Episode Details

What if you put Yoda, a G. I. Joe, He-Man, Skeletor, a Care Bear, and more nostalgic 1980s toys into a yellow box, and sent it hurtling at you through a green void, hurled by a shadowy figure in the background that could only be The Devil? That’s the cover of a book from vintage 1980s evangelical culture, and we’re exploring turmoil in toy boxes just in time for this holiday season.

Sponsor: The Pop Culture Parent

Parents often feel at a loss with popular culture and how it fits in with their families. They want to love their children well, but it can be overwhelming to navigate the murky waters of television, movies, games, and more that their kids are exposed to every day.

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This resource by authors Jared Moore, E. Stephen Burnett, and Ted Turnau provides Scripture-based, practical help for parents to enjoy the messy gift of popular culture with their kids.

Introducing Turmoil in the Toy Box (1986)

From the back cover:

A shocking exposé of the toy and cartoon industry. It reveals the hidden dangers found in He-Man and Masters of the Universe, Barbie, Rainbow Brite, G.I. Joe, Smurfs, Dungeons and Dragons, Care Bears, ThunderCats, E. T., Cabbage Patch, to name a few. This book unmasks the New Age, Occult, Violent, and Satanic influences that have invaded the once innocent toy box. TURMOIL IN THE TOY BOX also explains the importance of play, and how toys can enhance or stunt a child’s development. In addition, this book provides the reader with an alternative to today’s more popular toys.

• This book first released in 1983 from a company called Starburst.
• Author Phil Phillips was a traveling evangelist who became concerned about toys.
• Since then, Phillips seems to keep a low profile since this book (and similar followups).
• The book is largely forgotten, yet it seems to have contributed to some evangelical “moral panics” in the 1980s and 1990s.
• One website, Cartoon Brew, revisited the book a few years ago. This is one rare example of a non-Christian resource’s fair evaluation.

Concession stand

• We will be kind. This author meant well.
• Nothing we say questions media discernment.
• Nothing we say challenges the threat of the occult or Satan.
• But: occult ha