When Lieutenant General Leland Zevo (Sir Michael Gambon) inherits a toymaking company and begins making war toys, his employees band together to stop him before he ruins the name of Zevo Toy... Read allWhen Lieutenant General Leland Zevo (Sir Michael Gambon) inherits a toymaking company and begins making war toys, his employees band together to stop him before he ruins the name of Zevo Toys forever.When Lieutenant General Leland Zevo (Sir Michael Gambon) inherits a toymaking company and begins making war toys, his employees band together to stop him before he ruins the name of Zevo Toys forever.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 12 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe scene with Leslie Zevo (Robin Williams) addressing his troops was ad-libbed. Levinson kept a camera rolling everytime Williams was on-set.
- GoofsIn the arcade scene, a cabinet of the Konami shoot 'em up Lightning Fighters is shown. However, upon seeing the game itself, it is actually the Sega flight simulator Strike Fighter.
- Quotes
Leslie Zevo: Four stores and many Christmases ago, my father brought forth a factory conceived in innocence and joy and squeezable fun for everyone.
- Crazy creditsDuring the credits, we see a dreamlike sequence of the elephant statue from Kenneth's grave flying over the hills.
- Alternate versionsThe1993 UK VHS versions omit a sexual reference of around 5 seconds to obtain a 'PG' rating.
- SoundtracksWinter Reveries (excerpts from SYMPHONY NO. 1)
Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Arranged and Edited by Trevor Horn
The first point that must be covered is the performance given by Robin Williams as Leslie Zevo. Although it is fraught with his almost trademark wackiness there is an underlying current of a man who is on the edge of coming into his own. The layers of the character he plays are subtly shown, as Leslie is a man who is strong, but unsure of his strength and covers that insecurity with comedy and whimsy.
The film is visually striking, a real art department tour de force, and is very much removed from any hint of the past at first glance. Looking deeper into the visuals however reveals the films deeper content of classic surrealist motifs, especially that of dismembered body parts and other parts separated from the whole. Partially assembled dolls, the parts of which come out of machines that are shaped as further separated body parts, are shown throughout. Alsatia lives in rooms within rooms that seem separated from the wholeness of houses, and indeed lives in a paper fold-out doll house herself, the reasons for which become quite apparent by the films end.
This aesthetic choice, combined with the toys vs. weapons juxtaposition makes the films textual purpose clear. Toys is a surrealist reaction to the end of the Cold War, in the very same vein as the original surrealists reactions to the end of the First World War. The film even makes several direct references to one of the surrealist masters, Rene Magrite, especially in the music video sequence. This places Toys in a very deep anti-war tradition, one that is expressed very openly in the entire premise of a General taking control of a toy company and turning it to military purpose.
Any who would dismiss this film as merely childish surely owe it to themselves to take another look at this surrealist masterpiece and lose themselves in the quirky visuals and creative world that is placed on screen.
- Dwolvesbane
- Dec 14, 2008
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $43,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $23,278,931
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,810,027
- Dec 20, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $23,278,931
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1