| The Beanie Bubble | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Screenplay by | Kristin Gore |
| Based on | The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Steven Meizler |
| Edited by | Jane Rizzo |
| Music by |
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Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Apple TV+ |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Beanie Bubble is a 2023 Americancomedy-drama film directed byKristin Gore andDamian Kulash Jr. from a screenplay by Gore, based on the 2015 bookThe Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette about theBeanie Babies bubble. The film starsZach Galifianakis,Elizabeth Banks,Sarah Snook, andGeraldine Viswanathan.
The Beanie Bubble was released inselect cinemas on July 21, 2023, before its streaming release on July 28, 2023, byApple TV+.[2]
The film tells the story behind the 1990sBeanie Babies craze. It follows toy manufacturerTy 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, andLina Trivedi, who each played integral roles in increasing Beanie Babies’ popularity.[3]
It was announced in January 2022 thatApple TV+ had acquired the distribution rights for the film, which would seeZach Galifinakis,Elizabeth Banks,Sarah Snook, andGeraldine Viswanathan star, withKristin Gore andDamian Kulash directing.[4]
Filming began by April 2022 inMarietta, Georgia.[5] Production also took place inAtlanta.[6]
The film features a new original track from Kulash’s bandOK Go, titled "This".[7]
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On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 46% of 99 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Beanie Bubble's cast makes the movie an easy watch, but that enjoyment is lessened by its shallow treatment of the real-life story."[8]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[9]
The New York Times critic Calum Marsh unfavorably comparedThe Beanie Bubble to other "corporatebiopics" released in 2023, includingAir andTetris, and said that it "deploys every storytelling cliché in the book".[10]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian criticised the film's "deeply muddled non-storytelling and tonal blandness",[11] and theEvening Standard's Charlotte O'Sullivan said its "clichéd" script offers "a lazy take on power and greed".[12]Digital Spy's Mireia Mullor called the film "understuffed" but saidGeraldine Viswanathan's performance "steals the show".[13]
