Movie #109 - The Christmas Toy

The Christmas Toy
The Jim Henson Company
1986 (TV) - 50 min
Director: Eric Till
Starring: Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Kathryn Mullen

I saw this movie as a kid and man, it's been a while.  Watching it, I had that vague recollection thing going on and it was kinda weird to be seeing it again.  It's short and sweet, playful in that Jim Henson way, and perfectly timed for a Christmas season viewing.  Ellie enjoyed it too.

However, watching this made me a little bit angry.  If you haven't seen it before, or in a while, seeing it now might give you a sense of deja-vu. Especially if you're familiar with the movie Toy Story.  I'll recap some of the important cross-overs:

1. Toys come to life when you're not looking.
2. The favorite toy is going to be replaced by a new toy.
3. The toys band together to rescue the lost toy from certain doom.
4. The new toy thinks it's really from outerspace and does lots of funny things around the house until it learns it's only a toy... which depresses it tremendously.
5. The old toy learns that peaceful coexistence with the new toy isn't so bad afterall.

Some familiar? I didn't know Toy Story was so blatantly recycled.  Sure, there are differences but it's hard to watch one without thinking of the other.  That said, this was a fun one to revisit from my childhood.