‘Barbie’ Trailer Ushers in a New Period for the ‘Toy Business Cinematic Universe’ • The Toy Guide
May Barbie: The Film, M3GAN, Small Troopers, Ted 2, and BIG all exist in the identical “Toy Business Cinematic Universe?”
I’d wish to assume that they do.
With the most recent trailer for Warner Bros.’ Barbie: The Movie lastly letting the cat out of the bag doll out of the field and revealing Will Ferrell stepping in for Ynon Kreiz because the cinematic Chairman and CEO of Mattel, I couldn’t assist however consider the opposite fictitious depictions of the toy business — and dwelling toys — on the large display screen.
Ted 2 (2015) closely featured Hasbro in a plot that featured actor John Carroll Lynch (Fargo, American Horror Story) as Thomas Jessup, the over-the-top CEO of the corporate behind G.I. Joe and My Little Pony, on a quest to create and market a military of dwelling teddy bears.
Equally, within the ahead-of-its-time Small Troopers (1998), director Joe Dante (Gremlins) tapped Denis Leary (Judgement Evening) to star as Gil Mars, the CEO of a protection contractor known as GloboTech Industries that acquires the Heartland Toy Firm. Below Mars’ path, the corporate unleashes the Commando Elite and the Gorgonites — motion figures which might be maybe just a little too lifelike (and impressed an actual line of toys from Kenner/Hasbro).
Final 12 months’s M3GAN offered a cautionary story in regards to the introduction of synthetic intelligence (AI) into the toy division wherein the fictional Funki (not Funko) releases the Mannequin 3 Generative Android (M3GAN). A fast look at Funki’s different merchandise, full with a industrial for a fuzzy digital pet (PurRpetual Petz) and different robotics, may simply have been influenced by WowWee, Spin Grasp, Moose Toys, or Hasbro’s FurReal Pets.
Whereas there have been no sentient toys concerned, seldom does every week go by wherein I don’t consider Tom Hanks (Toy Story) as Josh Baskin in BIG (1998). Whereas the scene wherein Baskin performs the piano on the former FAO Schwarz flagship alongside Mr. MacMillan (the late Robert Loggia), CEO of the fictional MacMillan Toy Co., is iconic, there may be one other scene that stands out: “I don’t get it.”
A couple of years again, this scene and its “unfun” reworking constructing impressed a real-life toy: The Empire State Robotic in Mattel’s Fisher-Worth Imaginext line. The determine was launched within the Collection 12 thriller bag assortment.
Are there any further entries into the “Toy Business Cinematic Universe” that must be included within the canon? Let me know within the feedback part!
BONUS: ANOTHER TOYETIC TRAILER — FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S
This fall, Blumhouse and Common Footage will lastly launch the long-awaited 5 Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) film.
Impressed by the FNAF online game collection, the movie follows a troubled safety guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Whereas spending his first evening on the job, he realizes the evening shift at Freddy’s gained’t be really easy to make it by way of.
As of this writing, the unique add of the trailer has greater than 19 million views on YouTube — a testomony to the facility of the model and its rabid fanbase. Funko, Scholastic, Simply Toys, and different firms are licensing companions, so anticipate elevated curiosity within the toy division later this 12 months.
Moreover, a brand new online game — 5 Nights at Freddy’s: Assist Needed 2 — was revealed throughout this week’s PlayStation Showcase.
For extra Media Mashup, together with a have a look at this 12 months’s most toyetic film releases, try the 2023 version of The BIG Toy Book, and keep tuned for the 2023 Licensing & Leisure subject, out June 13.
