TOY STORY 2
Reviewed by Harvey Karten Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios Director: John Lasseter Writers: Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin & Chris Webb Cast: Voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Kelsey Grammer, Wallace Shawn, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, Wayne Knight, others
Nothing's permanent on this Earth of ours, not even life. Love is transitory. If fifty percent of American marriages now end in divorce as couples outgrow each other, think of how many kids separate permanently from their toys when they get tired of them or when the playthings are inevitably outgrown. We'd not be surprised to learn that close to one hundred percent of our miniature trinkets and gadgets wind up in the trash bin or in the yard sales--torn, raggedly, misused and tired--the feelings of our little friends obviously hurt beyond repair. In the vivid imaginations of scripters Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin and Chris Webb, human tykes are not the only ones who may be bereft when their usually inanimate pets are broken. The soldiers, sky-walkers, doggies, piggies and miscellaneous other once- sturdy pals are emotionally crushed as well. What's more, never do these buddies become indifferent to their caretakers as their stewards so often become to them.
"Toy Story 2" is a homage to the immeasurable charms of the eponymous critters, a testimony to the impermanence of inanimate things which have given us alternately selfish and sentimental human beings so much gladness during our most wonderful years. Featuring the ultimate in 3-dimensional, Pixar animation, director John Lasseter's tale of homesickness and bonding cuts neatly across audience barriers of age, race, social class to provide a heartwarming portrait of the chums we've all enjoyed or are savoring still, whether the rag dolls of financially strapped kids or the computerized zappers of the rich and famous. Utilizing the voices of such greats as Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Kelsey Grammer and Joan Cusack to get into the heads of the characters, director Lasseter--whose job has been made easy by a large team of crack designers--unfolds a story whose plot is as absorbing as the animation is colorful and vivid. Anyone who has ever felt guilty when leaving a beloved dog home alone while heading off to work or school now has reason to feel even more contrite, however. You see, the slinky-dogs and other trinkets that line the shelves of the little ones have lives of their own. They miss you when you're gone. But happily, they have their own little pals to enjoy while their owners are engaged in less important matters than playing. We know that now that we've seen this frenetically- paced yarn, an often bust-out-laughing tale of toys and tykes.
The story opens as little Andy heads off to camp, leaving cowboy Woody (Tim Hanks) behind under his mom's care. When Woody is kidnapped by a greedy collector (Wayne Knight), more interested in investments than in art, he learns that he is part of a set whose value has dramatically increased when he is added to the combo. While Woody's pals back home led by Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) head out to the collector's business to rescue him, Woody discovers that he was once a 1950's TV star in the role of a puppet (think Howdy Doody) and that he had been part of a family that includes a horse named Bullseye, a prospector named Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer), and a cowgirl that seems to run through her role on speed, Jessie (Joan Cusack). Woody is given a guilt trip that more than matches his journey to the collector's store. His rediscovered family tell him that if he deserts the brood, they will be placed in boxes, stored away indefinitely in the dark. How will the cowboy solve the dilemma? If he stays, he will betray his beloved owner, Andy. If he goes back home, he will abandon his own extended family. While Buzz has his own, more visceral friction with his arch enemy, Emperor Zurg (Andrew Stanton), Woody is faced with a crisis of conscience that could take 15 years of couchwork to resolve.
Parents of exceptionally sensitive kids could be concerned that their own young-uns could wind up afflicted with guilt over the toys they once discarded. There is probably little to fear, though, as the little ones who will delight in the unaffected performances of these figures (just about all adorable except for Stinky Pete who is bitter because he has never been bought and unwrapped) will simply eat up the luminous landscape of this wonderfully realized film. Oddly enough, the movie was at first intended for direct-to-video release, but once the producers got over that silly notion they made sure that considerable attention to every technical detail was put into the happy story.
Rated G. Running Time: 85 minutes. (C) 1999 Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com
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