Sam has a running game going now with a cast of 17 toys in his room. He won’t play it on his own: this game needs a parent to hear the “voice-over” as the drama unfolds. So Jeremy and I have been taking turns flopping out on Sam’s bed and listening to his latest imaginative “chapter movie.” It's a Speilberg-Marvel-Disney/Pixar production.
The game centres around a figure called “Scar Jupiter,” the evil twin of Buzz Lightyear (created by spinning Buzz’s face around in his helmet to reveal the back of his head: a frighteningly featureless face). Scar Jupiter is hailed accidentally into the galaxy of Sam’s room by Batman, who sometimes carelessly pushes the Golden Button on his utility belt (while trying to do something less destructive, of course), thus summoning the rough beast. Scar arrives and inflicts various menaces, including bombing the galaxy so that it’s cracked (Batman should seriously consider removing that button from his belt, but this plot device is necessary to drive this sci-fi adventure.)
Chapter One sees an enraged Scar challenge Batman to a fight that will determine who rules the Sam’s Room galaxy. Invariably, the battle results in Batman being forced into the black hole of the Tonka toy box, being hypnotized, and becoming a powerless pawn in Scar’s cruel games. In Chapter Two, Batman then recruits other inhabitants of the toy box to the Dark Side. In Chapter Three, a wise and powerful transformer named Cybertron reminds Batman who he really is by bestowing the Ball of Power upon him. Together, they take on Scar and force the toy’s head back to its forward position, revealing the amiable space ranger persona once again.
As if this wasn’t entertaining enough, new chapters have been added in the last day or so. In Chapter Four, Sam’s toys ramp up for an apocalyptic fight between the forces of good and evil, facing off on opposite ends of the lid of the costume trunk. The forces fighting on the side of the beautiful and good are scarce indeed: Batman, Cybertron, Chewbacca, a Surf’s Up penguin, and some guy in a leather suit who rides a Wal-Mart motorcycle (I call him Mad Max). They bravely take on a dozen or so who have sworn allegiance to Scar. There are surprising figures among those evil ranks: R2-D2, both the blue and the green knight from yonder castle, Quasimodo (what makes a monster and what makes a man, Quasi?), and the one-armed Power Ranger. Happily, those who trust in the Ball of Power prevail, and the Dark Side is soundly defeated.
In Chapter Five, entitled “Going Home,” the duelling action figures are all friends now, and they just hang out and do nice things for each other. Talking over ice cream cones, Penguin discovers that, just like him, Chewbacca is also a construction worker in the off season. And who knew that Batman taught a kinder-class at the local school? These are the kinds of things you learn when you put down your weapons and line yourselves up in perfect rows on the Original Six hockey blanket.
Chapter Six, my favourite so far, is called “The Excitement of the Lemonade Stand.” Cybertron surprises the whole gang with cups of fresh lemonade--a treat he picked up free from the neighbourhood kids who were giving the stuff away on their front lawn (which is behind Big Teddy’s head). Everyone is thrilled and appreciative of the kind act. No one talks anymore of the fate of the galaxy or of sacrificing themselves for their warring principles. But then again, it’s been a while since Batman has fumbled with his utility belt...
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