The brave little toaster update#

Many people were probably annoyed by Blankie's neediness and tendency to cry at the drop of a hat.

Also, Thomas M Disch's poem Echo and Narcissus was his first published poem, back in The '60s.

The flower that falls in love with its own reflection in Toaster's chrome plating looks vaguely like a daffodil, which is a member of the Narcissus family.

Similar to Frankenstein's monster, the shop's appliances are presented as monstrous and subhuman/sub-appliance, while Frankenstein/the shopkeeper is (at least initially) unaware of his folly, blinded by his idealism.

On another level, it refers to movies such as Frankenstein, about a monster created from body parts from different humans (and even some animal parts).

As an adult it's easier to see that they're probably trying to make Toaster and the gang feel better about the situation with black comedy humor.

It may be confusing when the Appliance Shop characters suddenly break into a song about old monster movies.

The brave little toaster update#

Compare that to how often you have to update and replace your computer, television, mobile phone, etc. Many people still use 20- (sometimes even 50-) year-old toasters, lamps, and vacuums. The now obsolete 80's appliances mocking the main characters for being 'outdated', when actually the heroes are the type of appliances that last for many years whose functions would still be useful today.Perhaps all the time Rob spent reading by lamplight taught Lampy to read.

When the appliances arrive in the city, Toaster has some trouble reading the phone book and asking for directions to Rob's house, so Lampy reads it instead.

It's a soap box, Toaster literally stood on a soap box! Toaster throws a box onto the floor and stands on it to give a Rousing Speech.