes that they could theoretically outfly a trained military professional. He then puts two and two together and realizes that the only reason they have to make tanks and fighter planes so big in the first place is to make room for the pilots; but if they were remote-controlled, why, they could be made as small as a toy. And General Zevo now owns a toy factory... Of note is that ''Toys'' came out in 1992, roughly a decade before unmanned drones would be put into regular use by the military, and Zevo's plan is [[HarsherInHindsight considered deeply immoral]].

* EvilPlan: General Leland Zevo seeks to take over his late brother's toy factory to use it to brainwash kids into soldiers.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Well, whatever you're doing must be working, because you ''always'' look the same age to me."

** Alsatia insists on testing all the doll fashions and accessories herself [[spoiler: because she is one.]]
* TheFunInFuneral: Kenneth manages a posthumous prank that gives everyone at his funeral a much-needed laugh. It even becomes a BrickJoke in a later scene.
** Leslie and Alsatia insist on driving their dad's car in the funeral procession. It's designed like a bumper car, and keeps hitting the car in front of it and being hit by the car behind it.
* GainaxEnding: The actual ending of the movie is sufficiently clear-cut, but the closing credits include a dreamlike sequence of the elephant statue from Kenneth's grave ''flying'' over the hills.

* {{Hammerspace}}: Apparently where Leslie pulls the devil puppet out of so quickly. Hey, he's good.

* IceCreamKoan: "Treat your friends like your enemies and your enemies like your friends."
** Leslie's motto? "Treat your friends like your friends and your enemies like your enemies."

* IntelligibleUnintelligible: The Old General (Leland and Kenneth's father, played by Jack Warden) is senile and almost completely unintelligible, but Leland has no problems understanding what he's saying, having been around him so long. If you listen carefully, some of the Old General's conversation is clear enough for you to get the gist. All of their conversations play out like this. See NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent below for an example.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Leland may devolve into a psycho at the end, but his cry of "'''''MEDIC!'''''" when he sees his brother collapse is real fear, and his breakdown over his wife's death is also genuine [[spoiler:even if he can't be honest about the cause]]. He shows concern for his niece Alsatia's seemingly non-nutritious diet. He is also legitimately proud of his son.

* KickTheDog: When playing an arcade game, Leland is annoyed that UN trucks keep getting in his line of fire, and eventually just stops caring and destroys them on sight, despite the game penalizing him for it.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Gwen would be one, except that her romantic partner is ''Leslie''.

* MildlyMilitary: General Leland Zevo never takes off his hat while indoors, a breach of etiquette that all soldiers (''especially'' officers) are warned about in their first week of basic training. This combined with his general lack of professionalism and seeming enthusiasm for war in general. For the informed viewer, it could be seen as a bit of foreshadowing that Leland is more of a ManChild playing at war than a professional soldier.

* PaperThinDisguise: "Yolanda and Steve". Totally a music video and ''not'' just Alsatia and Leslie in red coats and hats.

* PickyEater: Patrick Zeto complains at the factory commissary, not about the food, but that the food is touching. As a military man accustomed to eating from partitioned trays, it makes sense.

* PunchClockVillain: The Security {{Mooks}}. Most of the new Security people are guilty only of wearing an intimidating-looking uniform, although a couple of them are spying on Leslie even outside of the factory, on Leland and Patrick's orders. (And some of the guys spying on Leslie are really just rewatching the Yolanda and Steve video instead of paying attention.)

* RousingSpeech: Leslie feels it necessary to give one (full of agonizing puns) to the warehouse full of toys about to serve as cannon fodder for the General's war machines while he and his allies retake the factory.
* RuleOfSymbolism: The climactic battle is between an army of robotic, military drones and a warehouse of traditional toys, which soon turns into a CurbStompBattle full of slow-motion teddy-bear explosions. It's meant to symbolize the destruction of innocence, that war corrupts everything it touches. Levinson has said that he thinks of the film as being about not allowing your childhood "thoughts" (i.e. innocence) to disappear in adulthood.

* ShoutOut: Literally, by General Leland: "'''{{KLAATU BARADA NIKTO}}!!!'''"

* TakeThat: More than one instance, the funniest being when Leslie and some other factory workers are watching a film of a pair of giant gag ears being tested on the unsuspecting populace:

* VillainousBreakdown: Leland completely loses his mind when his proposal for a drone army is rejected by Washington. The military leaders he proposed it to were agreeing with his plan (the Russians were starting their own spy drone project) until one of them unwittingly pushed one of Leland's {{Berserk Button}}s and he snapped.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Leland may devolve into a psycho at the end, but his cry of "'''''MEDIC!'''''" when he sees his brother collapse is real fear, and his breakdown over his wife's death is also genuine [[spoiler:even if he can't be honest about the cause]]. He is also legitimately proud of his son.

-->'''Old General:''' ''[Mumbles and smiles]''\\

'''Leland:''' Oh, I went to see a ''linguist?'' Yes, I went to see a dialect coach, and the best I could do was ''[indistinct drawl]'' "You men stand over there, on my notation, until further notice." ''[British]'' They ''didn't buy it!''\\

* PickyEater: Patrick Zeto complains about the food at the canteen:

--'''Gwen''': Will people want to take poop in the tub with them?
-->'''Researcher''': We have all done it once.
-->'''Leslies''': ''({{beat}}'') This is not a shared experience.

* DeadlyRemoteControlToy: Remote-control miniaturized vehicles of war [[HarmfulToMinors unwittingly operated by children]] are the EvilPlan of General Zevo. He gets the idea after inheriting his [[BunnyEarsLawyer much more whimsical]] brother's toy factory and, while visiting a shopping mall arcade by chance, observing how all the kids playing these games have such honed reflexes that they could theoretically outfly a trained military professional. He then puts two and two together and realizes that the only reason they have to make tanks and fighter planes so big in the first place is to make room for the pilots; but if they were remote-controlled, why, they could be made as small as a toy. And General Zevo now owns a toy factory... Of note is that ''Toys'' came out in 1992, roughly a decade before unmanned drones would be put into regular use by the military, and Zevo's plan is [[HarsherInHindsight considered insane by all who hear it]].

-->''If I cannot bring you comfort\\

* FlyCrazy: Leland ''shoots himself in the foot'' while trying to kill a fly.

* OneHundredPercentApprovalRating: Everyone likes Alsatia, even the dour Patrick.

* AnAssKickingChristmas