The Brave Little Toaster
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The Brave Little Toaster is a novel by Thomas M. Disch intended for children or as put by Disch, A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances. The story centers on five household appliances— the Lamp (a lamp), the Blanket (an electric blanket), the Radio (a radio), the Hoover (a vacuum cleaner), and the Toaster (a toaster)—on their quest to find their owner, referred to as "The Master."
The story first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (August 1980). Although appearing in a general circulation magazine, the story was written in the style of a children's fable. It was one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy stories of the early 1980s, and was nominated for both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novella. It also won a "Locus Award, Seiun Award and British SF Association Award".[1] It was later published as a book.[2] The Brave Little Toaster was well-received by critics.[3] Anna Quindlen, writing for the New York Times, called it "a wonderful book for a certain sort of eccentric adult. You know who you are. Buy it for your children; read it yourself," and also suggested that the book lacked a clearly defined audience.[4]
Disch said that he was unable to publish the story as a children's book at first, because publishers thought the concept of talking appliances was too “far-fetched”, even after Disch had sold it to Disney as a film; Doubleday finally published it as part of a five book contract.[5]
In 1987 the novel was adapted by Disch as an animated film. The film contains many differences from the book but is essentially the same story.
Disch later wrote a sequel to the book, The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. In this book, the Brave Little Toaster and his companions travel to Mars to stop an invasion from hostile appliances who have a colony there. This too was made into a film. There was also a third film in the series, The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue.
[edit] Characters
- The Toaster
- Toaster is the protagonist; brave as it is described in the title. It acts as leader to the others and never gives up hope or effort.
- The Tensor Lamp
- A lamp that shines a bright light, but is not very "bright" in intelligence. In the movie its name is Lampy.
- The Electric Blanket
- A shy electric blanket who always needs reassuring. In the movie it's usually called Blanky.
- The Alarm Clock/Radio
- A radio that constantly talks about anything of which it can think. It annoys the others by trying to seem intelligent.
- The Hoover
- A big, strong vacuum cleaner. It is said to be grumpy and bossy, but is still a valuable part of the team. In the movie it's renamed Kirby.
[edit] References
- ^ "Obituary: Thomas M. Disch". sffworld.com. 2008-07-10. http://www.sffworld.com/news/575.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-14.
- ^ "Obituary: Thomas M. Disch". Locus Publications. 2008-07-06. http://www.locusmag.com/2008/Disch_Obit.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-14.
- ^ "Tom Disch (Thomas M. Disch ) (1940 - 2008)". Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=80598. Retrieved on 2009-01-14.
- ^ Quindlen, Anna (1986-04-20). "CHILDREN'S BOOKS". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2D71339F933A15757C0A960948260&scp=1&sq=the+brave+little+toaster&st=nyt. Retrieved on 2009-01-14.
- ^ Horwich, David (2001-07-30). "Interview: Thomas M. Disch". Strange Horizons. http://www.strangehorizons.com/2001/20010730/interview.shtml. Retrieved on 2009-01-14.
