Latest news with #Toys'R'Us
Buzz Feed
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
19 Great Things That Younger Generations May Never Experience
Recently, u/Just_a_Ginger_Fella asked r/AskReddit, "People over 35, what's something you genuinely miss that younger generations will probably never experience?" And we thought we'd share the best responses. "Toy stores. Nothing beats the aisles and aisles of stuff at Toys 'R' Us." "Finding a magazine with something you love on it, a band or an actor or whatever. Now if you love something you can immediately consume every piece of media on that thing, which is also cool, but I'll always miss turning the corner at the grocery store and seeing that Spin is doing an all-punk issue, or the Rolling Stone issue after Hunter Thompson died, and being like 'FUCK YES'. And the smell! The ink plus the paper and the perfume samples, incredible." "Slamming the phone down to end a phone call." "Life without social media." "Life without tech in everything – whole summers with just you and the backyard, alternating sometimes with friends and bicycles." "Internet before the corporate world got hold of it. It was truly a wild west era." "That feeling of not being watched/recorded." "The excitement of your new favourite song playing on the radio or MTV." "When everyone watched a TV show at the same time in their individual households and then came together to talk about it the next day. Pre streaming services days. Commercials still sucked but there was something magical about it." "The joy of getting off a plane and having someone right there at the gate waiting for you." "Creating my own ringtone on Nokia composer." "We didn't have to pay an exorbitant amount of money for concert tickets." "Living my coyote ugly dream – dancing on bars thinking I'm hot shit but likely being an absolute embarrassment to myself and there being no video evidence of it." "Being able to be unreachable. It's hard to really get alone time or time to relax when you have a phone on you all the time and you can always be reached." "Things built to last." "The arcade. Putting two quarters on the glass indicating you've got next. Watching this one dude beat Mortal Kombat 2 on just two quarters." "Blockbuster." "Walking down the street collecting your mates along the way to go hang out." "Listening to whole albums, not just singles on an app." H/T to u/Just_a_Ginger_Fella and r/AskReddit for having the discussion! Any more to add? Let us know in the comments below!
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
For years I was a super-slob. Then I discovered the secret to being perfectly organised that will change your life, reveals decluttering expert CASSANDRA AARSSEN
I'm not what you'd think of as a naturally organised person; I can't do filing cabinets, or artistic clothes folding, and when I'm done with something, I like to just shove it away. It meant that for the first 30 years of my life, I always thought of myself as messy. Certainly my husband, who loves a filing cabinet with plenty of sub-categories, did. Living together was eye-opening for both of us! But when I became a mum - and our house started to look like Toys'R'Us had exploded - I knew I had to make a change. Once I'd decluttered my own life (I think of myself as a recovered super-slob) I started helping friends, and then clients. I'd tell them 'If this doesn't stay organised for 30 days, call me and I'll come back and re-organise it for free'. Well, they called. What worked for me clearly hadn't worked for them. That's when I discovered that there are, in fact, four distinct organising styles. And the secret to actually keeping things organised is to discover which one works for you. Thus my Clutterbug Organising Philosophy was born, helping people discover which 'bug' they are: a Butterfly, Bee, Cricket or Ladybird (or, as I'd say in my home in Ontario, Canada, a Ladybug!) It all comes down to two factors: if you're a visual or 'hidden' person, and if you're detailed or non-detailed. Since then, I've helped half a million people to declutter their homes, and have published four best-selling books. So read on to find which style you are - and how to avoid coming to blows if those you live with have a [itals]very[itals] different style to you... BUTTERFLY: VISUAL AND NON-DETAILED Butterflies are very visual people - they love to see their belongings, fearing 'out of sight, out of mind' - but they're non-detailed, feeling overwhelmed at the thought of what we consider 'traditional' organising. You're probably a Butterfly if you have clothes piled on top of your surfaces, but your wardrobe and drawers are practically empty, and people see you as stereotypically 'messy'. What you need are visual, fast and easy systems that keep things as broad brush as possible. For example, clear containers with big labels, open shelving or cube shelving with big baskets that you can toss things in quickly. Drawers don't work for butterflies because they can't see their stuff, and they find hooks easier than hangers. My eldest daughter, 18, is a butterfly and she never used to put her clothes away, because subconsciously she wanted to be able see them all. So, we took the doors off her wardrobe - and now she always puts them away! BEE: VISUAL AND DETAILED Like Butterflies, Bees prefer to see their everyday items. But unlike Butterflies, Bees are perfectionists who like very detailed systems. So rather than one big clear box labelled 'art supplies' or 'first aid', a Bee would have a box with lots of different sections so everything from pens and pencils, to painkillers and plasters, can be separated by category. They love a peg-board, or colour coding. Bees also tend to have a [itals]lot[itals] of stuff - they like to keep things 'just in case' - so they have to be careful not to let it take over their space. You need to prioritise what really needs to be easily accessible, and what you can cope with putting away or letting go of. Any kind of shelving is great for a Bee, to stop their tendency to pile things on surfaces. If you're a 'bee', you prefer to have all your possessions in your eyeline CRICKET: HIDDEN AND DETAILED A Cricket is what we'd consider traditionally organised. They want all their belongings out of sight, and they're very detailed, with lots of systems in place that they follow exactly. Marie Kondo is definitely a Cricket! However, a word of warning to Crickets; sometimes perfection can be paralysing, and your systems are so detailed you don't have time to follow them. So rather than put something away 'improperly' you pile it up until you can do it 'perfectly'. Remember, good-enough organizing today is better than perfect organizing tomorrow. You can always go back and redo it later, but at least it is put away for now. LADYBIRD: HIDDEN AND NON-DETAILED Like Crickets, Ladybirds get stressed-out by surface clutter. But unlike Crickets, they're non-detailed, so want fast and easy solutions. You know you're a Ladybird if your surfaces are clear but you'd be embarrassed if guests opened your cupboards. It's a bit like a real Ladybird; pretty on the outside, but when they open their wings it's a horror show under there. I'm a Ladybird myself, and I find that what works is installing things like draw dividers, lidless baskets or bins within your storage. It takes no more time to put away your things away than your usual shoving style, but you still know exactly where everything is (rather than it becoming one big jumble). And crucially, it stays organised. WHO WINS THE BATTLE OF THE BUGS? Within any relationship, you'll likely find different styles; in our family of five, we have two Ladybirds, two Crickets and a Butterfly. While those who have the same visual style can muddle along pretty well, conflicts arise when you have a visual and hidden person in the same space. So how do you decide on the best system for everyone? Sorry Crickets, but the golden Clutterbug rule is to default to the visual and non-detailed bugs (which means Butterflies always win!) This is because a detailed person can be less detailed, but a non-detailed person can't force their brain to accept lots of different categories. And while a hidden organiser can cope with seeing some items out if they're kept tidy, a visual organiser will forget their belongings exist if they're hidden away. A great compromise is shelving with opaque boxes all in the same colour with large labels; the hidden bugs don't have to cope with all those clashing items on clear display, but the labels mean the visual bugs still know what's what. And remember, this rule is only for spaces that are equally shared, like the living room. So in your own bedroom, stick to your style. And in the kitchen, if you're the person who does most of the cooking, then organise it however is best for you.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Police: Teen targeted by gunfire after Richland workplace dispute
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A workplace dispute at a Galleria Drive furniture store ended with gunfire Saturday, and two men charged in a drive-by shooting against a juvenile male, police said. While no one was struck in the shooting, one of the rounds struck and damaged a plate glass window at a former Toys 'R' Us store in Richland Township, Richland police Chief Rick Pollino said. Kevin Heidemann, 33, of Lorain Borough, is accused of firing three rounds at a 17-year-old while riding past in a sedan Saturday. His brother, Westley Heidemann, was driving the car at the time, police said. According to a criminal complaint, the incident occurred a short time after Westley Heidemann, 35, got into an altercation with a separate co-worker at Ashley Furniture – and the gunfire was targeting a teen associated with the man. The people involved, including the juvenile, were subcontractors providing services to the furniture store, according to Pollino. In a criminal complaint, police wrote Westley Heidemann retrieved a red bag from his box truck and left the property after he had to be separated twice from the other man. According to police, witnesses reported Westley and Kevin Heidemann were spotted in the area brandishing a firearm. The siblings allegedly threatened to kill the man who Westley Heidemann allegedly fought with a short time earlier. The Heidemann brothers allegedly approached the business in a Pontiac as the man's family pulled up to pick up a juvenile from work – and Kevin Heidemann extended his arm out of the passenger side window. Then he opened fire, discharging three rounds, police said. Pollino said no one was struck by gunfire, but one round hit the former Toys 'R' Us store's front window. Police said they were still investigating the incident this week, but that witnesses at the seen reported hearing gunfire and surveillance video was used to help them identify suspects in the shooting. Westley Heidemann, the vehicle's driver, was taken into custody Saturday at his Ohio Street residence in Lorain, Pollino said. A search warrant executed on the property enabled police to recover the weapon believed to be involved, and Kevin Heidemann was arrested Sunday, he said. Kevin Heidemann is accused of aggravated assault, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person. He was lodged in Cambria County Prison in Ebensburg after failing to post 10% of his $90,000 bond. Westley Heidemann is accused of conspiracy to aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person. He was lodged in Cambria County Prison after failing to post 10% of $80,000 bond, online court documents show. Preliminary hearings before District Judge Rick Varner are currently set for May 22, online dockets show.
New York Times
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
When a Child's Life Becomes the Family Business
Evan Lee was in elementary school when he became the linchpin of his family's business. With his neatly combed hair and dimpled smile, he was a charm bomb, conveying on camera both the cheerful sincerity of a boy scout and the precocious charisma of a whiz kid. Evan, eventually known to seven million YouTube subscribers as EvanTube, was one of the earliest kid influencers, internet famous for playing with toys. EvanTube blew up by accident in October 2011, when a freelance videographer named Jared Lee sculpted the entire cast of the Angry Birds video game out of modeling clay for his 5-year-old son. Delighted by this handiwork, Evan and Jared decided to make a home video, like a show and tell. Situated at the family's dining table with the figurines arrayed before him, Evan earnestly explained each character's special powers, according to the video game. 'Yellow Bird goes super fast,' he said, in a halting voice, glancing occasionally toward his father, who was filming. He picked up a lumpy pale bird. 'This is White Bird. It flies and drops white bombs and looks like a lemon when he dies.' A tiny smile revealed baby teeth. Evan is 19 now and looking back at his life. 'My brain was still developing when I was that young,' so he doesn't remember every detail of how it all happened, he told me when I visited him at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he is finishing his first year. He can't recall why he wanted his own YouTube channel, only that he and his father sat at the computer and chose the name 'EvanTube.' Evan and Jared uploaded their video and forgot about it. Within several months, it had 70,000 views. Ultimately, it reached 11 million. At Christmas that year, Jared bought a haul of Angry Birds merch at Toys 'R' Us — action figures and magnets, erasers and gummy candy, hoodies and blankets, backpacks and plush toys — and recorded as Evan showcased them, one by one, in front of the family's dazzling Christmas tree. Since the show-and-tell video, his patter had become polished. 'Thank you for watching my video,' he said in his outro. 'Happy New Year. Please subscribe.' The video has nearly 13 million views. It was obvious how, before the camera, Evan 'came alive,' as his mother, Alisa, put it when I visited the family in a Northern California suburb. Toys began arriving at the Lee family doorstep, boxes and boxes and boxes of them. Mash'ems, Lego and Nerf products. Barbie Dreamhouses, Skylanders games, anything 'Star Wars.' It was 'crazy,' Alisa said, like a 'snowball.' Jared bought lots of toys, too. Evan unboxed, reviewed, explained, built and played with toys and games after school while his father recorded him. When the toys were boring or the instructions complex, Jared would 'feed me the line and I'd say it back,' Evan told me. Soon Evan's younger sister, Jillian, who was almost 4, began to appear as Evan's foil and sidekick. As they grew older, they would do 'challenges,' drinking gross smoothies blended with onions, pickles and Oreos and dumping dog food, ketchup and sauerkraut on each other's heads. Jared would stay up late editing, layering in sound and special effects. Making money on YouTube was a new frontier, and in 2012, Jared enlisted a creator network to help him maximize advertising rates and make brand deals. In 2013, through a collaboration with a novelty-gift outfit called Vat19, Jared uploaded a skit of Evan bringing a two-foot gummy worm to school in his lunchbox. At 146 million views, it is still the most popular EvanTube video of all time. Views converted to income. Some months, EvanTube was grossing $100,000 from Google ads alone, according to Jared. In 2014, it reached a million subscribers. Evan was 9. 'I don't really know what my parents' thought process was, putting me on the channel,' Evan told me. 'I didn't think it was a big deal because I was living it.' By the time he was 10, EvanTube had enabled the Lees to establish a family trust, savings, 529 college funds and Coogan accounts. Both children already had Roth I.R.A.s. Accountants said the Lees needed more write-offs and a bigger mortgage, so they purchased a $3 million six-bedroom, seven-bathroom modern villa inside a gated community. They had a swimming pool and, eventually, three Teslas in the driveway. Doors opened: free cruises, trips to Disney theme parks, vacations in London and Hong Kong. They vlogged their adventures as they went. Evan and Jillian appeared on 'The Tonight Show.' 'Once you're on the wave, you need to know how to ride it,' Jared said. When it came to parenting, he and Alisa trusted their instincts. They never wanted to chase views by shocking or humiliating their children, as other YouTube parents did, berating them or, as in the case of DaddyOFive, smashing their Xbox with a hammer. And they didn't want to vlog every day, like some of the other YouTube families they knew. Jared was careful not to show his kids burping, going to the bathroom, picking their noses or in their underwear. The goal, he said, was always to come across as normal and wholesome: 'Be likable. Get people to enjoy your presence and relate to you. That's the thing.' So when in middle school other kids began to tease and bully Evan, saying that his channel was 'cringe' and that he was too old to be playing with toys, Evan was taken aback. Around that time, 'there was another thing I had to deal with,' Evan told me. We were sitting in a study room in the library at Loyola Marymount. Long, wide windows overlooked a colonnade of palm trees. Evan has the same deep dimples and unwavering eye contact as his younger self, but he wears his hair long and shaggy and his clothes slouchy and oversize, like a character in a skater comic. He recalled that in middle school, haters in the comments called him 'spoiled,' and people told him things he had never considered before. His parents were 'taking advantage' of him, they said, or 'using you for money,' Evan told me. 'That definitely made me feel sad. Like, sad-angry.' He started telling his parents he didn't want to review toys anymore and withdrew to his room. Children as 'Commodities' Evan Lee is coming of age when all parents, it seems, post videos of their children online, an untold number in the hopes of making money. The current titan of the kid influencers, inspired by EvanTube, is a 13-year-old named Ryan Kaji who started unboxing toys when he was 3. His Ryan's World brand has had advertising deals with Lunchables and Legoland, a line of merch — pajamas and backpacks emblazoned with Ryan's image — and a Nickelodeon television show. Conservative estimates put Ryan's family earnings at $25 million annually. And though posters on Reddit rally around Ryan, saying he's being exploited by his parents and deserves a shot at a normal life, his business associates disagree. In an influencer economy — which McKinsey values at more than $21 billion worldwide — a breakthrough kid or family brand can be life-changing. In the cases of the most successful child influencers, 'their great-grandkids are set for life,' said Chris Williams, the chief executive of PocketWatch, which partners with both Ryan's World and EvanTube to make content and licensing deals. Ryan is an outlier, of course. Wannabe child influencers far outnumber successes; even the most charismatic children and enterprising parents have no idea how hard it is to make money online, talent agents say. On my own social media feeds, children I've never met dance and sing and drop wisdom like mini-philosophers. Their parents manage their pages, which also sell hair bows and plug Donkey Kong video games. I am mesmerized by them, but also recoil at the implicit exchange of cuteness for cash, possibly because the basis of the transaction feels muddled: Are these children being authentically themselves? Or are they acting out an uncanny version of authenticity? New documentaries highlight horrific abuses: parents who starved and bound their children, forced children to kiss onscreen, adopted a child and then gave him away. The prevalence of child predators who track kids online is well documented, as is the collusion of parents who sell pornographic images of their children, and even their used leotards, online. Train wrecks draw attention, so parents post videos of their young children throwing tantrums, potty training and being disciplined or punished. A coalition of law professors, attorneys general and university students concerned about children's rights is at work drafting language for state bills safeguarding the finances of minors who are also influencers. Laws have already been passed in Illinois, California, Minnesota and Utah, largely because of the efforts of an advocacy group called Quit Clicking Kids, which aims to 'combat the monetization of children on social media,' according to its website. But the activists' concerns extend far beyond legal and financial protections. There is no ethical route for parents to trade on a child's image online for profit, many say. Such transactions violate the child's privacy — now and into the future, because a digital record is permanent. They stunt a child's psychological development, replacing a sturdy identity with an idea of self 'as a commodity for public consumption,' as the former child actor Alyson Stoner said in a webinar recently. In Stoner's view, the child influencer economy does damage by blurring the lines between work and home: In an influencer setting, a child's director, scriptwriter and publicist is also the parent. At the heart of the debate lies the question of consent. Whose idea was the TikTok, the reel, the dance, the prank, the skit? To put it online for everyone to see? And what, precisely, does the consent of a 3- or 6-year-old mean in the context of a family business? When children are breadwinners, 'it's impossible to really talk about consent,' said Devorah Heitner, author of 'Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World.' She added: 'It's really a very powerful position to be the parent and say, 'Oh, we need this.' Or 'This is going to help the family.' Or 'This is going to pay for you to go to college or for your sibling's medical care.'' In the best-case scenario, what are the effects of a life lived online? When Evan was in middle school and living in the new house, he started asking his parents about money. Where was it? Wasn't it his? Why couldn't he spend it? The way his parents explained it, the money was for the family's future and they were a team, Evan said. 'If I didn't work on YouTube, we probably wouldn't have been able to afford' private college, he told me. Eventually, 'I realized there is no way we would have made that much money unless my parents were involved,' he said. 'An 8-year-old, 10-year-old, does not have the mind to keep a successful YouTube channel, generate that profit, work with brands.' He continued: 'But if I was removed from the equation, there wouldn't be a star.' 'A Pretty Shy Kid' Even before Evan was born, Jared videotaped everything. For work, he shot weddings, corporate events, infomercials. He recorded Evan's birth. 'I edited it, blurred stuff out and whatever,' Jared said. He set the video to music, burned it onto a DVD and designed a case. We were sitting on the sectional couch in the Lees' living room, recognizable as the site of EvanTube Christmas mornings, while Chloe — the goldendoodle the kids got for Christmas in 2015 (another EvanTube episode) — sniffed around the snacks Alisa had placed on the coffee table. Jillian, 16, was sitting there, too. Hearing of her brother's birth video, Jillian laughed in horror. 'Oh my gosh,' she said. 'Did you ever upload it?' Alisa asked Jared. 'To YouTube?' Jillian asked. Jared said he hadn't. He just likes having a video record of his life. 'I'm a nostalgic person. I like to look back at things.' His children feel the same. Jillian said she likes to rewatch the old YouTube videos because they 'are kind of my memories.' Clean-cut and well-spoken, Jared, an amateur bodybuilder, has the physique of an action figure, the narrowness of his waist accentuated by mighty shoulders and arms. He has long been a collector of mass-market toys and merchandise. In his basement he keeps his extensive comic book collection, neatly preserved, labeled and mounted on a long wall. He collects humongous three-dimensional statues of Marvel and other comic book characters with rippling muscles and detachable heads, as well as vinyl Funko Pop collectible figurines, still in their boxes. When Evan, at 5, became infatuated with Super Mario video games, his parents got him a Mario costume — red hat, blue overalls — and photographed him grinning and holding a Mario plushy, an image that still hangs in the family home. In the Lee household, it was not unusual for the father to film his son playing with Angry Birds toys. Also, 'Evan was a pretty shy kid,' an ''I'm-here-but-don't-pass-me-the-ball' kind of kid,' Jared told me. So, from his and Alisa's point of view, EvanTube initially served a pragmatic parenting purpose. The channel was like an extracurricular activity, 'a way for him to just talk,' he said. 'He didn't have to talk to strangers. He was just talking to me.' Alisa and Jared, avid theater nerds, met during rehearsals for a community theater production of 'The King and I.' Jared was the king. Alisa was a servant. 'I wasn't even one of the wives,' she joked, ruefully. After Evan was born, Alisa quit her job as a kindergarten teacher. On EvanTube — where she is known as MommyTube and Jared as DaddyTube — she had a supporting role, helping the kids with sharp knives or opening the hot oven. Offscreen, she cleaned up messes and searched for places that would accept huge donations of toys, she told me. Jared never had to quit his job. He just moved his focus away from weddings and toward the growing family business. In the earliest days of YouTube, creators earned money in two ways: through a portion of the revenues from ads placed next to the videos and through sponsorships and brand deals. Maker Studios, the network that was representing the Lees at the time, helped Jared boost views by brainstorming ideas and sharing analytics, said Williams of PocketWatch, who formerly worked at Maker. In addition, Maker offered EvanTube up as a brand partner, generating multiple revenue streams at once. For example, Universal Studios would hire Evan to make videos promoting 'The Lego Movie,' and then, in the 48 hours before the release of the movie, only 'The Lego Movie' ads would run on EvanTube, Williams explained. At the peak, the Lees were earning between $1 million and $2 million a year, Jared said. The magic was Evan. His audience was mostly kids his own age, who considered him, as one agency executive put it to me, their cool friend who got all the best toys for Christmas. Young viewers felt as if they were at Evan's house, hanging out with him and his fun family, eating candy and experiencing the ecstasy of an avalanche of toys. Evan didn't mind being super-famous when he was 8. He hardly noticed it. If kids at school were watching EvanTube, they probably just thought, 'Hey, this is my friend that I watch on my phone,' he said in a video he made later. It hurt Evan when in the comments a viewer called EvanTube 'poopy pants,' and he didn't like it when people at school called him 'EvanTube' instead of his name. What he liked least was when his father wanted to record in public, dragging equipment to the schoolyard or a big-box store, especially when people he knew were there. In those instances, Evan felt 'just shy and embarrassed,' he said. Starting when he was very young, Evan told his parents when he needed them to turn the camera off. 'I've told them, like, I just don't want to record right now,' he said. 'I want to play with my friends on the playground. And they got it.' As the channel grew, effusive adults would frequently approach the Lees in a restaurant or amusement park with star-struck children in tow. In those instances, Jared did the talking while Evan withdrew. 'I'd say, 'Don't hide behind us,'' Jared recalls. Alisa would remind him to be gracious, smile, say thank you and pose for a photo if asked. 'Use your manners,' she'd say. In fifth grade, Evan moved to the big new house and enrolled in a new school. For the first time, he experienced the disequilibrium of fame, which he called 'surreal.' 'Everyone knew who I was, and I knew nobody,' he said. His peers, who were strangers, knew what his parents looked like, where he went on vacation, the name of his dog, the furniture in his house. 'I was just by the play structure chilling,' he remembered in a vlog, when the yelling began. 'Everyone was like: 'EvanTube! EvanTube! YouTuber! YouTuber!'' he said. 'Keep in mind, when there's a lot of people crowding around me, a lot of people giving me attention all at once, in person, it kind of stresses me out.' The horde followed Evan as he ran to the top of the play structure and tried to escape down the slide. Describing this in the video, recorded from inside his bedroom at 17, Evan maintains magnetic eye contact, but his delivery is energized, the final cut spliced with jokey memes. In middle school, Evan stopped letting his father style his hair. And he didn't want to review toys anymore. At 13, taller, thinner and with faint facial hair, he was still playing with slime. 'DANG,' wrote a commenter at that time, 'puberty hit him HARD.' He started telling his father he was too tired to record. Or he would start recording and then retreat into video games. The evolution away from toys was not instant. 'I had to really make a case to my parents,' he told me. 'It took them time to understand that I was growing up.' This transitional period lasted about three years, Evan said. Jared saw how both kids were changing, and he didn't want to push them. His first priority, always, was fun, he said. At the same time, they were powering a huge and successful business. Evan's impression, in retrospect, is that they 'didn't want to hit the switch on something that was working.' As Jared put it, 'We still had a loyal following, and the people who did stick around wanted to know what we were up to.' None of the Lees like to talk openly about family tensions. In middle school, when Evan had the impulse to post on Twitter that he was 'really sad,' his parents discouraged him. 'You don't need to let the internet know all of your emotions,' he remembered them saying. I asked Jared: Should young children have to consent for their image to be used for financial gain? He paused. Of course children shouldn't be muscled into things they don't want to do, he said. But 'kids probably don't want to do a lot of things they should do, like go to school and work. I think there has to be some trust in the parenting of the child.' Evan was determined to stop reviewing toys. 'I didn't really take into consideration that it would probably result in less views,' Evan said — or, as I pointed out, less family income. 'Yeah,' he agreed. 'I did not care.' A classmate had calf-slapped Evan at school. A teacher had quietly asked Evan for a favor: Could a fan she knew join his gaming channel? Evan was in high school during the pandemic, and he spent most of his time in his room, avoiding his father's lens, playing Minecraft and Fortnite. 'I didn't have a lot of friends,' Evan said. 'It was just a matter of me wanting to be private even in my own house. I was just like, 'Let me not be on camera.'' Creepy Comments I sat in the Lees' living room and played with their dog on a ferociously rainy day. The context for this conversation, I explained, was the wider debate: the concern about the exploitation and commodification of children by their parents. Evan, who signed off EvanTube at the end of high school, told me that 'I don't feel exploited at all.' Jared and Alisa are trying to teach their college student to responsibly live on a budget. Some activists argue that kids' images should never be used on social media for profit, I said. Jared considered this. 'I think there might be a little over-concern with showing your kid's face,' he said. 'If we walk out on the street, people are going to see their face. As long as people don't have a way to access your children directly, that's the big thing.' Evan is using his last name now on his social media, but at EvanTube's peak, Jared always made sure not to reveal the family's last name or location. Evan told me he had sometimes been followed at gamer conventions. Jillian said people occasionally leave creepy comments on her TikToks. Was there ever a time when Jared or Alisa became concerned about stalkers or predators because of their children's broad visibility? They both looked surprised. 'No, nothing like that,' Alisa said. 'Not that I'm aware of.' Jared interjected. There was that one kid, the one with his shirt off, who uploaded his own YouTube videos where he ranted, swore, bullied and threatened Evan, he said. 'It was bad,' Alisa agreed. 'That would be the creepiest thing that ever happened.' Jared spoke to his management, who spoke to YouTube, and they took the videos down. They didn't tell Evan until years later. 'It would have scared the crap out of me,' Evan told me. 'I guess he was, like, threatening to kill me.' Later that afternoon, Jillian came home from school and joined us on the couch. She performs with her parents in community musical theater productions. At the time, they were in rehearsals for '42nd Street.' I asked them about TikToks I'd seen where she instructs her brother not to film her feet. A social media convention among young and famous people is not to show bare feet to avoid attention from foot fetishists. Jared was unfamiliar with this protocol. 'I thought it was because you didn't like your feet!' he said to her. 'No,' Jillian responded. He pressed on. Feet are natural, he said. Why would you want to hide them? That's not how he grew up. 'I think it's social media. Because there's things about foot fe-' 'Well, yeah,' Jared said. 'But my thought on it is people have fetishes about everything. So are you going to hide yourself?' 'I don't know,' Jillian answered. She looked helpless to translate her generational reality. The next day, when I met Evan, I relayed this conversation. He sided firmly with his sister. 'If we were doing a family vlog inside the house, I would not want my feet in the video. At all.' He would wear socks. He is very online. He sees the conversations. 'There are weird people out there,' he said.
Express Tribune
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Toys ‘R' Us partners with Story Kitchen for nostalgic live-action adventure film
Toys'R'Us Studios and entertainment company Story Kitchen are teaming up to produce the first-ever Toys 'R' Us live-action movie, bringing the nostalgic toy store experience to the big screen. The project, currently in early development, aims to capture the brand's enduring magic and blend it with a modern, adventurous narrative. The film is described as a whimsical, high-energy story in the style of beloved hits like 'Night at the Museum,' 'Back to the Future,' and 'Jumanji.' It seeks to channel the excitement and imagination that made Toys'R'Us a childhood destination for generations. 'As '80s kids who grew up seeing Toys'R'Us as one of the most magical places on Earth, we're thrilled to help bring this brand to life on screen,' said Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg. They'll produce the film alongside Timothy I. Stevenson, Elena Sandoval, and Kim Miller Olko, president of Toys'R'Us Studios. Olko emphasized the film's focus on childhood wonder and creative storytelling, noting that this debut feature will "evoke the electric sense of wonder that is the essence of Toys'R'Us.' This project continues Story Kitchen's momentum in adapting unique IPs, including video games like 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' 'Tomb Raider,' and 'It Takes Two.' With a strong track record in turning non-traditional franchises into cinematic experiences, the company brings industry clout and storytelling experience to the Toys'R'Us brand. Casting and director announcements are expected in the coming months as producers begin engaging with filmmakers. The film promises to celebrate over 70 years of Toys 'R' Us legacy through an engaging and imaginative lens that appeals to both kids and nostalgic adults alike.
