Toys (1992)

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers (WGA):

Valerie Curtin (written by) &
Barry Levinson (written by)

Release Date:

18 December 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Comedy

Tagline:

Laughter is a state of mind.

Plot:

When a military general inherits a toy making company and begins making war toys, his employees band together to stop him before he ruins the name of Zevo Toys forever.

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Box Office Flop | Hallucination | Gynoid | Dysfunctional Family

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 nominations

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Leslie Zevo
Michael Gambon	...	Lt. General Leland Zevo
Joan Cusack	...	Alsatia Zevo
Robin Wright Penn	...	Gwen Tyler (as Robin Wright)
LL Cool J	...	Captain Patrick Zevo
Donald O'Connor	...	Kenneth Zevo
Arthur Malet	...	Owen Owens
Jack Warden	...	Old General Zevo
Debi Mazar	...	Nurse Debbie
Wendy Melvoin	...	Choir Soloist
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Cortez
Jamie Foxx	...	Baker
Shelly Desai	...	Shimera
Blake Clark	...	Hagenstern
Art Metrano	...	Guard at Desk

Runtime:

118 min | 122 min (FMC Library Print) (dvd release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1994) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Peru:PT | Iceland:L (original rating) | South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Baltimore Pictures

Trivia:

The words used by the General in an attempt to stop the rampaging sea creature are "Klaatu, Barada, Nikto", the same words used to command the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

Goofs:

Continuity: When General Zevo is in the arcade playing "Tank Gunner" you notice that his score bounces. It's at -2400 at the point where he only shoots UN Trucks (each truck is -1000 points) and in the next seen he's at 1600 points, down to 400, then up to 3600, then down to -6000, then -3400, and finally -7000.

Quotes:

Patrick Zevo: I can't even eat. The food keeps touching. I like military plates, I'm a military man, I want a military meal. I want my string beans to be quarantined! I like a little fortress around my mashed potatoes so the meatloaf doesn't invade my mashed potatoes and cause mixing in my plate! I HATE IT when food touches! I'm a military man, you understand that? And don't let your food touch either, please?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Multi-Facial (1999)

Soundtrack:

THE HAPPY WORKER

Time to play...

People can be funny about movies like "Toys".

They'll analyze them to death, wonder what underlying messages are hidden in the subtext, how much the FX cost, what the actors were thinking, all BEFORE they let the movie begin. I don't think about things like that when watching a movie at first. I just decide if I was entertained or not.

I was.

"Toys" uses Williams' natural exuberance and Cusack's looniness to its benefit and make them the most unique characters in a movie that ISN'T about toys as much as it is childhood, life, death and whatever happens to be in between. I especially liked Cusack's comment at her father's funeral about the tin horn.

Gambon plays the "serious-minded" adult who traipses into toyland and decides to declare war. What happens? About what you'd expect. Or maybe not, I dunno. What can you expect in a movie where it makes up its own rules along the way, just like a child at play?

I loved the production design and a lot of toys are just downright cute. Williams' speech to the toys near the end that hybrids Gandhi and Churchill with a little of "Begin the Beguine" is a classic in my book. And Cusack's fate is somewhat of a shock. LL Cool J does a pretty good job as does Gambon. Wright is pretty, as always, and you have to love that down-home accent (and dolphin imitation).

In the end, "Toys" breaks free of the world like the elephant during the end credits, making a world all its own, one where children's rules apply and simply allowing yourself to be a child is the perfect remedy to adulthood. Maybe THAT'S what a lot of people don't understand about this movie.

Nice Job, Barry.

Ten stars and a smoking jacket for "Toys", the movie that proves there's a time and a place for children's things, as long as you don't let growing up spoil it for you.