The Beanie Bubble


The Beanie Bubble is a 2023 American comedy-drama film directed by Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash Jr. from a screenplay by Gore, based on the 2015 book The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette about the Beanie Babies bubble. The film stars Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, and Geraldine Viswanathan.
The Beanie Bubble was released in select cinemas on July 21, 2023, before its streaming release on July 28, 2023, by Apple TV+.

Plot

The film tells the story behind the 1990s Beanie Babies craze. It follows toy manufacturer Ty Warner and the women who were integral to his success. Robbie, Sheila, and Maya help turn Beanie Babies into the coveted products they became. The characters are based on three real women: Patricia Roche, Faith McGowan, and Lina Trivedi, who each played integral roles in increasing Beanie Babies’ popularity.

Production

It was announced in January 2022 that Apple TV+ had acquired the distribution rights for the film, which would see Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, and Geraldine Viswanathan star, with Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash directing.
Filming began by April 2022 in Marietta, Georgia. Production also took place in Atlanta.
The film features a new original track from Kulash’s band OK Go, titled "This".

Reception

The New York Times critic Calum Marsh unfavorably compared The Beanie Bubble to other "corporate biopics" released in 2023, including Air and Tetris, and said that it "deploys every storytelling cliché in the book". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian criticised the film's "deeply muddled non-storytelling and tonal blandness", and the Evening Standard Charlotte O'Sullivan said its "clichéd" script offers "a lazy take on power and greed". Digital Spys Mireia Mullor called the film "understuffed" but said Geraldine Viswanathan's performance "steals the show".