Toy Story 2

When Pixar was still a fresh movie company, there was a fear that they would only be a one-trick pony. After their smashing success with the first Toy Story movie in 1995, people were wondering what their next project would be, and while A Bug’s Life was liked well enough and did okay, it got nowhere near the same levels as Toy Story did, so there was a slight fear for the public when they discovered their next movie would be a sequel to Toy Story so soon (almost a sign that they were double dipping). Thankfully, not only were people thoroughly pleased to find the 1999 movie was just as good as the first one, but they were also even more shocked to discover that it was even better than the first. Returning back to Andy’s room, Woody (voiced again by Tom Hanks) is starting to fear for his own self-preservation once Andy accidentally rips his arm and doesn’t take him away to camp with him. Before he can come to grips with this, he is stolen by a toy collector named Al (voiced by Wayne Knight) while trying to save another toy from being sold in a yard sale. After being taken far away from his home, Woody discovers that he is in fact a rare collector’s item from an old TV show named Woody’s Roundup based around his role as a sheriff. He meets other toys who were part of the show, including Jessie the Cowgirl (voiced by Joan Cusack), a toy horse named Bullseye, and an old prospector named Stinky Pete (voiced by Kelsey Grammer), who tell Woody that now that they’re a set, they can be sent to a museum where they will be seen by children for generations, which Woody is incredibly hesitant about as he wishes to go back to Andy. Back at Andy’s room, Buzz (voiced again by Tim Allen) and the rest of Andy’s toys set out outside of their usual playground and travel several blocks in order to save Woody, but after connecting with the other toys, learning of their sad lives, and remembering the pain he felt thinking about Andy leaving him eventually, Woody might not want to go home after all. Toy Story 2 does what every good sequel should do, it improves itself from the previous; it furthers the characters, the writing, the animation, and even better, it furthers the story to new heights. It took what could have been a quick cash-grab from a previous successful movie for them to use as a safety blanket, and instead showed the world that Toy Story was not only going to be a movie that stayed in their minds for years to come, but a franchise that would last forever for its endearing characters, mature themes and writing, and its heartfelt and timeless storytelling.

For a follow-up to Toy Story, it does the smart thing of not sticking to the same formula or the same locations. It branches out into the world, allowing the audience to meet new toys, see new places (which in turn shows off the improved technology), it feels bigger in scope and in presence, and serves to put people at ease who would’ve worried that it wouldn’t take many chances. It still has the same likeable Pixar charm that the previous one has, but it also has their great handling of adult messages mixed into a story that feels tailored made for children. With a story constructed by John Lasseter, Pete Doctor, Ash Brannon and Andrew Stanton, it manages to not only evolve the kind of story that can be told from the perspective of toys (having a villain be a toy collector be a villain is a great touch), but also evolve the dilemma that comes with this premise and how it works on a connectable level for kids, but also for adults. It’s a story that’s about dealing with inevitable truths, how to live with that, is it smarter to stick around and watch it occur or shut yourself off and distance yourself in fear of feeling the pain, it’s a surprisingly harsh and tough concept for kids to have to deal with, yet the movie never feels too heavy or sour to get through, it can still be a fun and creative film for them that they can later view completely differently once they’re older (especially when they have children of their own). It never feels cheap or manipulative, it has a great pay-off at the end, which is openly stated, but still effective, and none of the usual great creative writing and situations are lost because of this heavier focus. For a simple story about living toys, it became a franchise where kids would grow up with these movies and experience the same feelings as they would, so it would be that much more effective. The screenplay for this movie written by Stanton, Chris Webb, Doug Chamberlin, and Rita Hsiao still manages to be funny and heartwarming without losing that relatable, modernistic touch that the first film used so effectively. Along with that, the movie is also a little bit darker compared to the first movie, with much more extreme circumstances and discussed topics that while never visually or openly disturbing, contains a subtle twinge that is appreciated. Even with that in mind, it never shies away from it, it shows it to the kids head on and respects that they’ll understand it and mixes it beautifully with the movie’s amazingly likeable and colorful world and characters.

The characters everyone loves are still around and they all get good amounts of screen time between each of them. Whenever it switches between Woody with the collector and Buzz and the gang trying to rescue him, it never feels like too much or too little, it perfectly balances the time between both and neither ever gets boring. Some of the new characters introduced are pretty good as well; characters like Jessie and Bullseye became fan favorites pretty quickly, another Buzz Lightyear who has to go through the same transformation that original Buzz went through in the first movie sounds like a lazy idea, yet there are some good laughs that come with that, and even Barbie (voiced by Jodi Benson) gets some screen time that results in a few great jokes once Mattel actually allowed her to be used in a funny way. Even some of them have very impactful backstories; Jessie’s backstory about her previous owner is one of the emotional highlights of the movie, as well as one of the best scenes overall. The emotions are high, the presentation is wonderful, and even though Randy Newman is known for making very repetitive songs, the one for this scene sung beautifully by Sarah McLachlan is easily one of his best, perfect for the scene and makes the scene that much more heart wrenching. All the actors are still wonderful and their way of talking in adult reactions with such a children-important topics and situations is always entertaining to watch. Hanks and Allen are still great, people like Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger and Jim Varney get some good laughs, Mrs Potato Head (voiced by Estelle Harris) is about as funny as it sounds, and Wayne Knight feels perfect for the character of Al and makes him effectively lame and pathetic. The only downside that can be found with the cast is that Stinky Pete as the villain is pretty weak. While he has an understandable motivation and Kelsey Grammer has a voice that’s perfect for a bad guy, the fact that he’s saved for a surprise during the last act leaves less time for him to be memorable as a villain and instead come across as a last-minute pull to have an opposing force in the final act where one was not needed. That and the resolution with him is pretty mean-spirited coming from a product that preaches togetherness and friendship so much, so it feels a little odd come the end of the film.

The film’s animation also took the next step up, looking a lot more colorful and a lot more physical than the first. Considering the first film had technology that while impressive for the time and still in some angles holds up, does have a look that can be a little odd now, so showing the improvements that were made only after a single film is pretty staggering. The toys still have that unique plastic like appeal to each one of them, all of them feel like they are made of their retrospective materials, and even the humans look a little better this time around (at least to the point that don’t look like lifeless ken dolls this time). There’s more opportunities to go to cool new locations, the lighting and colors in many scenes feels a bit more dynamic and atmospheric, there’s some cool angles and shots done by Sharon Calahan that weren’t possible in the previous film,  and while the musical score by Randy Newman has gotten much moodier and cold than the previous film, it does work to its favour in some of the more harsher moments, and it does still know when to be upbeat and playful. The writing is still that great blend of adult material mixed in with childish situations, and all the jokes are ones that can be appreciated by both kids and adults. The movie is definitely more referential than the other movies, as when they do a reference its blended more subtly, here it’s very apparent what they’re doing and even presents a different tone of comedy that wouldn’t be returned to in any of the other films (at least not to the same extent). While it’s still very funny, some could be put off by the level of forwardness it has with relying on other movie references, especially when it doesn’t need it.

Toy Story 2 surpassed all expectations and made itself one of the most favored and most loved sequels of all time, helping keep Pixar in the good spaces of many and prove to the world that they would be an animation company that would continue to create quality material (which is exactly what they did). It furthers a story, continued on with these great characters and jokes, and showed the world that Toy Story was going to be sticking around a long time to come and become one of the most famous movie franchises of all time. Its technology is improved, its story is developed more, the old characters are still great, and the new characters are wonderful, the music has some highlights, and the writing is still very good. Definitely worth a viewing and returning to the child-like world of Toy Story.