The chances are you’ve heard of Beanie Babies, or their current iteration, Beanie Boos, which both come with a little tag bearing a love heart logo and the letters “ty”.
The “ty”, by the way, is the first name of the toys’ creator, the reclusive and eccentric self-made billionaire, Ty Warner.
What you might not be aware of is, back in mid to late-90s America, the rarest Beanie Babies were being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
At least until the Beanie bubble burst, when they became almost worthless overnight.
Just how this bizarre phenomenon unfolded is the subject of a new comedy-drama based on the 2015 book, The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute, by Zac Bissonnette.
Directed by husband and wife duo Kristin Gore (daughter of former vice president Al Gore) and Damian Kulash (lead singer of the band OK Go), The Beanie Bubble follows Warner’s rise to fame, as seen by the women in his life.
There’s his friend and co-founder of the toy empire, Robbie (Elizabeth Banks); Maya (Geraldine Viswanathan), the intern who quickly becomes an online marketing guru, and Sheila (Sarah Snook), the single mum who becomes his wife.
In each case, Warner (played to peculiar perfection here by Zach Galifianakis) initially appears to acknowledge the contribution these women make to his success, before narcissistically taking credit, sidelining them in the process.
Speaking to Today over a Zoom call, rising Aussie star Viswanathan says the film does a great job of skewering the myth of the lone genius (see: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk et al)
“It’s never just one guy doing the whole thing, that’s such a myth, and it’s a very American myth as well,” the 28-year-old says.
“And, you know, they say behind every great man is more talented women.”
Kulash tells Today the most interesting aspect of the project was unearthing the talented women Viswanathan alludes to, and then telling their stories in a non-linear way that would eventually reveal a pattern of behaviour by Warner, and a serious flaw in the American Dream.
“We were not particularly interested in the story of the product, or even of the founder,” the co-director admits. “What we found so fascinating was that there’s this recurring cycle of people supporting that.
“And that’s why we told it in such a fractured way, to show that there’s these really inspired, powerful, interesting women, who all had a remarkably similar relationship to the process and … that the system itself kind of lets you (down) … and spits you out.”
Galifianakis has made a career out of portraying characters that make you cringe, but Warner is the most cringe-worthy yet.
And could not be more different from the actor himself.
“Oh my God, Zach’s the best,” Viswanathan admits.
“I was obviously nervous, as a huge fan of his, but he’s so funny and … just the most lovely, grounded, soulful guy, so it was really fun to get to hang out with him in between takes.
“But then also such a treat to watch him really transform, like shed the Zach Galifianakis persona and not rely on how funny he is, and play a really complex character here – he just he blew me away.”
Viswanathan is equally enthusiastic as she recounts working with fellow Aussie and Succession star Snook, but erupts with excitement when the conversation turns to her next project, the comedy caper Drive-Away Dolls with Ethan Coen, one half of the acclaimed Coen Brothers.
“Getting to work with Ethan was a real ‘pinch me’ moment,” she says. “One of the greatest living filmmakers, and kind of on every actor’s bucket list of people to work with.”
The Beanie Bubble is streaming on Apple TV Plus from Friday.