The Christmas Toy

Infobox_Film
name = The Christmas Toy


caption = "The Christmas Toy" VHS cover
director = Eric Till
producer = Jim Henson

writer = Laura Phillips
starring = Dave Goelz
Steve Whitmire
Kathryn Mullen
Jerry Nelson
Richard Hunt
Camille Bonora

music = Jeff Moss
cinematography =
editing = Geoff Craigen
distributor = Henson Associates
Sony Pictures
released = December 6, 1986
runtime = 50 minutes
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0099263

"The Christmas Toy" is a 1986 made-for-TV movie by The Jim Henson Company. It originally aired on ABC on December 6, 1986, and was originally sponsored by Kraft Foods.

It has only been released on VHS format, with the latest release in 1998.

The film later led to a series: "Secret Life of Toys".

Plot

When no people are around, the toys still play in the playroom. But since a toy will be frozen forever if a person catches it out of position, they have to be very careful. It's Christmas Eve, and Rugby the Tiger remembers how he was the Christmas Toy last year, and thinks he's going to be unwrapped again. And it's up to Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as favorite toy, to tell him what's in store. But Rugby won't believe her, and tries to get into the Christmas package and lets Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids loose. Unfortunately, she doesn't know she's a toy, and thinks she's landed among aliens. And it's up to Apple, Mew (the Cat's toy mouse), and the other toys to get Rugby out of the box and Meteora back in it before they're found and frozen forever!

Featured cast

imilarities to "Toy Story"

There are similarities to the plot of this film and to Disney/Pixar's computer-animated feature film "Toy Story", released in 1995. These similarities include (but are not exclusive to):
* Rugby, Jesse's old toy, is jealous and feels threatened by Meteora (who is a newer, space-themed action figure) and tries to get rid of her. In "Toy Story", Woody, Andy's old toy, is jealous and feels threatened by Buzz Lightyear (who is a newer, space-themed action figure) and tries to get rid of him.
* Meteora, an outer-space themed toy like Buzz Lightyear, does not understand that she is, in fact, a toy and not "Queen of the Asteroids". Rugby must teach her that being a toy is not inferior to her assumed role, as Woody must convince Buzz.
* As the voice of reason (and practically the only main female character in the cast), Apple the Doll serves the same purpose as Bo Peep.
* The toys revert to their inanimate form the moment a human nears. (Although "The Christmas Toy" includes the plot device that a toy is frozen forever if it is touched by a human outside of it's original position.)

External links

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