Toy Story 2 (1999)

1995's Toy Story proved to be a hit and changed the way we looked at animation but making a sequel to the first movie made by computers is a very risky move from Disney and Pixar. Even riskier, the film was originally intended to be a direct to video sequel but when the story had potential, Disney decided to give the film a theatrical release and production had to be completed in 9 months. Will Toy Story 2 be as good as the original, or will it be a disappointment? Let's find out!

After Andy goes on a camping trip, Woody (Tom Hanks) gets stolen at a yard sale by a greedy toy store owner because he's actually a rare collectors item based on a 1950s TV show called Woody's Roundup and he's about to be shipped to a museum in Japan. He meets new friends based on the show, including a cowgirl doll named Jessie (Joan Cusack), a stuffed horse named Bullseye, and a rubber prospector named Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer), who lives in a box that's never been opened. Woody now has to decide to either go to Japan or go back to Andy's house while Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the gang goes on a journey to save Woody.

Forget about the fact that the film was originally meant to be direct to video, the animation has slightly improved over the original film and still holds up today. You get details like reflections, the amount of plastic on the toys, the light sources, rugs, and even dust. The visuals are bigger in scope too. There's an chase sequence at the end of the film when Buzz and the gang are at the airport to save Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye and the baggage handling system is so big with those suitcases on the conveyor belts, the hard work from the animators really payed off for that scene.

The performances are equally strong as they were in the first. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were great as usual in their respective roles but there's a whole gallery of great supporting performances from Don Rickles as Mr Potato Head, Jim Varney as Slinky, Wallace Shawn as Rex, and even newcomers to the series like Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, and Estelle Harris as Mrs Potato Head. They're all chosen well for their roles and the way the voices mixes with the characters personalities are perfectly handled.

What's equally impressive about the film is it's character development and storytelling, which deals with friendship, growing up, and moving on while also dealing with the fear of rejection.  Andy accidentally rips Woody's arm and his mom puts him on a special shelf, reminding him that toys don't last forever. Woody later has a surreal nightmare of Andy not wanting to play with him anymore because of his broken arm and throws him in the trash. After Woody gets stolen, he makes some new friends, who are on their way to Japan or else they'll go back into storage.

When Woody was telling Stinky Pete, Bullseye, and Jessie about Andy, they're weren't convinced that Andy loves Woody because of his broken arm and the fact that he tried to save a rubber penguin with a broken squeaker in the yard sale earlier in the film. After Woody loses his arm while trying to have a picture taken with his friends, Pete warns Woody that the outside world is dangerous. After Woody's arm is fixed, he decides to go back to Andy.

This is when we get to understand Jessie's fears as Woody learns that she belongs to a little girl named Emily. Rather than spelling out to the audience, we get a flashback with Jessie's fond memories with Emily since they both bonded with each other. As Emily begins to grow up, she buys make up and music instead of toys and when she finds Jessie under her bed, she decides to give her away. This was why Jessie often gets jealous of Woody trying to get back to Andy and having her own fears of being owned by another child. After Stinky Pete warns Woody that Andy might do the same thing, he decides to stay with his new friends and go to Japan.

At this point, Woody begins to forget that a toy is meant to be played with and when Buzz and the gang convince Woody to get back to Andy's house, he turns down the offer. When he sees a kid playing with a Woody puppet on the TV set, he realizes his purpose in life is to be played with and not for show, so he decides to leave and take his new friends to Andy's house along with Buzz and company. This leads into Stinky Pete being a bigger threat in the film.

It turns out that Pete can get out of the box anytime he wants to and reveals that he framed Jessie for foiling Woody's escape attempt the previous night because he'd rather be appreciated in the museum rather than being played with. He also hates space toys since the Space Age was responsible for Woody's Roundup's cancellation and children bought space toys as a result. He doesn't seem to understand that they're are children who love toys and take care of them no matter what kind of toy they are. Realizing Stinky Pete's problem, Woody and company puts him in a little girl's Barbie bag to show him the true purpose of being a toy.

The movie ends with exciting climax when Woody, Buzz, and Bullseye save Jessie from a cargo ship heading to Japan, Andy coming home from camp and accepting the new toys, Woody's arm being fixed again after Stinky Pete ripped it at the airport and the toys lived happily ever after.

Overall, Toy Story 2 is equal to it's predecessor with it's improved animation, strong themes, great performances, and lovable, well developed characters. This film really deserves to be ranked with The Empire Strikes Back and Terminator 2 as one of the best sequels of all time and deserves a higher recommendation from me. I loved the Toy Story movies as a kid, I wasn't disappointed as a grown up.

Tune in next time for the final conclusion to the Toy Story trilogy.

RATING: 4/4.

Toy Story (1995)

After the successes of the first half of The Disney Renaissance, Disney teamed up with a very small computer animation company called Pixar to create the very first computer animated feature, Toy Story, directed by John Lasseter and inspired by an Oscar winning short subject Pixar made called Tin Toy.

The story focuses on a pull string cowboy doll named Woody (Tom Hanks), who is the favorite toy of a little boy named Andy. When Andy gets a space themed action figure for his birthday, he replaces Woody as his new favorite toy. The action figure is named Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), who is delusional because he thinks he's a superhero. As Andy plays with Buzz more often, Woody becomes increasingly jealous of Buzz and has made plans to get rid of him. After Woody accidentally knocks Buzz out the window, Andy takes Woody to a space themed pizza restaurant called Pizza Planet. Meanwhile, Buzz follows them and after a brawl between Buzz and Woody, they're left behind at the gas station. When Woody and Buzz get to Pizza Planet, they're kidnapped by Sid, Andy's neighbor who destroys toys and mixes the broken pieces together to make his mutant toys. It's now up to Woody and Buzz to get back to Andy's house and escape from Sid's clutches.

There have been previous movies that used computer generated images (CGI) such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Jurassic Park, and several Disney animated films but making a feature length film made entirely by CGI was a really big deal back in the 90s due to technical limitations at the time and how it would affect not only affect the finished film, the the movie industry in general. When Toy Story came along, it revolutionized animation and it's easy to see why. The animation is very detailed, like scratches on wood, dirt on the ground, rusty vehicles, and the reflections on Buzz Lightyear's helmet. Unlike traditional animation, the "camera" is now given freedom to move whatever it wants and shows us interesting angles we normally see in live action films. And the character models on the toys really do look like toys and they are animated fluidly. The animation still holds up today, but what really made Toy Story a masterpiece besides the animation are the story and characters.

Woody is a complex yet likable character. The beginning of the film establishes Woody as a confident, and friendly leader of the toys. But when he is replaced by Buzz Lightyear as Andy's favorite toy, Woody's jealousy quickly took over and got him into trouble. When Woody unintentionally throws Buzz out the window, the other toys think he did this on purpose and began to hate and disbelieve him because of his jealousy. After Sid captures Woody and Buzz at Pizza Planet, Woody begins to bond with Buzz and tries the best he can to convince the other toys that Buzz is okay but they still don't believe him. When Sid plans to blow up Buzz, Woody rallies up Sid's mutant toys and we root for them to save Buzz and defeat Sid and Woody finally learns the importance of having a new friend. Tom Hanks is perfectly chosen as a flawed but confident toy in my opinion. I liked his wit, charm, and his inner bravery as he tries to save Buzz.

Buzz Lightyear has some interesting character development as well. When we first see him, he appears to be under the delusion that he's a space ranger who crash lands in uncharted territory while making friends with the toys. Woody tries to convince him that he's an action figure but Buzz doesn't believe him. As Buzz hides from Sid's dog, he sees a television commercial of Buzz Lightyear action figures in stores. When Buzz realizes that Woody is right, he develops severe depression, he won't talk to Woody, and even thinking that he can't help anyone. Woody convinces Buzz that being a toy is better than being a space ranger and Andy really loves him and accepted him as a toy. As Buzz sees Andy's name on his foot, he learns that being played with and loved as a toy isn't a bad thing after all and agrees to team up with Woody and get back to Andy. I'm not a Tim Allen fan but I think this is his best performance. He clearly was having fun playing a delusional action figure who thinks he's a superhero.

There's also some great and funny supporting characters, including a toy dog who's also a slinky, a T Rex who's ironically afraid and insecure, a cynical Mr Potato Head, Woody's girlfriend Bo Peep, the squeaky alien toys at Pizza Planet who think that the arcade claw game they live in is heaven, and of course, the imaginative Andy and the violent and destructive Sid.  

In addition of being a visual ground-breaker, the film also has a great story about friendship and what it means to be a toy. Andy is a very imaginative boy who not only plays with his toys but also loves them. A lot of children are imaginative with their toys when they play with them and the opening of the film establishes the theme with a typical cowboys and robbers conflict in which Woody is the hero and Mr Potato Head as the robber. Children also get sad and worried when their toys are lost. When Woody and Buzz went missing, Andy misses them terribly and wonders where they are and how he lost them. He thinks he lost responsibilities with his toys, but when Woody and Buzz come back to Andy, he's happy that they're back in his life and realizes he's responsible with his toys the whole time.

It also shows us how jealousy can get you to nowhere and how your reputation will tarnish. Woody becomes jealous as he's been replaced by Buzz as Andy's favorite toy. He lost most of his friends because of his jealousy towards Buzz and nobody would believe him. To prove his own innocence, Woody has convince his friends that Buzz is alive. There's a scene in Sid's room when Woody tries to convince his friends that Buzz is alive but Buzz gives him his severed arm due to his depression when he found out that he's a toy. Woody performs a puppet show with Buzz's arm but that easily backfired and his friends turned his back on him.

In the climactic chase scene when Andy is moving to a new house, Woody and Buzz are separated by Sid's dog, Scud. In desperation to save Buzz, Woody climbs to the moving van and uses a remote control toy car to save Buzz. Thinking Woody murdered the toy car, the toys throw him out of the moving van but Buzz and the car teams up with him, finally convincing them that Woody is innocent. They tried to save them but the battery is dying. But Woody lights the rocket strapped on Buzz's back by Sid, the toys finally got back to Andy and lived happily after ending. It's a well written and suspenseful climax in my opinion.

Overall, Toy Story is a masterpiece with stunning animation, rich story, strong morals, interesting characters, a thrilling climax, and great performances, especially from Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. 4 years later, we got Toy Story 2. Will it be in line with the original or will it be a disappointment? Tune in next time.

RATING: 4/4