Netflix: The Toys that Made Us (open spoilers)

[Allecher]

Me too. I just watched the Hello Kitty episode and found it to be an interesting insight into Japanese culture.

[DCnDC]

@amaguri

I really enjoy this show, even for toys that I have no particular interest in. Just watched the Star Trek episode from S.2 and loved all the weird licensed junk that had almost nothing to do with the actual show!

That was a good one. I watched a lot of TOS and TNG with my dad, but I never had any Star Trek toys because my dad was too old to have ever had any of the classic toys to pass down, and I was in high school and well past interest in action figures by the time the TNG toys came out.

While watching it though, I did have the thought that Star Trek may die when my generation does. I mean, do kids today really have any interest in it? I didn’t really even care for it as a kid, it was just this goofy show my dad watched, and I watched it with him just because it was TV. My interest in it as an adult is mostly tongue-in-cheek; it’s kitsch. My nieces and nephews don’t care a lick about any of it.

[friedo]

@Driver8

I did watch the entire Lego episode but enjoyed it in spite of this, not because of it. I largely agree with friedo. I didn’t find it unconventional at all, I actually thought this was a pretty standard editing format for these sort of “light” documentaries. It gets old fast, and I find it distracting from whatever actually interesting story they’re trying to tell. In my opinion, it shows a lack of confidence that you’re telling a story worth telling. I think in this case the content could have stood on its own. I guess other stories need the distraction attempt.

@ExTank

Maybe I need to watch more documentaries for a wider sample of their various styles; there’re plenty I could watch for their interesting subject matter, but they tend to lose me in overly dry, fact-based narration, and the deadly serious nature of the presentation (even on generally “light” topics, nature and what not, that aren’t dealing with crime, sexual assaults, political turmoil, genocide, etc).

You can do the “light” doc stuff successfully and make it enjoyable and interesting, it just takes a milder touch than what was on display here. They felt the need to add something at every. single. point. in the narrative. Nothing wrong with editing for a bit of whimsy, but STFU once in a while and tell the actual story.

It reminded me of something I saw channel-surfing years ago; I think it was a reality series that followed a public defender preparing for trials. Fine enough subject matter, except every single time they needed to do any kind of transition, instead of just cutting, they did this obnoxious post-focus-dissolve thing with a little drumbeat stinger. Every single time. Constantly. Like every 90 seconds. That was surely dumbass’s need to make a “statement” with the style of the show and obviously his boss was asleep at the wheel. But I had the same kind of reaction to this series. Just tone it down, man. There’s a line.

[MrDibble]

We’ve only watched the Lego episode so far, and now we’ll watch them all.

I found it hilarious, which most documentaries aren’t. All those cuts to the earnest bespectacled guy saying “System” just tickled me. It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about the actual history of Lego, but it was nice seeing actual employees and the archive footage.