For some reason only known to capitalism, there’s been a slew of Wild Business Origin Stories lately. Blackberry, Tetris, and now the faddiest of fads is getting its turn. The Beanie Bubble illustrates the dramatic rise and uncomfortably continued rise of Ty Warner — the guy who would get mad if others got co-credit for building the Beanie Baby empire.
Zach Galifianakis stars as Warner with Elizabeth Banks as his business partner Robbie, Sarah Snook as his wife Sheila, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Maya, a crucial employee. “Maya” is undoubtedly meant to be a stand-in for Lina Trivedi, the woman who wrote the original poems on the Beanie Baby tags and basically invented e-commerce by running the Beanie Baby website to sell directly to customers. There’s an excellent You’re Wrong About episode about the Beanie Baby craze if you want to get all journalistic about it.
Meanwhile, The Beanie Bubble looks like it’s going to go bonkers with it.
Here’s the 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 (<em>Her</em>, <em>Foxcatcher</em>) and Damian Kulash, Jr. (lead singer of OK Go), and written by Gore, comes one of America’s most outlandish success stories.”
The Apple TV+ movie about false scarcity and half-stuffed stuffies lands in select theaters July 21st, with a streaming debut July 28th.
