| Toys To Life | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Owen Laramore |
| Produced by | Owen Laramore Chris Jenkins |
| Screenplay by | Frank E. Flowers |
| Story by | Owen Laramore Frank E. Flowers Irene Mecchi Jonathan Roberts Linda Woolverton |
| Starring | Owen Wilson Anniston Price Robert De Niro Jimmy Fallon Will Arnett Idina Menzel Catherine O'Hara James Corden |
| Music by | John Powell |
| Edited by | Andy Keir |
| Production companies |
Owen Laramore Studios 20th Century Fox Animation |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date | January 29, 2020 |
| Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $75 million |
| Box office | $571 million |
Toys To Life is a 2020 American animated comedy film directed by Owen Laramore in his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Frank E. Flowers from a story penned by Laramore, Flowers, Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Owen Laramore Studios as its first feature-length film, the film features the voices of Owen Wilson, Anniston Price, Robert De Niro, Jimmy Fallon, Will Arnett, Idina Menzel, Catherine O'Hara, and James Corden. Set in Toytown, a fictional city inhabited by anthropomorphic toys, John Playskool, a tour guide at the city's museum, searches for the long lost "Lamp of Amazement" to save the museum from being shut down. However, he has two problems: The supposed "giant lava lamp" turns out to be small, and accompanying him is a lonely orphaned girl named Rebecca, whom he unwittingly adopted.
Toys To Life was released on January 29, 2020 in the United States by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed $571 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2020, and received near-universal acclaim, with critics praising the voice acting, animation, humor, and characters. This was the last film released under the "20th Century Fox" name before its parent company, The Walt Disney Company, renamed it to "20th Century Studios". Toys To Life was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, losing to Soul. It started the Toys To Life franchise with three sequels: Toys To Life 2, Toys To Life 3, and Toys To Life 4 on August 25, 2023, August 26, 2026, and August 29, 2029.
Plot[]
In Toytown, a small town inhabited by anthropomorphic talking toys, a blue snowboarder toy named John Playskool is a tour guide at the Toytown Museum, who works with its owner, a fat, elderly old man toy named Mr. Rutherford and his co-workers and friends: Ian the lion, Tina the train, Ouch the giant pillow penguin, and Robone the robot dog. Anji the Christmas ornament and her students are the only regular visitors, although most of them (except Anji, and a toy truck named Little Spence and her best friend Mousey the toy pink elephant) find the museum a boring and unpleasant place. One day, John learns from Rutherford that the museum is to close due to its declining popularity compared to the more glamorous Family Fun Center. Murray, a selfish Bionicle toy, plots to turn the museum into a bicycle parking storage the next week. Murray suggests John retire and adopt a girl named Rebecca at the Toytown Orphanage to get a family to spend more time with, to which he sadly agrees after his co-workers hear the news and retire.
As Rebecca begins adjusting to her new life in John's apartment, much to his displeasure, she tells her about her dream of seeing the Lava Lamp of Amazement. His mood lifted by this, and he sees this as the opportunity to save the museum, deciding to bring her along. John tells Mr. Rutherford and Murray about the lava lamp and their plan to use it to save the museum. While Mr. Rutherford is delighted, as he had been searching for it years ago, Murray agrees to give him a whole week to do so on the condition that shall he fail, the museum will be torn down. With the week to spare, John and Rebecca enlist the help of Ian, Tina, Ouch, and Robone. They travel to a toy forest and find the Lava Lamp of Amazement, which they hope will attract costumers, but it turns out to be smaller. John, Rebecca, and his friends despairingly return to Toytown with the small Lava Lamp of Amazement and find advertisements for the lava lamp all over Toytown, although Rebecca remains optimistic that they will find some way to solve the issue.
At the museum, John and the group reveals the lava lamp's size to Mr. Rutherford. Murray gathers the crowd for questions when Toytown will see the lamp. John is reluctant to show everyone else the lava lamp's small size, as everyone seeing the lava lamp's small size would mean the jeopardization of the museum's future and his career. The group is kicked out by Murray after Rebecca climbs up a huge cardboard Argentinosaurus skeleton. John decides to take the lava lamp to his friend Mad, an inventor, to find a way to make the lava lamp bigger. However, Rebecca sees a playground and decides to go there to make friends with other kids. John tells the gang to meet him at Mad's apartment and follows her into the playground, finding her playing the kids from Anji's class, who are there for a field trip. Rebecca floats away on helium balloons that are popped by bird control spikes, but John uses some balloons and a kite to float after and save her. As they fly over Toytown using John's kite, John begins to bond with the girl.
John and Rebecca meet up with Mad and the group at his apartment. Rebecca discovers that an overhead projector makes the lava lamp appear 25 feet tall. John, Rebecca, and his friends drive to take the projector to the museum. At the museum, they use the projector to make the lava lamp appear the right size to show Murray and Mr. Rutherford. Though Murray tries to convince Murray that this would fool the public, Mr. Rutherford is oblivious, seeing this as the only way to save the museum. Crushed, jealous, and desperate to get his bike storage, Murray foils John's plan by pouring a latte on the projector, causing it to explode. Murray blames the incident on Rebecca, falsely labeling her destructively dangerous. With his plan derailed, John sadly addresses the crowd outside, saying the museum is to close forever, and revealing the lamp's small size to the crowd. John's friends and the crowd leave. Believing his life to be ruined, John tells Rebecca she doesn't belong with him and orders her to leave, also allowing the Toytown Police to take her away.
John talks with Ian, Tina, Ouch, and Robone, who help him understand what is more important in life. Regretting his decision to let Rebecca be taken away, John races after her and sees the police taking her on a huge police boat headed for the Toytown Prison Island. He sneaks onto the boat, where he reunites with her in the prison hold and sets her free. While John accepts her as his daughter and explains to her that nothing (including the museum's closure) matters besides them being father and daughter, Rebecca discovers that the small lava lamp reveals a pitcogram when turned to sunlight. The two realize the inscription: when held up to the sun, the small lava lamp is actually a map to the real lava lamp. John, Rebecca, and their friends head back to the forest and finally find the real Lava Lamp of Amusement.
The real Lava Lamp of Amazement is finally put in the museum, which goes back in business and becomes more successful than ever, and a new kids' zone is opened, frequently funded by John, his friends, Mad, and his inventions. Murray gets a job as a bike valet, and, despite being distraught over not getting his bike storage, finds joy in Mr. Rutherford finally being proud of him. The toys praise John as a hero, and Mr. Rutherford decrees the museum is to permanently stay open.
Cast[]
- Owen Wilson as John Playskool, a blue snowboarder action figure and a museum tour guide.
- Anniston Price as Rebecca Playskool, a young girl who John has to adopt.
- Robert De Niro as Mr. Rutherford, the elderly owner of the Toytown Museum.
- Jimmy Fallon as Murray, a Bionicle toy who intends to replace the museum with a bicycle parking storage.
- Will Arnett as Ian, a toy lion and one of John's friends.
- Idina Menzel as Tina, a toy train and one of John's friends.
- Catherine O'Hara as Ouch, a pillow-sized toy penguin resembling a Dachshund who is one of John's friends.
- James Corden as Robone, a robotic dog and one of John's friends.
- Brooklynn Prince and Ana Ortiz as Little Spence and Mamo, two Tonka trucks who are mother and daughter.
- Sarah Vowell as Mousey, a 2-inch-tall elephant toy and Little Spence's best friend.
- Jodie Whittaker as Anji, a Christmas ornament who is a teacher.
- Warwick Davis as Mad, a genius inventor and John's friend.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Toys To Life opened on January 29, 2020 in the United States and was projected to gross anywhere around $40--45 million in its opening weekend. After earning $290 million in its four-day opening weekend, the film has grossed $245 million in North America and $326 million internationally, for a total of $571 million worldwide, against a production budget of $75 million.
Critical response[]
Toys To Life received generally positive reviews from film critics, who praised its animation, screenplay, humor, voice acting, and musical score. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 96% approval rating based on 239 reviews. The consensus reads, "With an all-star voice cast and colorful animation, Toys To Life makes a successful animated film directorial debut for Owen Laramore". On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 82 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.