Jim Henson's: The Christmas Toy
What better time than the holiday season to dive into the wonderful world of toys? Cinema has always loved to use its magic to fulfill an eternal childhood dream: seeing toys come to life. Naturally showcasing animated films, this series takes us at the frontiers of imagination, fantasy, and dreams through movies where toys are very well alive, albeit in different ways. By turns strange, amusing, wonderful, or unsettling, these toy stories inevitably lead us to reflect on our own humanity, while always managing to strike a chord deep within us.
In 1950s Paris, a little boy befriends an object unlike any other: a beautiful helium balloon that has a life of its own and begins to follow him everywhere of its own accord. A classic of French cinema and a marvel of magical realism, it won the Palme d’or for Best Short Film and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1956.
On Christmas Eve, a group of toys is worried that the new gifts about to arrive might shake up the established hierarchy. They’re afraid of being forgotten. Rugby the tiger wants to keep his spot as the favorite toy at all costs, and he’s willing to make some questionable choices to achieve that.
