# Toy Story 2 (1999)

### reviewed by
Ian Waldron-Mantgani

    Toy Story 2     ***1/2

Rated on a 4-star scale Screening venue: Odeon (Liverpool City Centre) Released in the UK by Buena Vista International on February 11, 2000; certificate U; 85 minutes; country of origin USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1

Directed by John Lasseter; produced by Karen Robert Jackson, Helene Plotkin. Written by Doug Chamberlain, Rita Hsiao, Andrew Stanton, Chris Webb. Photographed by Sharon Calahan; edited by Edie Blehman, Lee Unkrich.

CAST..... Voice of Tom Hanks..... Woody Voice of Tim Allen..... Buzz Lightyear Voice of Don Rickles..... Mr Potato Head Voice of Jim Varney..... Slinky Dog Voice of Wallace Shawn..... Rex Voice of John Ratzenberger..... Hamm Voice of Annie Potts..... Bo Peep Voice of Joan Cusack..... Jessie the Cowgirl Voice of R Lee Ermey..... Sergeant Voice of Kelsey Grammer..... Prospector Voice of Wayne Knight..... Toy Collector

Well, do YOU really care whether or not David Schwimmer gets the girl? I sure don't, and yet that's about as challenging an issue as you'll find in most movies intended for grown-ups. No wonder kids are so sharp -- they have movies like "Toy Story 2" to fire their imaginations. The film's central dilemma, albeit one that has to be faced by a cowboy doll, is a complex question of loyalty that requires careful diplomacy to solve. This is not just 85 minutes of mindless cartoon action, but a work that could conceivably be shown to an ethics class, as stimulus for group discussion.

Or to a drama class, a parody-writing class, a nursery class... "Toy Story 2" is wonderful universal entertainment, a worthy sequel to "Toy Story" (1995), which was the first ever feature film created entirely through computer animation. It's not quite as good, but I didn't expect it to be -- the original was one of the most involving movies ever made. But it is even more ambitious, and delights us in different ways.

Less of this film's appeal lies in discovering its world; it assumes familiarity with the first movie, where we were introduced to the toys in the bedroom of a kid named Andy. Whenever humans were out of sight, the toys came to life, and made sure their domain was running smoothly. They've really got their work cut out for them this time; the stakes are now much higher than a fight for Andy's affections.

It all starts with greedy toy merchant Al (Wayne Knight) stealing cowboy doll Woody (Tom Hanks) from Andy's house. Woody, it seems, was the star of a hit puppet show on television in the 1950s, the merchandise of which has been like gold dust ever since the programme was cancelled. A toy museum in Japan is prepared to pay Al millions of dollars for the complete set of "Woody's Roundup" action figures, which he now has.

Surely the other toys must save Woody before Andy gets back from summer camp! Space-ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) takes charge of this mission, bringing along the motley crew of pig-shaped money bank Hamm (John Ratzenberger), dinosaur model Rex (Wallace Shawn), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney) and Mr Potato Head (Don Rickles). This is a grand adventure, and also leads us to Woody's aforementioned dilemma.

You see, Woody would love to return to Andy; the kid and the toy rely on and enjoy each other. But if he leaves the "Woody's Roundup" characters, who have all been abandoned by their owners, they will not be bought by the museum and will be put back in storage, which is as close to hell as toys can go. Who needs him the most? Is it worth going back to Andy, when one day the boy will grow up and forget about him? Is living in a museum a tolerable self-sacrifice?

These are questions worth caring about, for characters you just gotta love. Some have criticised "Toy Story 2" as a marketing tool to sell a bunch of toys; even if that were true, it would be okay, because these are beautiful toys. They may have been created on computers, but they still have energy, perfect comic timing and an astonishingly natural sense of irony. I once saw a short film from the same animation team, PIXAR, which contained nothing but two jumping lamps -- and somehow the geniuses made even these faceless objects convey emotion.

With so much revolutionary technology involved, I really think it says something that the most awesome things about the "Toy Story" movies are elements of plot and character. The screenplay provides obvious heroes with simple goals, but still never settles into formula; and so we never know how much more of the story is left to unfold, we get lost in individual moments and the time flies by.

"Toy Story 2" deserves to be analysed with more depth and elaboration than this. But my strongest memory of the film is simply the laughter of myself, my companions and the rest of the audience. It is a pure, innocent, visceral delight -- good fun for adults, and nothing short of a gift for children all over the world.

COPYRIGHT(c) 2000 Ian Waldron-Mantgani

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