Toy Story 2, featuring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, Wallace Shawn, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Wayne Knight and Laurie Metcalf. Directed by John Lasseter. 1999.
Reviewed by John Carroll.
Disney has always had a stranglehold on the motion picture animated industry. Even in a year with a varied amount of animated movies, including the satrical South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and the critically acclaimed Iron Giant, Disney still ruled with another hit in Tarzan. Disney decided to throw out another animated feature for 1999, and it is Toy Story 2, engineered by the geniuses at Pixar, who brought us the revolutionary original, Toy Story and the clever sophomore effort, A Bug's Life. Where these two have very minor flaws, Pixar fixed every one of them in Toy Story 2, which is most likely the best of the bunch.
The original Toy Story was a clever movie, but more importantly, it was revolutionary for being the first major motion picture that was animated through computer generation. Movie audiences were enthralled by this, and despite being a very clever film, Toy Story was overshadowed by its own benchmark-setting. A Bug's Life tried to show that Pixar could not only animate, but make a good film as well. However, the addition of flowing backgrounds and more lifelike settings still overshadowed the actual film. With Toy Story 2, however, Pixar is able to generate the best graphics yet, but more importantly, it is overshadowed by a very clever and funny film.
In Toy Story 2, all of the major players are back, with the addition of a few others. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are back, and impeccable yet again, as Woody and Buzz Lightyear, respectively. The rest of the casted voices are wonderful as well. Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head), Jim Varney (Slinky Dog), John Ratzenberger (Hamm), Annie Potts (Bo Peep) and Wallace Shawn (Rex) are back from the original, and do yet another wonderful job, plus there are even more stars providing their vocals for the film. Joan Cusack (Jessie the Cowgirl), Wayne Knight (Al the Toy Collector) and Kelsey Grammer (The Prospector) stand out from this ensemble. Just like all Disney animated films, the voice acting is dead on and is one of the most underrated aspects of Disney's animated features.
The premise for Toy Story 2 is very simple and easy for children to understand. Woody, while saving fellow toy Wheezy, gets caught in a Yard Sale. When Al the Toy Collector tries to buy him, Andy's Mom refuses. However, Al takes him anyway. The toys see this, and Buzz, Hamm, Rex and Mr. Potato Head set out to save Woody. Woody gets taken back by Al to meet up with some other toys, Jessie the Cowgirl, the Prospector and Bullseye. Woody finds out he used to be the star of a wildly popular children's TV show. The movie than chronicles the toys attempt to save Woody and Woody's realization that all toys do not last forever.
Unlike a lot of children's films, especially The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Toy Story 2 does not try to teach a sentimental lesson. There are some underlying issues, like friendship and the life span of a toy, but in the end, Toy Story 2 just tries to entertain us and does a terrific job of it. The script is very clever and despite being aimed towards children, adults will have no choice but to laugh at this wonderful film.
The original Toy Story was revolutionary, but was not always consistently funny. Toy Story 2, on the other hand, is funny and witty throughout all of the one hour and twenty-five minutes. For one stretch of the film, Buzz, Hamm, Rex and Mr. Potato Head are in Al's Toy Store and this is arguably the best stretch of the film as the quartet interacts with a whole new set of toys, including Barbie, Rock 'Em-Sock 'Em Robots and the new and improved Buzz Lightyear. As said before, the film will appeal to adults, as well as children, and Pixar accomplishes this without keeping the kids in the dark. For instance, one scene has Rex chasing his pals who are driving in a car. To the children, it just looks like a silly scene. To the older audience members, it is a very clever spoof of Jurassic Park, as Mr. Potato Head checks his rear-view mirror to see the on-charging dinosaud, just like Jurassic Park.
In the end, Toy Story 2 cannot help but let you leave with a smile on your face. Instead of suscepting to the sequel curse and using stupid humor, Toy Story 2 improves upon the original and will have you talking about it for days on end. The tagline for Toy Story 2 is "The Toys are Back in Town" and if we are lucky, they will make a few more visits before packing it in for good.
Final Verdict: A
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