# Toy Story 2 (1999)

### reviewed by
Jon Turner

    TOY STORY 2
    A Review by Jon Turner
    Posted 12/4/99

    Rating:  ***** out of *****

Review: `To infinity… and beyond!!' In 1995, Disney released a Pixar computer animated production, TOY STORY, a ***** film that went on to gross over $192 million domestically, and earn a special Academy Award for director John Lasseter. Three years later, Pixar released A BUG'S LIFE, which pushed the limits of computer animation even further, and it grossed over $140 million domestically. Now, just in time for TOY STORY's fourth anniversary (Happy anniversary!), Disney has released Pixar's latest production–TOY STORY 2! This is a big step up for Disney, especially since all their sequels have gone straight-to-video. This was a money making way since their first sequel, THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER, did only modest business at the box office. Never before has Disney released another animated film sequel theatrically, until now. Speaking of which, this production was originally intended to be a direct-to-home-video production, but since the opening scenes turned out so spectacular, that they recreated a theatrical feature for the sequel.

Those opening scenes are one of the first things that might make you think, `Hmmmm…, this sequel is pretty good!' But they're more than `pretty good'. They are outrageously funny and exciting. In these scenes, one Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger in the Gamma Quadrant, fighting his way on the planet of his evil rival, Emperor Zurg, blasting enemies with his laser, dodging booby traps, and plucking out batteries (they are Zurg's power source). But then, he confronts the evil emperor himself (who, by the way, is a howlingly funny parody of Darth Vader), only to get blasted to smithereens (PS: It all turns out to be a video game).

Then, we find ourselves in Andy's room, where we meet all our familiar pals from the original TOY STORY: Slinky the loyal dog, the cantankerous Mr. Potato Head (softened up, this time around, by the presence of a Mrs. Potato Head –he got his wish from the first `story'–), the insecure Rex (no need to mention he's a dinosaur), love struck Bo Peep, and of course, the ever-lovable (and hilarious) pull-string cowboy doll, Woody.

After Andy accidentally rips Woody's arm, he is forced to leave him on the shelf while he heads away to summer, er, cowboy, camp. Woody befriends Wheezy, a tiny, lovable penguin with a broken squeaker, who gets chosen to be in a Yard Sale Andy's mom recently puts up. Woody assaults a rescue mission (with the aid of another lovable character, Andy's recently bought pet dog, Buster), and in doing so, accidentally falls into the clutches of one Al McWiggin. This greedy, fat guy (who is nicknamed Chicken Man) intends to sell Woody to a museum in Japan.

    Why?

    BECAUSE WOODY IS A VALUABLE COLLECTIBLE!!!!!

    Sorry if that was so obvious.

Anyway, Buzz Lightyear rallies up Potato Head, Rex, Hamm, and Slinky, and they set off to rescue Woody from Al's Toy Barn.

Meanwhile, Woody meets up with three other valuable collectibles, Jessie, a cowgirl who has an attitude about human owners (her owner outgrew and ditched her in a donation box, we later on discover), a endearingly loyal horse, Bullseye, and the Prospector (aka Stinky Pete). These collectibles are actually characters of an early TV show WOODY'S ROUNDUP, which stars (you guessed it). They have been anticipating Woody, who will finally be able to help make them famous at the museum (or else they'll be put back into storage). And they want Woody to go, whether or not he likes it.

Should Woody take the next plane flight to Japan, and be admired (if not loved) by millions of children, or should he return home with his old friends and accept the fact that one day Andy might outgrow him?

If you think I'm going to give you the answer, you are absolutely, positively, 100% incorrect. You have to see the movie in order to find out. And I do mean, you HAVE to see it. There's a lot to catch your eye, including the as always dazzling 3-D computer animation from Pixar. Yet one cannot help but guess that the animation is also a step up from the recent A BUG'S LIFE. It is. TOY STORY and A BUG'S LIFE's animation seemed somewhat experimental in comparison to this. Everything is 100% realistically rendered (even though some of the humans look somewhat like action figures, but I'm not complaining), from Andy's playroom to Al's Toy Barn, to a climactic finale at an airport.

The scenes are very masterfully executed, with a lot of quick cuts and stunts here and there. It's so exciting, in fact, that it almost feels like you're on a roller coaster ride… and that makes TOY STORY 2 all the more entertaining. There's a lot of breathtaking, and suspenseful action scenes, when the toys run across the street disguised as cones dodging cars (and causing traffic accidents), driving cars–the goofy way (a toy one, and THEN a REAL one –No, I'm not kidding! They really do!–), running up an air vent system, climbing, battling, and almost falling, up an elevator shaft, through an airport conveyer belt (which looks more labyrinthe than it has to, but that makes it more exciting), and even jumping off airplanes. Whew! With a lot of action scenes like that, one can tell that director John Lasseter and his colleagues have been taking lessons from Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki (creator of ***** films such as KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, CASTLE IN THE SKY, and even the recently released PRINCESS MONONOKE). Incidentally, they do. I read in an article that whenever Lasseter and his colleagues feel stumped, they pop in a laser disc of one of his films–and they get inspiration from it. (Miyazaki would be pleased to hear that. ^_^)

And the film, like TOY STORY and A BUG'S LIFE, is JAM-packed with humor. There are a lot of funny one-liners from the characters (`Are you gonna turn me into a mashed potato?' `I'll pack your angry eyes, just in case') that fail miserably to get old fast. In addition, there is an EXTREMELY funny STAR WARS parody at the beginning, and it seems to continue throughout the film, particularly when Buzz Lightyear (well, another Buzz who thinks he's real, that is) and Emperor Zurg have their duel in which Buzz discovers Zurg is (you guessed it) his father. Later on, we see them playing catch, as if they were really attached to each other. There's something funny and sweet about that. And the action scenes are also funny, particularly from the doings of the toys, and how they handle certain situations.

What's important about a sequel, however, are two things. First, it must be something original, not just a sorry remake of the film that preceded it. With Pixar, you can tell that these guys know what makes a good film. The story is not rehashed from the original, it's different and equally enjoyable. And even though there are a couple of references to the original (Buzz asking the toys `Did Woody give up when Sid had me strapped to a rocket?' `Did Woody give up when you guys [the toys] threw him out of that moving truck?', and later on him telling Woody `You… are… a… TOY!'), the overall level of the story completely avoids being a remake of the original.

Another thing that is important is a thing that is required with all films. They have to have heart. Pixar is definitely not afraid to have any of that in any of their films. The heart here is the message about how comforting toys can be to kids. When Jessie recalls the good old days with her former owner, Emily, and their fun activities together (playing, swinging, and rolling around in leaves), we are filled with feelings of what it's like to be a kid, and how nice it is to have toys to comfort you. When Emily starts to spend more time with her friends and less time with Jessie, we feel, just as she does, neglected, but we also are aware that this same thing happens in real life. Kids outgrow toys. And what is real love anyway? Being watched at from a glass bottle by millions of kids, or being with someone who really loves you? This is something to think about.

With the return of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and all the other actors who gave life to the characters in the original TOY STORY, one expects nothing less than enthusiasm and excellence. These expectations are more than completely fulfilled–they surpass them. The cast hams it up (no offense, Miss Piggy) as if they've never grown tired of their characters, as if they're, well, playing with toys. And the new additions to the cast (Joan Cusack as Jessie, Kelsley Grammer as Prospector, Andrew Stanton as Emperor Zurg) carry on the same tradition.

Pixar films have always had popular composer Randy Newman score their films, and Newman returns once again to deliver another excellent score. His scores for TOY STORY and A BUG'S LIFE were experimental since he hadn't, back then, done any music for any animated film, traditional cel, or computer rendered. The score for TOY STORY 2 is his crowning achievement in these kind of scores, with a lot of really exciting, funny, and altogether enjoyable passages. He also provides the songs for the film. TOY STORY 2, like Pixar's other films, are not musicals, even though they do have `songs'. Singing here on the soundtrack is not Newman himself at all (One of my only gripes about the film; what is wrong with Newman singing? I think he's a terrific singer, and my family thinks so, too.) but Sarah McLachlan, who helps a weakly composed but effectively written number, `When She Loved Me', Riders in the Sky, who contribute to an ingeniously created theme for WOODY'S ROUNDUP, and Robert Goulet, who contributes to a jazzed up arrangement of `You've Got A Friend In Me' (One of the finest songs Newman has ever written).

If there was anything that I could complain about the film (aside from Newman not singing), it probably would be the Prospector. I mentioned before that he's actually Stinky Pete, right? Not that I intend to give away any surprises, but later on, he turns out to be, well, a real Stinker. It seems somewhat curious that Pixar decided to turn who appears to be one of the nicest characters in the film into a baddie at the end. But then, how did the television set in Al's office come on when Woody attempted to retrieve his arm? Well, on the other hand, sometimes a real villain can be a person who acts as a friend, but turns out to be far from it in the end. Rather interesting….

Such criticisms, however, do not at all take away from my recommendation of TOY STORY 2. I recommend it very highly (as you can judge from my rating), since it is so much fun to watch from start to finish.

Footnote: There are a couple of inside references from A BUG'S LIFE in the form of action figures and familiar images. Be sure to keep an eye out for them.

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