Film Review #75: Toy Story 2

In the history of cinema, it isn't common for a sequel to be better than the original.  Of course, there are examples in which they are (The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, Spiderman 2, Return of the King), but it is still fairly rare.  So, people were very curious when Pixar announced that their next film slated for release would be a sequel to Toy Story.  Would the film follow in the recent run of Disney Sequels (NOT going into that again), or would Pixar create a story that could stand the test of time and be in the same vein as The Empire Strikes Back?  To my surprise, and yours, not only is Toy Story 2 better than the first, not only is it the greatest Pixar film of them all, but it is also one of the greatest films of all time, period.  Why?  Well, lets look in and find out why...

Plot: Buzz and Woody, now best friends, enjoy their new trappings in Andy's new house.  But as Andy prepares to take Woody with him to cowboy camp, his favorite toy's arm slightly tears.  To make matters worse, after one of Andy's favorite toys accidentally gets taken for the yard sale, Woody is stranded in the yard when he falls off the family dog rescuing him.  The cowboy doll is plucked up by a collector and taken away.  Buzz decides to lead a rescue mission, along with Hamm, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, and Slinky.

When Woody arrives at Al's apartment, he comes across three other western toys, a cowgirl named Jessie, a prospector named Stinky Pete, and a giddy horse named Bullseye.  He also learns that he once had incredible fame in a famous children's show called "Woody's Roundup".  The toys, who are overjoyed to finally meet a Woody doll, have their own dream to be brought to a museum in Tokyo and immortalized for generations.  While Woody initially wants to return to Andy and his friends, he is confronted with a problem he hadn't thought of: eventually, Andy was going to grow up and not need him or any of his friends anymore.

When Buzz and the others arrive at Al's apartment, they are stunned to find out that Woody doesn't want to return.  Before leaving, Buzz tries to remind Woody of how good of a life he had with Andy, and if he'd be willing to throw that away, then what was the point of his existence.  Woody now has to choose between a life of being played with, or being in a museum forever.

What's Bad?: -_-

What's Good?: Every single aspect of this film is practical perfection.  I could spend nearly five or six pages talking in depth about how wonderful each aspect of this film is, but I'm going to try to keep it abridged.

The film's strongest aspect is the message that the moral gives us.  Life is not forever.  The greatest days of our lives do not last forever.  And yet, if your life is fun, you have to enjoy it.  Woody has an option to be immortalized in a museum, but chooses to remain with Andy.  He decides that his future doesn't matter, and that his life of watching Andy grow up is worth the emotional pain of realizing he isn't going to be a kid forever.

The music is extremely powerful.  I was stunned to learn that Randy Newman's greatest song, "When She Loved Me", did not win the Oscar for best song over "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan.  The score is also pretty strong, ranging from the classic western films of the 40's and 50's, to the epic space operatic opening scene that could rival Star Wars.

The side characters are also hilarious and developed well.  Jessie (Joan Cusack), despite being extremely gung ho and cheerful, hides a dark and tragic past that has made her distrust people.  She once had a girl she loved, but lost her when she grew up.  Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer) who (SPOILERS) ends up being the villain, also has a reasonable motivation for not being sold and being confined to his box for most of his life.  We finally see what Evil Emperor Zurg looks like, and we even get a hilarious Buzz who also thought he was a real space ranger.

Woody and Buzz's friendship is still believable, despite them not sharing as much screen time as they did in the first film.

The animation is even better than in the first film.  The film takes us to new worlds and levels of animation depth, particularly with the human characters.  Though the people would not reach perfection until The Incredibles, the animation in this film is most certainly a step forward.

Overall: This is one of 5 (or six if you count Roger Rabbit) animated films that cracked my Top 20 All Time Favorite films list and for good reason.  The film is an amazing undertaking that challenges the heartstrings and the depths of the medium and the technology.  There is no Pixar film that has matched the wonderful depth and power of this film.

Final Grade:    A++