All these stories that take the genius of looking through the eyes of a toy (Toy Story, Pinocchio, The Nutcracker Prince, Babes in Toyland), are fun for me. Have you ever seen a kid (like Sid from Toy Story) be a little too rough with their toys and cringe?
What drew me to The Nutcracker Prince when I was a little girl, was the romance of the story of a girl who helps the Prince defeat the evil rat and save the toys. What a cool story!
Isn't it interesting, how the perception of the classic hero has evolved from something like this? So, the Prince is a gentleman, unassuming, and gallant. He's a good dancer and dresses nice – how neat. *smiles* But what about the bad boy that girls seem to go for as they get older?
How did the ideal go from something like this – to….something else? (I'm trying to think of a nice way to put some of the "bad boys" that are seen around, and just can't think of anything.) Can you imagine the Prince being a smart-alec kid with spiked hair? That would make an interesting doll!
What would our childhood toys say about us, if they could tell our story?
My childhood toys were G.I. Joes, Voltron, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, stuffed animals, and using them in combination sometimes for fight scenes or pretending they're playing football. For your point about "bad boys," I'm definitely okay with telling our kids that treating people the way you want to be treated doesn't change when involving someone you like.
I hear you. Did you pass any of your childhood toys to your kids?