The Cutting-Edge Appliances are minor villains from The Brave Little Toaster. They are an assortment of modern appliances that live in the apartment of Rob's mother, and served her up, even on Rob's departure to college.
They are:
- An Apple II Tran(s)parent 800 Office Computer named "Tarry", nicknamed "Apple (II)"
- A Kenroy Droplet Lamp named "Plugsy", nicknamed "Kenroy"
- The E.M.C. (Entertainment center) and the Projector
- A Two-Faced Morse Zig-Zag S.M. (Sewing machine) named "Morse"
- The E.B. (Eggbeater)
- Hitachi the Stereo B.B. (Boombox) and the H.P.s (Headphones)
- An Oster T.O. (Toaster oven) named "Oster".
- A Touch-tone T.P. (Telephone) named (Uncle) Emery
- A Vita-Mix F.P. (Food processor) named "Vita-Mix"
- A Cal (Standing) Incandescent Tree Lamp named named "Cal"
- A Two-Headed Miele Canister V.C. (Vacuum cleaner) named "Miele"
- The Tree Lamps
The Cutting-Edge Appliances are a group of 1980s-era appliances that were considered at the time highly-advanced and at the forefront of technology. They are highly egotistical as they take great pride in their latest features, which far outrank the abilities of any appliance that preceded them. As a result, they have a low opinion of any appliance that is not as advanced as they are. They served Rob's mother in the latter's apartment in the city.
When Rob prepares to go to college, he wants to take his old appliances from his childhood with him for use in his dorm. After leaving to his family cabin with his girlfriend Chris, the Appliances are disgusted at Rob's preferences. They would prefer to be serving him in order to impress him with their technological advantages.
Later that day, the old appliances, Toaster, Lampy, Blanky, Radio, and Kirby arrive in search of the Master, and are greeted by Plugsy. Shocked at their presence, the Appliances agree to dispose of the gang in order to force the Master to take them instead. They welcome them into the apartment and are courteous at first, but quickly take advantage of their presence and prepare to make their move. When Plugsy turns off T.V., another old appliance in the house who tries to tell his friends where Rob went, the gang gets angry and found out that the Appliances tricked them, which is why they have lead the five of them into a trap, and the Appliances, who are now traitors to the gang, have made their move. They demonstrate their technological superiority to the gang as they sing the song "Cutting Edge", and upon finishing, toss the gang into a dumpster out the window. Then, they await the Master's return.
The gang is taken to Ernie's Disposal and the Master comes home disappointed, having realized that the appliances are not at the apartment. Despite their absence, Rob still doesn't want to take his mother's appliances with him, still preferring the "oldies but goodies". Plugsy overhears this and is bitterly to blame. It can be assumed that the other Appliances were equally upset at this discovery. Rob eventually recovers his trusty appliances from Ernie's Disposal thanks to T.V.'s intervention, and the old appliances go to college with Rob as opposed to the Cutting-Edge Appliances.
Examples of Technology
The Cutting-Edge Appliances sing about their technology, the following is a list of their features mostly mentioned in Cutting Edge or visibly shown.
- The Apple II, as a fancy Apple II home office word processor computer, has a high contrast color pixel C.R.T. screen with a built in "printer-keyboard". He is a handy-dandy machine for graphing capabilities.
- The E.M.C. is an automated home theater entertainment center/complex system with stereo audio and a high-resolutioned C.R.T. projector.
- Morse is a user-friendly Morse zig-zag model S.M..
- The E.B. has a pair of powerful motors that makes mixing much easier.
- Emery uses fiber optics to allow instantaneous and high quality phone calls.
- Hitachi is a touchscreen computer stereo B.B. (Boombox) that features radio, "half-surround" speakers, and ability to play cassette tapes and has also the H.P.s as his attachment.
- Vita-Mix can chop, mix, and puree ingredients.
- Oster can bake or toast in a compact space.
- Miele is a Miele canister V.C.. His cleaner head is attached from his powerful motor head so the user can clean harder to reach spots easier.
Note: After Entertainment Center turned on its display, the "Cutting-Edge" song started displaying physically impossible scenes so that's some realistic display.