Small Soldiers


Small Soldiers is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Joe Dante, written by Gavin Scott, Adam Rifkin, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio, and starring Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, Jay Mohr, Phil Hartman, Kevin Dunn, Denis Leary, and the voices of Frank Langella and Tommy Lee Jones. It depicts two factions of toys which develop independent personalities after mistakenly being installed with advanced military-level technology in turn putting two families in danger when one faction turns lethal while targeting the other faction. Most of the Gorgonites are voiced by cast members from the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap while most of the Commando Elite are voiced by some of the cast members from the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen.
The film was theatrically released on July 10, 1998, by DreamWorks Pictures in the United States and by Universal Pictures in international markets. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $72 million against a $40 million budget. Small Soldiers marks the last on-screen film role of Phil Hartman, who was murdered by his wife two months before the film's premiere; the film is dedicated to his memory. It was also Clint Walker's final film role, prior to his retirement from acting in 1998 and death in 2018.

Plot

When top defense contractor GloboTech Industries acquires the Heartland Toy Company, CEO Gil Mars commissions toy designers Larry Benson and Irwin Wayfair to develop toys capable of "playing back". Mars selects Larry's "Commando Elite" action figures for the project with Irwin's "Gorgonites"peaceful monsters intended to be educational toysas their enemies. Facing a tight deadline of three months to get the toys ready for shipment, Larry unwittingly equips the toys with GloboTech's X1000 microprocessor, which he and Irwin later learn was meant for the Department of Defense.
Working at his family's toy store, teenager Alan Abernathy persuades delivery driver Joe to give him a set of the new GloboTech toys, activating Major Chip Hazard, head of the Commando Elite, and Archer, the Gorgonites' leader. Alan develops a crush on his neighbor Christy Fimple, and returns home to discover Archer in his backpack, realizing the toys are self-aware and capable of learning. That night, Chip Hazard activates his comrades to attack the Gorgonites, and Alan finds the store in disarray and the new toys missing. Christy helps clean up and Alan calls GloboTech's customer service line to file a complaint. Larry and Irwin hear his message and discover the X1000 is a military-grade artificial intelligence chip, rejected because it was found to be susceptible to EMPs.
Following Alan home, the Commando Elite interrogate Archer, but Alan intervenes and is wounded by Nick Nitro whom he partially destroys in the garbage disposal. His parents hear the commotion, but refuse to believe his explanation about the toys. The next day, Alan and Archer find the Gorgonites hiding in the store's dumpster; unlike the militant Commandos, the Gorgonites were programmed with Irwin's original friendly and inquisitive personalities, and merely seek their home, which they believe to be in Yosemite National Park after seeing an image on Alan's computer.
Tapping the Abernathys' phone line, the Commandos learn of Alan's interest in Christy. Infiltrating her house, they capture her younger brother Timmy, sedate their parents, and use Nick Nitro's AI chip to transform Christy's "Gwendy" fashion dolls into reinforcements. Taking Christy hostage, they demand that Alan surrender the Gorgonites. Alan and Archer sneak into the Fimples' house and rescue Christy, who helps them fight off the Gwendy dolls. The Commando Elite pursue them with improvised vehicles built in the Fimples' garage, but are destroyed in a fiery crash; only Chip Hazard survives. At the Abernathys' house, when Christy's father Phil accuses Alan of kidnapping her and the damage done to his house, Alan, Christy, and the Gorgonites try to convince their families of the truth about the toys. Irwin and Larry also arrive to talk to Alan about his voicemail.
Chip Hazard arrives with a new army of Commando Elite and more improvised vehicles and weapons, having hijacked a recall shipment driven by Joe, and lays siege to the house, cutting off the electricity. Phil attempts to give away the Gorgonites, but the Commandos reject the offer, making it clear that they now also see humans as enemies. When Irwin suggests an EMP, the group realizes they can overload the nearby power lines. Christy, Irwin, and Larry make their way to the Fimples' house to ensure a larger surge, and the Gorgonites emerge and fight back against the Commandos. Climbing the utility pole, Alan is attacked by Chip Hazard, who battles and defeats Archer, but Alan thrusts him into the power transformers as Larry and Irwin wedge open the breakers, triggering the EMP blast and destroying the toys.
In the morning, as the authorities clean up, Mars arrives and pays off Joe and both families for the damage. He then instructs Larry and Irwin to repurpose the Commando Elite to assist the military in fighting South American rebels. Alan and Christy start a relationship and he discovers the Gorgonites survived the EMP underneath the Fimples' satellite dish. Alan brings the Gorgonites to Yosemite, sharing a goodbye before sending them off in his father's toy boat to find their home.

Cast

  • Gregory Smith as Alan Abernathy, a boy who befriends the Gorgonites
  • Kirsten Dunst as Christy Fimple, Alan's love interest
  • Jay Mohr as Larry Benson, a toy developer at Heartland Toy Company and creator of the Commando Elite
  • Phil Hartman as Phil Fimple, the father of Christy who has an obsession with technology
  • Kevin Dunn as Stuart Abernathy, the temperamental father of Alan and proprietor of a toy store
  • David Cross as Irwin Wayfair, a toy developer at Heartland Toy Company and creator of the Gorgonites
  • Ann Magnuson as Irene Abernathy, the mother of Alan
  • Denis Leary as Gil Mars, the CEO of GloboTech Industries
  • Dick Miller as Joe, a delivery truck driver for Heartland Toy Company that later gets "drafted" by Major Chip Hazard who commandeers the Commando Elite on his truck
  • Wendy Schaal as Marion Fimple, the mother of Christy
  • Robert Picardo as Ralph Quist, a technician who designed the chips that were placed in the Commando Elite and the Gorgonites
  • Jacob Smith as Timmy Fimple, the younger brother of Christy
  • Alexandra Wilson as Ms. Kegel, the personal assistant of Mars
  • Jonathan Bouck as Brad, the ex-boyfriend of Christy
  • Belinda Balaski as Neighbor
  • Rance Howard as Husband
  • Jackie Joseph as Wife

    Voice cast

Gorgonites

  • Frank Langella as Archer, an emissary of the Gorgonites with a lion-like face and dog-like ears
  • Christopher Guest as:
  • * Scratch-It, a small female Gorgonite that resembles a frog's head with two legs
  • * Slamfist, a hunchback ogre-like Gorgonite with a boulder for a left hand and big feet who serves as the muscle for the group
  • Michael McKean as:
  • * Insaniac, a spinning hyperactive Gorgonite who is the residential problem solver
  • * Troglokhan/"Freakenstein", a navigator for the Gorgonites that was dismantled by the Commando Elite and put back together by his fellow Gorgonites with misplaced body parts and a damaged radio
  • Harry Shearer as Punch-It, a Brontotherium-like Gorgonite and advisor of Archer who is friends with Scatch-It while serving as her occasional mode of transportation
Also featured is Ocula, a shy one-eyed Gorgonite with a long neck and three long legs that can speak in whistles and serves as their lookout.

Commando Elite

On making the film, director Joe Dante recalled, "Originally I was told to make an edgy picture for teenagers, but when the sponsor tie-ins came in the new mandate was to soften it up as a kiddie movie. Too late, as it turned out, and there are elements of both approaches in there. Just before release it was purged of a lot of action and explosions." As an example of the deleted content, he mentioned that at the end of the movie, the Abernathy's house explodes. The explosion was shot, but the studio did not want to show it on-screen. Dante believes that the studio had hopes that Small Soldiers would be the start of a film series.
For the film's effects shots, Dante stated that the original idea was to use mostly puppets provided by Stan Winston. However, Dante said that while shooting, it was "much simpler and cheaper" to use computer-generated imagery after the scenes had been shot, so the film is "one-third puppetry and the rest CGI."

Release

Promotion

In November 1997 DreamWorks partnered with FreeZone, a youth-focused online platform, to create interactive websites for three of its upcoming films: Small Soldiers, Paulie, and Mouse Hunt. Mouse Hunt had completed shooting in July 1997 and would be released in December 1997, while Paulie had finished shooting the previous month and was in post-production, eventually being released in April 1998. The collaboration was intended to serve as an online promotional campaign, with each film receiving its own dedicated site featuring games, film clips, and contests. The website for Mouse Hunt was the first of the three to launch.