YMMV / The Toy

• Hilarious in Hindsight: While "conversing" with a roomful of stuffed toys, Jack mentions how once they start marketing him, kids won't want any "Sad Pandas" anymore.
• Tear Jerker: The scene where Jack and Eric, fresh from the incident at the piranha pond, encounter a thoroughly soused Morehouse; turns out that Morehouse was forced by U.S. to fire an executive, who has a family, simply because he kept trying to shake U.S.'s hand, with sweaty hands. Eric meekly takes Jack's hand for comfort as he learns what kind of boss his father is, while Jack quietly tries to console Morehouse.
• Values Dissonance:
  • The film steers into the racial overtones of putting Pryor in the "toy" role and explicitly acknowledges it, attempting to mine some social satire out of the story. However, the bulk of the story is about Eric's bonding with Jack and his father. If the film were made today, it would have to be all about the racial satire to justify the premise.
  • The Confederate flag in U.S.'s study may not count, as it's pretty in-character for him. The Confederate flag pool lounger on display at his department store? Definitely an example of something you'd never see today.
• Values Resonance: The way Jack defends his choice of taking a job at U.S.'s newspaper to Eric is a picture-perfect way to discuss a concept like privilege. Jack doesn't shut the kid down or tell him he has no right to feel the way he feels, but instead reminds Eric that he can afford to take such a firm position against "selling out" because he's a fabulously wealthy young heir who will never have to worry about how to provide for himself or his family.
  Jack: You've got your head in this "American Dream", and it works for you; I don't blame you. But it doesn't work for me! Things like 'Truth, Justice and the American Way' just do not work for me, okay?