Our take
A sly satire of Christmas toy crazes and the people who sell them. The school-for-sale set-up is funnier than the toy plot it leads into, and the jokes about marketing to children still bite. It drifts a little in the middle. Gary Coleman as a martial-arts security guard and the sight of a sinister Furby lookalike destroying other toys make it one of the more memorable late-1990s Christmas outings.
What happens
Springfield Elementary has run out of money, and Principal Skinner lets a toy company called Kids First Industries take it over. Its president, Jim Hope, turns the pupils into a focus group for the Christmas season's must-have toy, and a suggestion of Lisa's gives the gadget its name: Funzo. The cuddly robot becomes the craze of the holiday shopping season, but the Simpsons discover that it has been built to wreck every other toy in the house, so that children will need to buy more. With Christmas approaching, the family sets out to collect every Funzo in town before the toys can do their damage, while Gary Coleman turns up as the company's martial-arts-loving security guard. The story ends with a family celebration, the town's other toys safe.
Can the kids watch it?
Fine for children from about seven; the menacing toy is played for laughs.
Cast and crew
Guest stars
- Tim Robbins as Jim Hope
- Gary Coleman
Writer
- Tom Martin
Director
- Matthew Nastuk