America has had more than its weird share of fads, but even by those standards, the Beanie Babies were something rare and special. A massive economy was constructed in the mid-’90s around the collection sale of these little stuffed toys, which were deliberately produced in limited quantities in order to provoke scarcity and drive up demand and prices. As someone who worked in a comic book store that sold a lot of Beanie Babies in the late ’90s, I can tell you: That plan worked.
The Beanie craze was hatched by businessman Ty Warner, and his story and the subsequent mania around Beanie Babies is the subject of the upcoming Apple TV+ movie The Beanie Bubble. The film stars Zach Galifianakis, (sans beard!) as Warner, with Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, and Geraldine Viswanathan in supporting roles.
Watch The Beanie Bubble trailer below:
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The Beanie Bubble follows on the heels of a several other biopics about notable pop culture fads or famous products. 2023 has already seen the release of movies about the creation of Air Jordans, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and the BlackBerry mobile device. This one seems a bit more like an overt comedy based on the trailer, but we’ll see what the final film looks like.
Here is the film’s official synopsis:
Why did the world suddenly treat stuffed animals like gold? Ty Warner was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women grew his masterstroke of an idea into the biggest toy craze in history. “The Beanie Bubble” is an inventive story about what and who we value, and the unsung heroes whose names didn’t appear on the heart-shaped tag. From the married directing duo Kristin Gore (“Her,” “Foxcatcher”) and Damian Kulash, Jr. (lead singer of OK Go), and written by Gore, comes one of America’s most outlandish success stories.
The Beanie Bubble premieres in select theaters on July 21 and then debuts on Apple TV+ on July 28.
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