“Just why is this movie Number Six in your Top Ten Animated Movies of All Time list?”, I hear you cry. (Oh go on, just pretend I can hear you…) Well, I watched it again last night, enjoyed it more than ever, and decided to write this review in order to put you out of your misery by giving you the answer to this perplexing question.





”Oh do get on with it…”, I hear you cry…



Toy Story (no.10 in my top ten list) was a wonderful cartoon, PIXAR’s first feature-length movie, and the first entirely computer-animated full-length to hit the big screen. In my opinion, the sequel builds on the strengths of the original and is a lot funnier to boot. (As with all these things, opinion is very divided between those who prefer the original or the sequel!)

Toy Story was, of course, about toys. Guess what? So is Toy Story 2. Only this time, Woody the Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear the Space Ranger don’t start out as enemies, having of course become firm friends during the first movie by the end. Their owner, Andy, is off to cowboy camp – but Woody ends up getting broken and left behind, and then, in a twist of fate, is “kidnapped” by an evil toy store owner who knows Woody’s true worth to a collector… and then, of course, the race is on to save him, as Buzz, Mr Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex the Green Dinosaur, and Hamm the Piggy Bank set out to rescue him against impossible odds…

The storyline is good and never gets too slow, while frequent sideswipes are made at various films, particularly the Star Wars trilogy. (At one point it even takes a pot-shot at the toy stores that didn’t stock enough Buzz Lightyear toys in 1995!) The characters continue to be endearing (the little green aliens won my heart), while the action and jokes come at you thick and fast, and despite the fact that I’d put it in my top ten animated movies list, Istill actually enjoyed it more than I’d remembered!

The animation is, as you would expect from PIXAR, flawless. The colours seem particularly vibrant, with some of the shots having the startling “looks almost more real than reality” look about it. The voice acting is fantastic – I mean, just look at the line-up of talent: Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (amazing as Buzz Lightyear), the always wonderful Joan Cusack as Jesse (a cowboy – someone else voices her yodelling and singing though!), Kelsey Grammer as Stinky Pete (fortunately Smell-O-Vision hasn’t been invented yet, and John Ratzenburger churns out the one-liners every bit as well as he did in Cheers.

The best thing is that this has so many things to enjoy, and each age group will find delight in different things. The parody and ironic humour really appealed to me, but there’s plenty in it for children of any age to really enjoy too. It also doesn’t suffer from repeated viewings – as I said, I actually enjoyed it more this time round. John Lasseter and Co. produced another enduring winner here! (when I checked, it was ranked at 111th on IMDB’s all-time 250 movies as voted by their members – quite an accomplishment! In case you were wondering, my no.1 animated film, Finding Nemo, is at no. 75, and the original Toy Story comes in at 177.)

DVD Extras

The DVD extras are a little on the disappointing side – there’s the first short animation that PIXAR Studios ever created (and where they got their logo from), very short featurettes on the music and characters in the movie, and… well.. .that’s actually pretty much it. They add very slightly to the overall value of the package, but not much. If the film wasn’t so wonderful in itself, the extras wouldn’t make this any more worth buying.

Cast List

Tom Hanks - Sheriff Woody
Tim Allen - Buzz Lightyear
Joan Cusack - Jessie
Kelsey Grammer - Stinky Pete the Prospector
Don Rickles - Mr. Potato Head
Jim Varney - Slinky Dog
Wallace Shawn - Rex the Green Dinosaur
John Ratzenberger - Hamm the Piggy Bank
Annie Potts - Bo Peep
Wayne Knight - Al
John Morris - Andy Davis
Laurie Metcalf - Andy's Mom
Estelle Harris - Mrs. Potato Head
Jodi Benson - Tour Guide Barbie/Barbie on Backpack
Joe Ranft - Wheezy the Penguin
Andrew Stanton - Evil Emperor Zurg
R. Lee Ermey - Army Sarge
Jonathan Harris - Geri the Cleaner
Jeff Pidgeon - Green Aliens/Additional Voices
Jack Angel - Additional Voices
Bill Farmer - Additional Voices
Dave Foley - Flik the Ant
Pat Fraley - Additional Voices
Robert Goulet - Wheezy the Penguin
Jess Harnell - Additional Voices
John Lasseter - Additional Voices
Andi Peters - Baggage Handler #2
Philip Proctor - Additional Voices
Jan Rabson - Additional Voices
Bob Bergen - Additional Voices
Lee Unkrich - Additional Voices
Rodger Bumpass - Additional Voices
Corey Burton - Additional Voices
Nicolette Little - Additional Voices
Sherry Lynn - Additional Voices
Mickie McGowan - Additional Voices
Mary Kay Bergman - Jessie (yodeling)/Additional Voices
Sheryl Bernstein - Additional Voices
Carly Schroeder - Additional Voices
Madylin Sweeten - Additional Voices
Hannah Unkrich - Additional Voices
Rachel Davey - Additional Voices
Debi Derryberry - Additional Voices
Jessica Evans - Additional Voices

CREW

John Lasseter - Director
Lee Unkrich - Director
Andrew Stanton - Screenwriter
Rita Hsiao - Screenwriter
Doug Chamberlain - Screenwriter
Chris Webb - Screenwriter
Ralph Guggenheim - Producer
Steven Jobs - Producer
John Lasseter - Producer
Randy Newman - Composer


Thanks for reading! :-D

CaptainD

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups