In the absurdity of the Beanie Baby craze, filmmakers found a rich tale about America

By LINDSEY BAHR
AP Film Writer

Economic bubbles come in all shapes, sizes and levels of insanity, but the Beanie Baby craze was easily one of the most absurd. The 1990s frenzy over the $5, understuffed toys made some people rich but left a lot of people with useless surpluses stashes of stuffed animals. Kristin Gore saw the seeds of a good movie after reading “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute.” Not only did she want to write the screenplay, she wanted to direct it with her husband, OK Go musician Damian Kulash Jr., as their debut. Starring Zach Galifinakis, Elizabeth Banks and Sarah Snook, “The Beanie Bubble” opens in theaters Friday and arrives on AppleTV+ on July 28.