We are back everybody with the next entry in my series of Pixar reviews! Last time we were with the studio we looked at one of their more obscure films in A Bug’s Life ( which you can check that review out right now), and today we are going to be talking about their first ever sequel, Toy Story 2. Now many of you may already know that the production on Pixar’s follow up to their 1995 smash hit classic was marred by a deluge of creative differences, and problems. Whether it was the film getting deleted, or it almost not releasing in theaters at all, this would only be one of many future Pixar films that would face huge production troubles. So the fact that it would go on to be known as one of the best sequels of all times is really saying something. But why is this movie so highly praised you may ask? Well I’m about to show you why when we head into the toy chest with Andy once again!
After a hilarious, and clever prologue concerning a Buzz Lightyear video game, we are back in Andy’s room with all of our old friends and even some new ones. It’s almost time for Andy to head to cowboy camp and Woody could not be more freaked out then he is right now, worrying about the rest of the gang while he is gone, and making sure he himself looks perfect. Things seem to be proceeding as normal until Andy accidentally rips Woody’s arm during playtime. It is here when Andy decides not to take Woody with him thus putting him away for awhile. Its this moment where Woody becomes depressed, and scared on whether Andy will want to play with him anymore now that he’s broken. It doesn’t help that fellow broken toy, Weezy, hasn’t gotten fixed ever since his squeeze box broke. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Weezy is taken to be sold at the garage sale and Woody is not going to let that slide. While he succeeds in rescuing the toy penguin, Woody is then stolen by a toy collector named Al McWhiggin, owner of toy store, Al’s Toy Barn, who has been searching desperately for a rare Sheriff Woody doll to take to a toy museum in Japan so he can get handsome pay. While kidnapped Woody bumps into the other members of his Roundup Gang Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete, and learns that he was once the star of his very own successful TV series. Meanwhile Buzz, and the rest of the gang form a search party to go find Woody, and get him back home safely before Andy comes back. But as Woody starts to learn more about his past, and question his own fragile existence as a toy, will he decide to stay with the Roundup Gang, and head to the museum or be keep being Andy’s toy, and risk being broken again?
This film is one of the perfect examples on how to do a follow up the right way. It maintains what worked so well in the previous installment and expanding upon it, while also bringing up new concepts, ideas, and themes into the mix to spice things up. Here we still get the clever world building of the toy’s perspective just like in the last one but its expanded in different ways thanks to new settings like a toy store or a yard sale where we see how the toys interact in these environments, or digging into what would happen if toys went to storage, or museums. Again just like the original this all comes off naturally, with no shoving the rules of how everything works down our throats. The script is even more powerful and its also not afraid to go a little deeper in terms of theme, and messages which can be downright existential. Here is where the franchise would begin to question what it really means to be a toy, and what their purpose is (something 3 and 4 would also look into quite a bit). The question of Woody’s predicament is a powerful, and not easy one, is it better to live an immortal life and last forever loved for generations, or to live a fragile life with the inevitability of abandonment but make the most of it as best as you can, and the way the movie handles it is masterful, and leads to some of the most poignant, and heartbreaking scenes (I think we all know which specific scene I am referring to). But not only is the emotion even more hard hitting, but the comedy is even more hilarious! Again just like last time anybody young, and old can enjoy this feature with jokes, and visual gags appealing to all ages, although it isn’t afraid to include a couple of things that will go over kid’s heads, and only adults will understand. Its so funny that I have a hard time choosing which sequence, or gag made me laugh the most (Rex’s obsession to defeat Zurg, Buzz’s interactions with his doppelganger, the toy’s trying to cross a street, and countless more). Toy Story 2 is not intent on being lazy, and rehashing the first like a lot of sequels do, and is happy taking these characters in new directions, and going bigger to tell an even better story.
If you recall in my review of Toy Story I said I wasn’t really bothered about its animation as much as others. That’s mainly because the focus was on the toys most of the time, and the directing, and writing being very strong, and in here Pixar sure as hell stepped up their game in both the story, and visual departments. First of all the character designs gained a huge upgrade here as the textures, and rendering on the toys, and (especially) the humans are a lot better capturing the character’s personality, and what type of toy they are nicely. The movements are nice, and smooth, and do a good job of replicating how these toys would move in real life while the background provide a nice change of locale, and scale compared to the original. The first was small in scale, and only went outside of the houses a couple of times throughout while here the number of locations are bigger, and varied. These backgrounds do a great job of making the viewers feel the perspective of the toys, and how normal looking every day places, objects like a toy store, a building, an elevator, and more would feel like in their perspective like for example the elevator would be seen as sort of an obstacle to them or the airport baggage claim a maze. The directing is just as strong as it was before, and there is some really well crafted, and creative action here like the opening prologue, the fight in the elevator, and the climatic airport chase. Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention in my review of the original was Randy Newman’s score which is back here along with some brand new themes. I really love the music he composed for these films as they manage to make the emotional scenes very effective, and the action moments adventurous, and intense (Buzz Lightyear’s theme in the beginning, and the theme that plays climatic airport are great examples of this). Aside from “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from the last one We also have some new songs for this movie such as “Woody’s Roundup” the theme song for Woody’s old show which is catchy, and comical, and the rather infamous “When She Loved Me” which is a beautiful song that plays during the most heartbreaking sequence in the film.
The legendary Tom Hanks has returned to voice Woody once more, and what more can I say that I haven’t said already. He absolutely nails both the comedic, and dramatic parts once again, and we get to learn more about Woody’s backstory as a character on a once extremely popular TV show. Like I said before his dilemma on what he should do next is compelling to watch, and it gives Hanks a chance to truly shine again in once of his finest roles. But you can’t have Woody without Buzz, and Tim Allen does a great job once again as a changed Buzz from the last film now that he knows what being a toy means. Not only does he play off of Hanks well, but he also does a funny double performance as both the regular Buzz, and another Buzz found in Al’s Toy Barn that believes he is a space ranger just like regular Buzz did in the first film, and this mix up was one of the funniest things in the film (I love both normal Buzz, and the rest of the toy’s reaction to his actions). The rest of the gang also return with Don Rickles’s Mr. Potato Head, Wallace Shaw’s Rex (who gets one if the best running gags in the movie), John Ratzenberger’s Hamm, and Jim Varney’s Slinky Dog getting the most to do, and each having their own moments to shine. But one other thing that a good sequel should have is new, and memorable characters that serve as great added value elements, and this particular sequel contains a huge number of them. The best of this new bunch is toy cowgirl, Jessie played with enthusiastic energy, and wit by Joan Cusack. She is just such a likable, and well developed character who is afraid of being enclosed in storage again after being abandoned, and never wants that to happen again (how many times must I bring up that tear jerking scene). As for the other two members of Woody’s Roundup there’s his trusty horse, Bullseye, who is adorable and makes for wonderful comic relief, and the old prospector, Sticky Pete voiced by Mr. Kelsey Grammer himself, who (spoilers if you somehow haven’t seen Toy Story 2, which if you haven’t please do) is later revealed to be the villain of the feature. Grammer does an execellent job imbuing the character with his soft spoken attitude, and demeanor while making him seem so kind, and friendly in earlier movie which makes his change in personality all the more surprising. His motivation is actually not unfounded as he just wants to be loved by children forever, tired of watching every other toy being sold, and it makes him somewhat sympathetic even if he does some really bad things to get his way (though again like a lot of Pixar villains he gets a really funny, and satisfying comeuppance). Other stand outs include Wayne Knight as the greedy, and hilariously impatient Al who is another fun human antagonist like Sid in the first film, and Pixar legend, Andrew Stanton himself playing Buzz’s arch nemesis, Emperor Zurg, a not so subtle yet extremely entertaining parody of Darth Vader. We even have cameos from the likes of Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head, Joe Ranft as Weezy (who gets a neat rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”), Jodi Benson as Tourguide Barbie, and even Debi Derryberry, and Jeff Pidegeon return to voice the Pizza Planet Aliens who are now eternally grateful to Mr. Potato Head. Whether its a role big or small every character makes the absolute most of what they’ve got, and what they’ve got is just fantastic.
Toy Story 2 is a lesson on how to make a perfect sequel. It keeps, and expands on everything that worked amazingly in the original like the lovable characters, the excellent story telling, and messages while also adding its own things like a story that doesn’t copy the original, new, and fascinating themes, improved animation, awesome brand new characters, etc. It is just a phenomenal film that fires on all cylinders, and is the best Pixar sequel, the best Toy Story film, and one of the best sequels animated or not. I can’t really think of much else to say except thank you Pixar for making this masterpiece happen even with all of the impossible circumstances! So I think its time we take a long break from praising the toy’s, and to look forward to the next review in my series of Pixar reviews. A little warning though, if your easily scared then this will not be the review for you, but if you think you can handle a couple of monsters, then please by all means.
Rating: A+
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