Wonderful Collections Of Antique Toys
Whenever a movie producer is going for a particular antique feel to a movie there are always certain things which are essential to setting the right time. Transportation is incredibly important. If the movie is set in the 1940's then you better have cars made in the 1940's cruising the streets or your movie quickly loses its feel.
The architecture needs to be consistent as well although many producers will take liberties with this aspect and sometimes cheat a little to save money or time. The one thing that cannot be cheated on and must be as accurate as possible are the antique toys used in movies. Toys always trigger memories in people's minds and if you are making a movie in a time period that some in your audience may remember then a clever use of antique toys can help to bring out an emotional response in a portion of your audience that other things may not bring.
The use of antique toys to set the time for a movie is a vehicle that many producers have used for many years and in some cases it has worked very well while in other cases it was used ineffectively. There are some movies that the use of antique toys stands out and it is not a coincidence that these movies are also holiday movies.
In the 1952 movie Scrooge starring Alistair Sim there is a wonderful scene where the children are looking through the window of a toy store and dreaming of the toys that they want for Christmas. In the window is a very detailed collection of antique toys that were used by the producers on loan from a local antique toys collector. That one scene helped to set the entire time period of the movie and maybe more than the clothing or the transportation used in that movie the antique toys really helped to bring out the 1800's flavor of that movie and made it one of the most popular holiday movies of all time. Scrooge survives to this day as a holiday favorite and the antique toys scene is still one of the most popular in the movie.
Maybe Not So Antique But Still Toys
In A Christmas Story the movie is based almost solely on one child's quest for the perfect Christmas present. He wants a toy gun but all throughout the movie there is placement of toys from the 1940's that help to lend a time period credibility to the movie that other aspects may not be as effective at doing. It may not be a use of true antique toys but the toys definitely help put the story in a particular time period and keep it there for everyone to enjoy.
The use of toys in movies is a powerful image as most people have strong emotional attachments to the toys of their youth and many other people find antique toys fascinating to look at. However they are used it can be said that antique toys are a very powerful visual image.
