action figure: Small Soldiers: Flatchoo and Nibble

In 1998, Joe Dante directed ����_�Small Soldiers,����_�_ a film about two adolescents who get caught in the middle of a war between two factions of sentient action figures, the Gorgonites (monster toy line) and the Commando Elite (soldiers). Like Dante����_��s ����_�Gremlins,����_�_ the movie featured a small town, corporate and commercial satire, and cartoon-style violence. Many parents and critics questioned the appropriateness of the film for children����_��it was a violent, sardonic film about children����_��s toys. Yet, toys, dolls, and puppets have served as antagonists in films since ����_�The Great Garbo����_�_ in 1929. The killer toy sub-genre generates fear by eroding the division between a human and a product.