The Great Canadian Toy Story

0h 41m

10.0(3 votes)

Documentary

Overview

From rags to riches, the behind-the-scenes story of Canadian toy manufacturer Spin Master is an inspiring saga of creativity and innovation.

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

Cast & Crew

2 members

Acting

Ronnen Harary

Himself

No Image

Acting

Anton Rabie

Himself

No Image

Similar Movies

6.8

1994

Picture of Light

A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.

Movie

7.5

2002

Bowling for Columbine

This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.

Movie

5.3

1992

Momentum

Go head-to-head with an icebreaker. Plunge down a twisting mountain gorge. Soar through the clouds in the nosecone of a jet, then speed along with a dog team as it races across a frozen Arctic lake. A sweeping, moving tribute to Canada's stunning geography and rich cultural heritage, Momentum leaps off your screen--and touches your heart. Momentum wowed audiences from around the world when it premiered at Seville, the greatest world's fair of the last quarter century.

Movie

6.5

2016

A Big Lego Christmas

A look behind the scenes as the world's most profitable toy maker opens its biggest ever Lego store, in London. Designer Justin's first ever kit finally hits the shelves, and Lego pro Duncan prepares to make the largest model ever - a replica of Tower Bridge.

Movie

7.0

2022

Grindcore Vacation

Grindcore Vacation melds the expository documentary, diary film, and live performance footage to produce a portrait of the musicians who play grindcore, an extreme sub-genre of punk/metal characterized by high speed and full volume. Shot during a weekend trip from Victoria BC to Dallas TX for a single DIY concert, it interviews members of Deterioration, Cognizant, and Imperial Slaughter. Live concert footage combines with interviews and Super 8mm film to create an impression of the people who play grindcore, why they love the genre, and their experiences as practitioners of the niche style.

Movie

Highway of Tears

Discover the endless highway in British Columbia where over 40 indigenous women and girls (by unofficial estimates) have disappeared since the 1970s.

Movie

2014

Wide Boyz II – Slender Gentlemen

After their success climbing the world’s hardest offwidth, the Wide Boyz, Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall, embark on their next crack climbing mission. This time their sights are set on the thinner end of the crack climbing spectrum. Their goal is the mighty Cobra Crack in Squamish BC, considered to be the hardest finger crack in the world. First climbed by Canadian ‘rock star’ Sonnie Trotter after battling it out with Didier Berthod, the route hit the media spotlight in the film First Ascent. With no local hard cracks to train on, the Wide Boyz refit their underground training dungeon and commit to a year of torturous finger training. With only a short trip to Canada planned, the Boyz face their biggest challenge yet against the sharp granite bite of the mighty Cobra Crack!

Movie

9.0

1940

Home Front

This short documentary is part of the Canada Carries On series of morale-boosting wartime propaganda films. In Home Front, the various WWII-era social contributions of women are highlighted. From medicine to industrial labour to hospitality, education and domesticity, the service these women provided to their country is lauded.

Movie

8.0

2019

Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger

The story of a young boy forced to spend all five years of his short life in hospital while the federal and provincial governments argued over which was responsible for his care, as well as the long struggle of Indigenous activists to force the Canadian government to enforce “Jordan’s Principle” — the promise that no First Nations children would experience inequitable access to government-funded services again.

Movie

7.3

2019

There's Something in the Water

Elliot Page brings attention to the injustices and injuries caused by environmental racism in his home province, in this urgent documentary on Indigenous and African Nova Scotian women fighting to protect their communities, their land, and their futures.

Movie

7.2

2003

Festival Express

The filmed account of a large Canadian rock festival train tour boasting major acts. In the summer of 1970, a chartered train crossed Canada carrying some of the world's greatest rock bands. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, and others lived (and partied) together for five days, stopping in major cities along the way to play live concerts. Their journey was filmed.

Movie

2025

Give and Take

A schoolteacher and an artist, two newlyweds, leave their lives in Hong Kong and wrestle with the promise of freedom in Canada.

Movie

7.6

2003

The Corporation

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

Movie

2017

My Enemy, My Brother

The eight-year Iran-Iraq War was one of the most brutal conflicts to devastate the region in the 20th century. Zahed was 13 years old when he enrolled in the Iranian army. Najah was 18 when he was conscripted into the Iraqi army, and he fought against Zahed in the Battle of Khorramshahr. Fast forward 25 years, a chance encounter in Vancouver between these two former enemies turns into a deep and mutually supportive friendship. Expanded from the 2015 short film by the same name.

Movie

7.1

1922

Nanook of the North

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Movie

8.0

2014

Lost Heroes

Lost Heroes is the story of Canada's forgotten comic book superheroes and their legendary creators. A ninety-minute journey to recover a forgotten part of Canada's pop culture and a national treasure few have ever heard about. This is the tale of a small country striving to create its own heroes, but finding itself constantly out muscled by better-funded and better-marketed superheroes from the media empire next door.

Movie

8.7

2019

The Whale and the Raven

Director Mirjam Leuze’s The Whale and The Raven illuminates the many issues that have drawn whale researchers, the Gitga’at First Nation, and the Government of British Columbia into a complex conflict. As the people in the Great Bear Rainforest struggle to protect their territory against the pressure and promise of the gas industry, caught in between are the countless beings that call this place home.

Movie

8.0

1987

Cirque du Soleil: La Magie Continue

One of the earliest Cirque du Soleil releases, filmed during a tour of the troupe's native Canada in 1986 and filled with their trademark costumes, music and extraordinary feats.

Movie

2012

Romeos & Juliets

From grueling rehearsals to the world premiere, Romeos & Juliets offers an unprecedented behind-the-curtain look at the National Ballet of Canada as ten dancers vie to perform the lead roles on the coveted opening night of "Romeo and Juliet," as envisioned by acclaimed choreographer Alexei Ratmansky in celebration of the company's 60th anniversary.

Movie

The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights

7.4

2009

The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights

In 2007 the legendary American duo White Stripes toured Canada. Besides playing the usual venues they challenged themselves and played in buses, cafés and for Indian tribal elders. Music video director Emmett Malloy followed the band and managed to capture both the special tour, extraordinary concert versions of the band's minimalist, raw, blues-inspired rock songs and the special relationship between the extroverted Jack White and the introspective Meg White - a formerly married couple who for a long time claimed to be siblings. The film makes striking use of the band's concert colors: red, white and black.

Movie

Recommended Movies

6.3

2020

A Trash Truck Christmas

When Santa crash-lands in the junkyard on Christmas Eve, Hank, Trash Truck and their animal friends all have a hand in rescuing the holiday for everyone.

Movie

7.8

2025

John Candy: I Like Me

Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.

Movie

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & the Island of Misfit Toys

5.9

2001

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & the Island of Misfit Toys

When the mysterious Toy Taker grabs all of Santa's toys, it looks like the children will miss out on Christmas. But everyone's favorite reindeer, Rudolph, comes to the rescue with his lovable friends: Hermey the elf, Yukon Cornelius the grizzly prospector, the abominable snow monster Bumbles and Rudolph's very special friend Clarice. Together, they promise Santa they'll track down Toy Taker and rescue Santa's toy. Their incredible quest takes them on a wild adventure with Rudolph's red nose leading the way!

Movie

6.8

2015

Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle

When Curious George is offered a special space mission, Ted (The Man in the Yellow Hat) can't deny his little friend this exciting journey, especially after Curious George completes the training. But when he crash-lands in Africa, a worried Ted goes searching, expecting the worst, only to have it turn out to be the best.

Movie

7.0

2013

Girl Rising

Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.

Movie

Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars

6.4

2012

Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars

In 1997, Louis Theroux made a documentary about the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles. 15 years later, he returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn on the internet. Louis revisits some of the original programme's contributors as well as meeting the latest crop of porn performers dreaming of porn stardom.

Movie

Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World

7.0

1987

Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World

Rock sensation Barbie and her band The Rockers, beloved by everyone all around the world, decide to do something no band has ever done before - preform a charity rock concert in outer space.

Movie

6.7

2022

The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus

Christmas Eve takes a twisty turn when the Boss Baby accidentally swaps places with one of Santa's elves and gets stranded at the North Pole.

Movie

Harry Potter: The Making of Diagon Alley

7.6

2014

Harry Potter: The Making of Diagon Alley

An inside look into the creation of Universal Studio's Diagon Alley attraction.

Movie

6.6

2002

The Weather Underground

The remarkable story of The Weather Underground, radical activists of the 1970s, and of radical politics at its best and most disastrous.

Movie

6.9

2009

We Live in Public

In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.

Movie

6.8

2025

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep

When human sailors are attacked by mysterious creatures of the deep, only one person can stop the war between land and sea: the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia.

Movie

6.5

1995

The Indian in the Cupboard

A nine-year-old boy gets a plastic Indian and a cupboard for his birthday and finds himself involved in adventure when the Indian comes to life and befriends him.

Movie

6.9

1971

Directed by John Ford

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

Movie

The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends

7.1

2019

The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends

This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.

Movie

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

6.8

2022

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

JB Smoove and Martin Starr host a celebration of 20 years of "Spider-Man" movies, from the Sam Raimi trilogy to Marc Webb's movies and the trio from Jon Watts.

Movie

6.8

2009

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas

George and The Man In The Yellow Hat are having a merry time counting down to Christmas. But neither can decide what to give each other. Will they find the answers before Christmas morning?

Movie

7.8

2020

The Skywalker Legacy

The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Movie

7.0

2023

The Velveteen Rabbit

When seven-year-old William receives a new favorite toy for Christmas, he discovers a lifelong friend and unlocks a world of magic.

Movie

6.2

2013

Seduced and Abandoned

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Movie