There is one scene from The Brave Little Toaster that somehow stayed in my memory since I was a child.

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Blanky hears a car outside and thinks the Master has finally come back. He imagines the Master coming through the door and almost jumping towards him in slow motion, while Blanky flies through the air towards him. They just keep calling “Blanky!” and “Master!” to each other.

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Then it cuts back to reality. It was just another car.

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I don’t remember what I thought about it as a child. I found the clip again years later, and since then I’ve occasionally shown it to friends and family because I still find it funny and slightly surreal.

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On 20 September 2026, I finally watched The Brave Little Toaster again from beginning to end, this time with my wife and five-year-old daughter.

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Early in the film, the Air Conditioner loses his temper and eventually blows himself apart. I remember thinking, did he basically just kill himself?

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There were also things I just found funny. When the appliances arrive at the lake, everything becomes a little chaotic, with singing fish, frogs and a worm trying not to get eaten by a bird. I really liked that whole part.

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The night before, Blanky had wanted to sleep next to somebody but was turned away. Later there was a scene with Toaster and a flower. Watching it, I started thinking about how Blanky had tried to cuddle up to Toaster earlier, and wondered if there was a connection.

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The flower is even the same yellow as Blanky.

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That made me want to know more about why some of these choices were made.

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There is also a song called “Worthless,” and I thought the whole sequence was really cool. Afterwards I found comments from director and co-writer Jerry Rees, who talked about how the junkyard allowed them to deal with mortality in a way that made sense, because old cars really do end up being crushed. He also remembered seeing an old television abandoned in an alley and wondering about how long it had spent entertaining its owner.

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The film was based on a story by Thomas M. Disch. Years later, when asked why he gave appliances personalities, he said they do things for us, make noises and become part of everyday life. He even described a toaster as possibly being the first positive relationship someone has in the morning.

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While watching the film, I also kept thinking about Toy Story. Lampy talks about the time his bulb went out and he thought he was finished, until the Master gave him a new one. Later they end up in a strange shop full of broken things where parts are taken from them. That immediately reminded me of the broken toys in Toy Story.

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There were other little things I noticed. At one point I saw a huge TDK sign in the city and wondered what it was doing there. Later the appliances end up in the rubbish, and again I found myself thinking about Toy Story.

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Only afterwards did I discover that Joe Ranft, who co-wrote The Brave Little Toaster and worked on the film, later joined Pixar and became story supervisor on Toy Story. I had no idea about any of this while I was watching it.

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At one point my wife looked at me and said, “I actually like this.” She liked the friendship between them. They struggle, they argue, but they still keep going.

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My daughter had a slightly different reaction. She told me some parts were scary. I remember asking her, really? You watch KPop Demon Hunters and you’re fine, but this scares you?

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She is five, around the age I was when I first saw The Brave Little Toaster. I can’t remember if I found any of it scary at that age. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. It made me wonder if she would remember any of it years from now.

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I don’t really know why that one scene with Blanky stayed with me for so long. I wanted to write this down while it was still fresh.