HELP! Very old animated (claymation?) short movie about unwanted toy...

Hi all,

I know not much time left here (sigh) and I'm kicking myself in the ass that I never, ever thought of asking this question here before. I'm looking for any info on a film I saw as a young boy that I don't remember much of but I certainly remember how it affected me at the time, and I'd go as far as to say that it has even somewhat continued to affect me all these many years later!

My memory is very hazy about this but I guess I saw this film somewhere between 30-35 years ago. I believe the elementary school I attended had all the younger children assemble in our auditorium so we could all watch it together. This was a Catholic school I attended but I don't think that has any relevance as I don't remember there being any religious connotations in this film, however I mention this because I can't figure out for the life of me why else my school would have presented this film to all of us without some sort of indoctrination reasoning behind it!

So...I remember it had something to do with a toy...perhaps a toy soldier? Either the film was narrated or possibly the toy spoke throughout the film because I remember as the story progressed we were aware of the toys thoughts, how it felt, etc. I think the toy had long been a cherished favourite of some childs but as that child grew up he lost interest until the toy was eventually discarded or lost and basically all but forgotten. I think it was at this point that whatever happened in the film hit me really hard back then...and it's in a way been with me ever since! I don't know if it had something to do with recycling or not but I do remember the toy ending up at some type of facility that was basically the end of the line. I vaguely remember this toy last seen on something like a conveyor belt travelling towards a huge fire while the toy was lamenting its fate and either very sad or scared...or both! Finally, I no longer remember at all how it ended exactly other than I know I was brought to tears (because I distinctly remember trying very hard to hide them from my classmates, but to my relief at the time I quickly noticed I wasn't the only one visibly upset either) and it stirred in me a whole range of emotions at the time because I was sad for the toy that it had been abandoned, I was angry that its fate was inevitable, and for some silly childish reason it instilled in me an ability to sometimes think of certain inanimate objects as being alive in a sense (lol because for a long while after watching that film I definitely remember putting more effort into playing nice with my toys and always trying to cherish them!).

For years now I have very occasionally thought of that poor toys fate and then wondered what in the hell kind of film was I made to watch as a single digit year old child! I have no idea if it only had such a profound effect on me or if others experienced that as well but now, a few decades later, I would love to find and watch that again so I could look at it through the eyes of an adult to help understand a few things. I'd love to know why my school presented that to us, why it bothered me so much (hell, even Ole Yeller didn't come anywhere near the emotional impact this other film had on me!), and what the point (or moral) was that that story was trying to convey (because surely it must have been more than just an attempt at making children feel bad for neglecting their toys and the subsequent fate it would result in for those toys should one do so!).

I thank you very much if you managed to read through this long winded post and I apologize for the very vague description I was only able to provide. I should have came here long ago as it's very clear there are a lot of really intelligent and awesome people who post here, and I'm blown away by the knowledge of this lot too as I've read many instances of people identifying movies, tv shows, film, etc. with just as limited or even less info to go on! I am sorely going to miss these boards so much and the community within and I'll end this with a parting shot at iMDB by saying that I think the loss of these boards is incredibly short sighted and will go down in history as one of those monumentally bad decisions that perhaps even helped contribute to the demise of an internet giant and people years from now will look back and not be able to understand how anyone could decide that just throwing away a strong, vibrant community was ever a good idea; a community that numbered in the millions, a community that generated so much wonderful content, a community that began well over a decade ago that seemingly continued to grow, one that contained many, many passionate and positive members that have been here either from the beginning and/or have been a member for years and years (as clearly identified by the "iMDB member since ****" disclosure), and finally I think the only question left will be why did iMDB think this was the ONLY solution they had left to whatever supposed problem said boards had become! Again....sigh.



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