Never underestimate the power of nostalgia. An Apple TV film all about the Beanie Babies phenomenon is coming out at the end of the month, and it's making millennials fondly reminisce about the era where everyone was obsessed with the toys – and the assumption that they were going to make us rich.
Starring Succession's Sarah Snook, Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks and Geraldine Viswanathan, the film will look at the 'fascinating phenomena' that was the Beanie Babies craze back in the late 20th century.
What is The Beanie Bubble about?
An official synopsis for The Beanie Bubble reads: 'The unbelievable tale of one of America's most fascinating phenomena - Beanie Babies. Flashing back to the '90s and early 2000s, an in-depth look at how the era-defining zeitgeist came to be. 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.'
Who is in The Beanie Bubble cast?
It follows Ty Warner (Galifianakis), a frustrated toy salesman who enters a partnership with three women (Banks, Snook and Viswanathan), who help him build the 'biggest toy craze in history'.
Watch the nostalgic – and slightly unhinged – trailer below:
Beanie Babies – particularly the infamous one made in honour of the late Princess Diana – are famous in millennials' collective memory as both a cultural collective obsession and a severely incorrect assumption on how much money can be made from miniature cuddly toys.
Can you make money selling Beanie Babies?
If you're aged between 25 and 35, we're sure you can remember the IRL story. It felt like almost overnight that Beanie Babies were the desirable toys to have, from Peanut the elephant to Halo the bear. But to own the Princess Diana bear was the pinnacle of all ambition.
Back in 2022, People reported that the bear can still go for thousands of pounds or dollars on eBay, some going as high as $1 million. The trouble is there are super specific requirements when it comes to your Diana bear qualifying for the big bucks – there's a 'laundry list' of 'subtleties in the eyes, nose or mouth' to work out whether your bear was one of the original ones made.
So, contrary to what we were told back in the day, not every Beanie Baby (not even the Princess Diana bear) is the golden ticket to early retirement. Now, it's just a tongue-in-cheek joke amongst millennials. Some have taken to Twitter this week after news of The Beanie Bubble's release spreads.
One tweeted: 'found my princess diana beanie baby. how do I trade this in for a house' while another posted: 'family group chat is blowing up because apparently i have a princess diana beanie baby and they’re convinced it’s worth thousands of dollars'.
Will The Beanie Bubble create an explosion of nostalgia for our beloved Beanie Baby friends? Or, even better, push the worth of our favourite toys up once again so they can finally deliver on their huge financial promise?
We shall see.
The Beanie Bubble launches on Apple TV+ on 28 July.