MovieChat Forums > The Brave Little Toaster (1987) Discussion > Something very Christian......

Something very Christian......

posted 17 years ago by poopyletter
26 replies | jump to latest

I noticed a ton of Christian stuff in this movie:

Lyrics to "city of light":

Life is like a journey on a road that's within
Head says you should stay, but your heart says to begin
So you go
But you don't wanna go

Like life's journey and death- you want to go to heaven but you don't want to die.

Any life worth living
Isn't life just filled with ease
You just stay forgiving through the forest and the trees
And you'll go
Just where you wanna go

More on life and living it.

Time flies by in the city of light
Time stands still in the country
There's no time for a fuss and a fight
As we travel the land
And I'd be satisfied just to be not denied
To reside with some pride
While I ride
To the city, the city of light!

City of light=heaven.

Light shines like a diamond in the city at night
When that diamond shines you know that everything's all right
But you know
We got a way to go

More on how heavenly the city of light is.

Let us meet the master
We don't wanna make him wait
You just keep a-knockin'
He will open up the gate
To that city of light

Master (God or Jesus) will open up the gate to heaven to anyone who truely wants it.

Master is a man with a plan I can understand
Master is a man of great reflection
Master is a man who lays his hand across the land
Master is the man of our affection

Talking about God & God's plan and how they love him.

Time flies by in the city of light
Time stands still in the country
There's no time for a fuss and a fight
As we travel the land
And I'd be satisfied just to be not denied
To reside with some pride
While I ride
To the city, the city of light!

Trying to get to heaven.

----------------------------------------------

Toaster= Christ Figure
Sacrifices himself for man & comes back from the dead in the end.

Overall the movie seemed to be about OLD appliances (old people) on their way to the City of Light (heaven) because it's their time. They're trying to find their way to Master (God) so they can get there.

The cars in the junkyard didn't find God so they are crushed in the junkyard(hell). Another post said that the cars were sterotypes.
Lyrics:
I can't take this kinda pressure
I must confess one more dusty road
Would be just a road too long

Killed himself- Suicide. One more dusty road-
Dusty road is not clean or beautiful. The car was having trouble in life with the "dusty road" and couldn't take it anymore.

Worthless...

Suicide took away from society didn't give to it.

I just can't, I just can't
I just can't seem to get started!
Don't have the heart to live in the fast lane
All that has passed and gone

Sloth- didn't do anything with their life.

Worthless!
There ain't nothing you can do about it
Worthless!
Pardon me while I panic!
Worthless! Worthless! Worthless!

When they go to hell they panic- & there's no turning back.

I come from KC Missouri
And I got my kicks down on Route 66
Every truck stop from Butte to MO
Motown to Old Alabama
From Texarkana and east of Savanna from Tampa to Old Kokomo

Was selfish- just got kicks for himself.

Worthless...

Again didn't give to society.

I once ran the Indy 500
I must confess I'm impressed how I did
And I wonder how close that I came
Now I get a sinking sensation
I was the top of the line, out of site out of mind
So much for fortune and fame

Another selfish one- became famous & didn't care about anything but hisself.

Once took a Texan to a wedding
Once took a Texan to a wedding
He kept forgetting, his loneliness letting
His thoughts turn to home and we turned

?? This one stumps me... ??

I took a man to a graveyard
I beg your pardon, it's quite hard enough
Just living with the stuff I have learned

Was too involved with death & didn't live enough- Another suicide- too hard to live with what he saw.

Worthless...

Suicide=taking again.

Once drove a surfer to sunset
There were bikinis and buns filled with weenies
Believe me, just couldn't forget

Lust- just look at the lyrics.

Pico, lets go up to Zuma
Pico, lets go up to Zuma
From Zuma to Yuma the rumor was I had a hand in the lay of the land
Get up and go hit the highway

Greed- wanted to get rich in addition to the previous: "had a hand on the lay of the land"

I worked on a reservation
Who would believe they would love me and leave on a bus back to old Santa Fe?

Once in an Indian nation
I took the kids on the skids with a Hopi
Who was happy to lie there and say
"You're worthless"

Yet another suicide- doesn't want to live any longer- lost love.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

All the main appliences gave something to each other so they got to live forever in Master's care.

The air conditioner didn't believe in God (master) because he was never touched by him.
The appliences are hoping to find God (master) even though there is no physical evidence that he exists anymore.

I'm quite sure there's more, but those are the ones's I really picked up on.
And I'm not like super-religious or anything, I just noticed it.

Whheweee that was a long post........

"She's dead!"
"These are the moments that make life worth living..."

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] poopyletter 17 years ago

THANK YOU!

"She's dead!"
"These are the moments that make life worth living..."

[–] keju7 17 years ago

In keeping with your Christian theme, I think I can help a tad with the "Once took a Texan to a wedding" line. Matrimony is an important part of the Christian faith, so by avoiding a wedding, the car would be evading God's will to be fruitful and multiply. That's kind of a stretch, but I'd say it makes sense somewhat, wouldn't you?

I am Lord Newt Batchmonkey!

[–] poopyletter 17 years ago

Not a stretch at all keju! I like it!

"She's dead!"
"She is? ...These are the moments that make life worth living..."

[–] RobSpeed 17 years ago

That's an interesting interpretation… but I guess you're probably the sort who sees that sort of thing in everything. Couldn't this same interpretation apply to most religions (especially Judaism)?

[–] ContinentalOp 17 years ago

A lot of those verses can apply to more than just Christianity, I think. :-)

"Jai Guru Deva, Om"

[–] poopyletter 16 years ago

How about a bump for this?

Rorschach is coming...

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] poopyletter 16 years ago

Thank you for your thoughtful reply!
I still contend that Toaster is a Christ Figure, as he did die for the Master but also for all of appliance-kind (he stopped the machine). Didn't Jesus die for mankind and under God?

I do agree that the air conditioner was more likely to be a heart attack. He could be like a "crippled" in society that didn't get all of what others got, but the Master still saw him as worthy as he fixed him in the end, as you said, "redeemed".

And the appliances are definitely old. Although their voices sound younger, they themselves are older models. In the song More More More this is pretty clear as the others were the newer (younger) versions of them bragging about how much they were still going.

To appliances, their Master is their God. In our world we have different "Gods" that are *very basically* the same (Allah, God, Buddha, etc.) that different people worship. So that does work.

I suppose you could see the cars that way, it's a little less harsh but basically the same. The sexual reference could very well be in this movie though, since many children's movies do involve such references; it's not that uncommon. And I don't think this is a kid kid's movie. There are a lot of adult themes in here.

And your last sentence was spot on.

Rorschach is coming...

[–] iand247 16 years ago

Wow, I never saw it like this before. Great posts!

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] poopyletter 16 years ago

Yes I know Buddha isn't technically "worshipped" I was just giving random examples off the top of my head.

And good point about Blanky; I have to agree now. It probably is a journey of life and it's experiences, not just towards death, the house being their home where they were "born" and the rest like the real world of life, and they're searching for the Master (God) in a more spiritual sense.

Good points!

Rorschach is coming...

[–] HaulinBoats 16 years ago

Interesting, but yeah I agree with some other posters, you could probably apply lots of religions/philosophies to those lyrics.

The "B-Movie" song has a St. Peter reference though:

This is weird
It's much worse than I feared
I'll close my eyes and make it disappear
Yes, they're strange
It ain't home on the range
You just tell St. Pete
That you got cold feet

[–] DCOUNTRY87 16 years ago

The "St. Pete" line refers to the shop owner's name, Elmo St. Peters.

"How could she do that to me, Lisa? How could she...french her daddy?"
-Bill (the late Phil Hartman) on "NewsRadio"

[–] DrawingofaKey 12 years ago

This is true, but it could also refer to St. Peter at the same time. I don't think it's too much of a stretch, especially in context of the song/location. St. Peter holds the keys to heaven and, in The Brave Little Toaster, Elmo St. Peters is in charge of the appliances' fates in a sort of similar way. He picks and chooses which appliances will be taken apart and experimented with while the others have to wait around for their judgment. Granted, I wouldn't go so far as to say that Elmo St. Peters is supposed to be like St. Peter exactly, because that would be a little twisted, but he does, however, help the appliances to get one step closer to the city of light (heaven) where their Master is by rescuing them from the swamp.

If you're telling St. Pete that you got cold feet, you're not ready to die! :o Just like how Toaster and his friends are determined to escape.

[–] soultransfixion 12 years ago

The director, on reddit, referred to the Toaster as a "she." The toaster is also voiced by a woman. This might interfere with your Christian interpretation of the Toaster as Christ.

Learn to Swim.

[–] Amethystlongcat 16 years ago

will work with any religion. They're all the same

also; /he was never touched by him/ I wouldn't want to be raped either

[–] iscream22 16 years ago

Interesting Observation. I dont think its limited to just christianity but theres definately a spiritual aspect to it. GOOD POST

MST3K rules! Visit rifftrax.com

[–] TwiztidJ 16 years ago

so youre saying that the song city of light is about heaven, and the song worthless is about the seven deadly sins and going to hell? umm.................. wow thats pretty deep dude. i can see where youre getting this from and all but really isnt this just reading a bit too much into it?

[–] poopyletter 16 years ago

Sorry, I'm an AP English freak. I read too much into everything .

RORSCHACH IS HERE!!!
The Princess & the Frog are coming...

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] RedSimba 15 years ago

Very interesting indeed. I suppose the waterfall scene could be the appliances' baptism or something.

----------------
"What you want me to come out looking like you, cactus butt?"

[–] lightening816 12 years ago

If the movie really does have Christian symbolism, which I can certainly see being the case, would this technically make the creepy magnet at the end, Satan?

[–] LadyMiraculous 12 years ago

You know what? That is a very interesting observation you put up there. I'm a Christian, and I use to watch this movie a lot when I was little, but I've never noticed those small undertones before. I also love your little analogy, comparing the appliances to old people, seeing that they were "outdated" and all.

"A Decepticon never retreats" -Starscream (Transformers G1)
[Formerly CosmosX9]