Most 90s kids remember the nostalgic sense memory of playing with these plush toys. If this isn’t you, still, maybe you’ve heard of how the Beanie Babies craze in the 90s turned these stuffed animal toys into an internet sensation. At one point, Ty Inc. partnered with McDonald’s, and these toys were even distributed in Happy Meals. Beanie Babies were marketed as limited edition collectors’ items much like precious moment figurines. The Beanie Babies shown in the film were created specifically for the film to avoid copyrighting.  However, this story sheds light on the American dream from the perspective of women who helped start the craze behind Beanie Babies. The Beanie Babies take a backseat to their rags-to-riches story.   The cast for the movie is Zach Galifianakis · as Ty, Elizabeth Banks as Robbie, Sarah Snook as Sheila, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Maya. Everybody was fantastic.

This story was told from the viewpoint of the three women who worked closely with Ty Warner (toy manufacturer, CEO, sole owner, and founder of Ty Inc.) and influenced the Beanie Babies empire which manufactures and distributes stuffed toys.  The film flip flops between the 80’s and 90’s showing how a business idea began a company and became a billion-dollar empire from the Beanie Babies craze through the end when Beanie Babies fell from popularity to obsolete.  It’s a wild and crazy story and this movie puts that story into the spotlight with funny and dramatic performances by a wonderful cast that really makes this movie what it is.

Here are character breakdowns:

 Robbie a smart, savvy businesswoman worked with Ty to get the business off the ground. Elizabeth Banks brings this multidimensional character to life showing her transition of rising to the top in her career only to be shoved off her pedestal and left to her own devices. Banks’ strong performance brings this compelling character to life and takes the audience through an emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurial success and dealing with a manipulative, deceitful power-hungry business tycoon. We see this at its peak with Robbie discovers Ty is recording his employees.

Sheila, a headstrong mother of two young daughters was an integral part of the creation of Beanie Babies. Her children even activity contributed to the ideation of a Beanie Baby’s size to the naming of the different Beanie Baby animals. Sheila eventually develops feelings for Ty as he pursues her, woos her children, and later asks her to marry him. We see their relationship develop and how it erodes, eventually imploding like the Beanie Baby bubble.  As noted by director Damian Kulash, Sheila (Snook) is without question the moral compass of the film. Sheila embodies the notion “F*** around and find out.” I enjoyed her storyline.

The strong single-mom troupe has been done. What Sheila introduces is a woman acting quickly as the plot unfolds to reveal the truth. Snook delivers her realizations in a raw and honest way. Through Sheila’s eyes, Ty is simply a man of his caliber but a man who sees her and steps up for her only to reveal the twisted conniving way he spirals out of control.

Maya played by the actress Geraldine Viswanathan was a brilliant character loosely based off the life and experiences of Lina Trivedi. We see how Maya a 17-year-old pre-med student start working at Ty Inc. in a clerical position to later becoming an asset to Ty and Ty Inc’s success., catapulting the Beanie Babies brand online, creating notable marketing material, and transforming herself into an innovative marketing guru with a promising future.

We need to acknowledge Zach Galifianakis, he is often cast in comedic roles. However, in this film Galifianakis showed a different dimension of talent bringing a seemly average businessman to life, depicting a visionary, tortured, viscerally power-hungry man making ruthlessly stripe these women of their talent and efforts to gain all the recognition, fame, and success.

Final Thoughts…

Yes, the unveiling of colorful stuffed animal toys added an element of fun and nostalgia to the film. However, the film explores and challenges ideas such as capitalism, the patriarchy, and the American Dream. The character Ty Warner, a businessman obsessed with power, money, and plastic surgery represents a typical white cis male CEO who benefits from as the head of a massive company. The Beanie Bumble peels back the layers of how there’s always more to a person’s success than what you see on the surface.

I rate this movie a 7/10 for an interesting and uplifting story; a film narrative about women told from the vantage point of women under the direction of a woman is refreshing to see. The plot keeps momentum with compelling character arches and high stakes.  I recommend getting situated to follow along with all the time jumps to avoid missing plot details you’ll want to remember later. If the Barbie movie is too feminine for you, consider The Beanie Bubble, a retelling of a true story, your starter pack to narratives about women who brought to life a different toy, beanie babies.

Ty Warner, the actual Ty Warner Ty Inc. headquarters is based in the Chicagoland area where this all began. Despite his convictions, he kept his wealth and position within the company and still continued to be successful in the toy industry! The Beanie Babies craze eventually subsided, but the Ty. Inc brand remains well-known, and the toys are still collected by enthusiasts and nostalgic individuals. As of 2020, Ty Warner was listed at No. 359 on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest people in America, with a net worth of approximately US$2.3 billion.  The movie is a lot of fun with a great cast and worth a watch.