In 1996, filmmaker Brian Levant’s Jingle All the Way hit theaters. The film, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as dads duking it out in search of a must-have holiday toy, went far beyond simply providing family entertainment: it connected with the toy industry in multiple ways.
Jingle All the Way captured the madness of the holiday season — the days of a single, must-have toy akin to the Cabbage Patch Kids craze of 1983, paired with the ongoing challenges of supply and demand that toymakers and retailers still face every year. On top of that, the fictional Turbo Man toy made the jump from screen to store as a real-life action figure from Tiger Electronics. And it all happened while Tickle Me Elmo was causing mayhem in toy stores across the country.
Levant’s connection to toys goes far beyond the screen, and on Sept. 13, G Editions will release his 480-page hardcover book, My Life and Toys.
My Life and Toys is a compelling time capsule that shows off Levant’s museum-worthy collections, plus his autobiographical anecdotes convey decades of collecting passion through a career that has been influenced by pop culture and, in turn, gone on to influence pop culture itself.
The book features a foreword by Jensen Karp and includes more than 1,000 photos by Joe Pellegrini showcasing countless artifacts from Levant’s personal archives from the past 50 years, including action figures, banks, games, lunchboxes, puppets, comics, windups, vehicles, cereal box premiums, and more.
To celebrate the release of the book, Levant will be speaking and signing at Book Soup (8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, California) at 7 p.m. pm Sept. 15.
For a look inside My Life and Toys, check out a preview, right here at The Toy Book.
Brian Levant’s career as a writer, director, and producer includes work on several TV series, including Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, The Bad News Bears, and The New Leave It to Beaver; in addition to feature films, including Beethoven, The Flintstones, Snow Dogs, Are We There Yet?, and a pair of live-action Scooby-Doo! films.
Last year, Turbo Man was back on store shelves in a collection of toys and games from Funko.
