Playmobil: The Movie is an English-language French live-action/computer animated adventure musical comedy film based on the German building toy Playmobil. It is directed by Lino Disalvo in his directorial debut, written by Greg Erb and Jason Oremland with an early draft by Blaise Hemingway, and produced by On Animation Studios, Morgen Studios, Mortiz Borman and Little Dragon in association with DMG Entertainment. The film stars the voices of Anya Taylor-Joy, Jim Gaffigan, Gabriel Bateman, Adam Lambert, Kenan Thompson,Meghan Trainor and Daniel Radcliffe. It was released on 7 August 2019 in France by Pathé, and on 6 December 2019 in the United States by STXfilms
The plot centers around a girl named Marla, who sees her younger brother Charlie disappear into the world of Playmobil. Going after him, she's turned into a living Playmobil toy and has to team up with other Playmobil toys to save Charlie.
Playmobil: The Movie provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Marla.
- Advertised Extra: Seeing many posters and promos will make you think Rex Dasher is a close Deuteragonist. His role in the film is actually rather minor.
- Chekhov's Gun: The "Super Duo Slingshot" move and the enchanted hay both figure in to defeating the T-Rex at the end.
- Cool Car: Rex Dasher drives a Porsche Mission E, which is the 2015 concept version of the Porsche Taycan.
- Curse Cut Short: Marla lets out a "Son of a-!" before being sent flying by a ramp.
- Down the Rabbit Hole: The rabbit hole in this case is a magical Playmobil set.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Marla and Charlie return to the real world after reuniting in the Playmobil World.
- Easily Forgiven: The majority of the film has characters produce internal discord for one person's unintentional mistakes, blaming them constantly so they don't have confidence left, and then once the blamed character says or does something promising for a minute's or less worth of time, those who blamed cheer for them. It's somewhat formulaic how often it happens.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: In contrast to most of the film (which is family-friendly clean even in fight scenes), the battle between the vikings and barbarians has several corpses laying around. They don't get up, they just stay still with arrows sticking out of them and the protagonists pay no mind to this.
- Fantasy Keepsake: Marla's passport turns out full of stamps of the places they visited in the Playmobil world in the end.
- Rex's car (or at least a car resembling it) also appears in the "real" world after Marla and Charlie get out of the Expo.
- Fisher Kingdom: The Playmobil World turns everyone entering it into a Playmobil doll.
- Forced Transformation: Marla is horrified when she discovers that she was turned into a living Playmobil figurine.
- Gladiator Games: What Emperor Maximus needs the world's best Pirate, Amazon, space Bounty Hunter, caveman, viking (actually Charlie) and a Knight Templar that gets thrown first to the beast and gets replaced by Rex later for.
- Groin Attack: Marla kicks one of the Western varmints in the crotch.
- Growing Up Sucks: The beginning of the movie has Charlie getting fed up with Marla telling him that she is too old for adventures and renouncing Playmobils.
- "I Want" Song: "So Much World", in which Marla sings about wanting to travel.
- Morphic Resonance: Since she wasn't touching a Playmobil figurine, Marla's Playmobil form looks like a stylized version of her as a human.
- Parental Abandonment: Both of Marla and Charlie’s parents got into a fatal car accident and died.
- Product Placement: Rex's Porsche.
- Promoted to Parent: Since their parents died, Marla has had to be the one to look after Charlie.
- Sequel Hook: The mid-credit scene has the villain laughing, although the film was a box office bomb and unlikely to get a follow up.
- Sissy Villain: The evil Emperor Maximus has a high-pitched voice, very campy mannerisms, and appears to be wearing makeup. Pretty much a given with his voice actor.
- Stumbling in the New Form: Marla initially struggles with moving in her new plastic body, particularly with the stiff limbs.
- Super-Strength: Charlie (and probably Marla too) has it in the Playmobil world because he's a kid in a toy's body.
- Tempting Fate: Marla's "This can't possibly get any worse!" is immediately followed by a rainstorm.
- The End... Or Is It?: In mid-credit scene
- Theme Music Power-Up: Rex Dasher has one minutes of his arrival.
- Toy Transmutation: Any human that enters the Playmobil world are turned into Playmobil figures themselves, as shown with Marla and Charlie.
- Trapped in Another World: Both protagonists end up being trapped in the Playmobil World.
- Villain Song: Emperor Maximus sings one called "Give the People What they Want", about how he pretends to offer sanctuary and watch them fight for his sick amusement.
- Vocal Dissonance: Charlie still has his kid voice even in the body of an adult Viking figure.
