Toys (1992)

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.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers:

Valerie Curtin, Barry Levinson

Stars:

Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Joan Cusack

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Williams	...	Leslie Zevo
Michael Gambon	...	Lt. General Leland Zevo
Joan Cusack	...	Alsatia Zevo
Robin Wright	...	Gwen Tyler
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

Storyline

An eccentric toymaker's last wish is that his brother takes over the running of the business. The brother is a military General, and is out of touch with toymaking, and out of touch with reality too. The business should really have been given to Leslie, who was much more like his toymaking father. When the General starts making weapons instead of toys, Leslie decides to take action.

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Plot Keywords:

toy | business | brother | uncle | weapon | 

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Taglines:

Laughter is a state of mind.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Revolta dos Brinquedos

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$21,452,082 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baltimore Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of the look draws its inspiration from surrealist painter René Magritte. This is most obvious in the break in scene where Leslie and Alsatia pretend they're doing a music video featuring raining men in the background.

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Goofs

At the end of the film when the Zevo tombstone (stone elephant) is flying through the air, the wire carrying the elephant is clearly visible.

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Quotes

Alsatia Zevo: You know, you remind me a lot of my brother.
Patrick Zevo: That's impossible. We're exact opposites.
Alsatia Zevo: That's what I mean. He's all silly and soft on the outside and on the inside he's really strong and you're just the opposite.

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Connections

Referenced in Multi-Facial (1995)

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Soundtracks

"THE MIRROR SONG"
Written by Trevor Horn, Bruce Woolley and Thomas Dolby
Produced by Trevor Horn
Performed by Robin Williams and Joan Cusack as "Steve and Yolanda"
Featuring Thomas Dolby
Thomas Dolby appears courtesy of Giant Records

User Reviews

Ultimately Contradictory

An eccentric, pacifistic toymaker, Robin Williams, learns to take responsibility and assert himself after his father leaves the family toy factory to his uncle, Michael Gambon, a retired army general, who violates the company philosophy by making war toys. Director Barry Levinson, a sometimes brilliant writer, used his considerable prestige to make this very big film built around this very simple analogy: War is bad/innocence (toys) is good. This film would have had more relevance in 1972 than 1992. As it is, it is two decades too late and two tons too heavy. Worse still, the climax is directly contradicts the theme of the film. Robin Williams is only able to gain the maturity to take control of the company by waging a toy war. Hmmmm, maybe war isn't so bad after all. Still, the film is not a total washout. The sets are quite imaginative, and the film does manage to generate an interesting atmosphere - if you're in the mood for such things. The most interesting thing, however, is the casting of rapper LL Cool J as Michael Gambon's son and Robin Williams' cousin. No explanation is given for the fact that he's African-American. That's a nice touch.