TOY STORY 2: Toy Be or Not Toy Be

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. We've reached Pixar's first sequel, Toy Story 2, a film that fought through a trying developmental cycle to become one of the most adored sequels of all time.

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Director: John Lasseter, Ash Brannon (co-director), Lee Unkrich (co-director)
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin, Chris Webb, John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Ash Brannon
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, Joe Ranft, Andrew Stanton, Jeff Pidgeon
Runtime: 92 mins.
1999

Much like the original Toy Story, Toy Story 2 ended up being a much grander finished product than originally intended. Pixar began production of the film as a cheapie direct-to-video release, a model that Disney had begun to use with other films like The Return of Jafar. The production team and budget were limited, and they even stuck them in a building separate from the core Pixar staff, which was hard at work finishing up A Bug's Life. At a certain point, salaries and the cost of computer animation became too much to be financially viable for anything less than a theatrical release, and the work of the team thusfar was also just too good. Production ramped up, and Pixar faced an uphill battle of deadlines and exhausted animators.

The result was a film that became universally adored, for good reason. Toy Story 2 takes the beloved characters from the first movie and recreates them in a way that feels both familiar and progressive. They maintain their well-defined traits while showing that they have grown in the years since the events of the first movie. Mr. Potato Head now has a naggy loving life partner in Mrs. Potato Head. Buzz Lightyear has settled into a comfortable acceptance of what he can and cannot do. Woody gains a whole new cavalcade of friends who broaden his sense of identity.


Those new friends are the Round-up Gang. When a nasty toy collector named Al (Wayne Knight) steals Woody from Andy's house during a yard sale, Woody is introduced to the cowboy counterparts he never knew he had. Woody learns that he was modeled after an old-timey TV show called Woody's Round-up, a show which also featured Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (Joan Cusack), Bullseye his loyal steed (Frank Welker), and goofy prospector Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer). The only toy missing from Al's set was a rare Sheriff Woody doll, and now that the set is complete, Al plans to sell them to a well-to-do Japanese toy museum, where they will be displayed and appreciated for many years to come. At first Woody resists, but his anxieties about Andy growing up and abandoning him begin to change his mind. Meanwhile, the rest of the toys are mounting a rescue party. They ultimately find Al's Toy Barn, where Buzz faces an existential crisis of his own.

Once again, the subtext of this series is astounding. Toy Story 2 takes a swing at themes of obsession, aging, fatalism, existentialism, identity, and mortality. As Woody tenderly touches the screen while discovering a beloved televised version of himself that he never knew existed, Buzz confronts an entire aisle of thousands of identical Buzz Lightyear action figures. Pixar has dramatically expanded the scope of the Toy Story world from the two houses of the original, and in this larger world it becomes more difficult for these little toys to find their proper place.

The new characters are hit or miss. Even as a child I remember not liking any of them. The most well-rounded of the new round-up gang is certainly Jessie. She spends a great deal of the runtime being grating and one-note, which is admittedly a set-up for the most moving scene of the film, a flashback that impressionistically tells the story of Jessie's abandonment by her former owner. This scene adds significant depth, but it's not quite enough.

The action sequences are more technically impressive than the original's, one-upping the Claw Machine with an elevator sequence, and one-upping the moving truck chase with an airplane chase. It all feels a bit more spectacle-focused, though. The emotional whirlwind of the first movie's action setpieces has been replaced with a more typical tension/relief dynamic.

It's not as funny, either. The jokes here are way better than anything we see in A Bug's Life, and they're far from hackneyed, but the transcendent physical comedy from Toy Story is not as present. Much of that has to do with the necessary move away from the buddy movie premise; Buzz and Woody spend much of the movie separated from each other, which allows Buzz to have more of an arc as the leader, but detracts from the brilliant dynamic between our two main characters. Woody's arc holds too much emotional heft for him to play the put-upon doofus as well as he did the first time around. In addition, there were whole joke arcs that really didn't do it for me, like the Emperor Zerg subplot, or the song and dance number at the end. They worked well enough, but not vintage Pixar well enough.

It sounds like I have a lot of bad stuff to say about Toy Story 2, but I do think the movie is great. I'm just backpedaling so much because general consensus seems to be that it is just as good as, if not better than, the original. I used to put them on more equal ground, but upon revisiting them both recently I was surprised to learn how much Toy Story 2 had staled for me. The scope may be wider, but its more adventure-oriented vibe detracts from the terrifying gravity of the first movie's Outside World. Toy Story 2 trades Toy Story's spark of timeless brilliance for a more modest form of excellence. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, either. It's still a ton of fun to watch, and if you dig into it you'll find much that is satisfying on several levels.

To follow up on one of the great films of the past few decades without embarrassing yourself in any way deserves a great deal of praise, and Toy Story 2 fought its way up from troubled beginnings to earn that praise.

3.5 / 5  BLOBS

The Short: Luxo Jr.

Rather than creating a new short film to release with Toy Story 2, Pixar attached their first ever creation, a little experimental piece called Luxo Jr. Beyond the bizarre concept of anthropomorphic lamps, the narrative is as simple as you can get. A more mature lamp watches a less mature lamp fool around with a ball. The physicality of these lamps is clear enough that you can project disapproval, jubilation, and disappointment onto them even though they don't have faces.

Visually, it's incredibly basic. Two lamps, one plug, a hardwood floor, and of course, the ball. These elements were almost certainly selected because it would be far easier to model metal and wood than anything organic, and because a table lamp has an expressive range of movement while still being easy enough to animate. The effect is adorable, and in all regards successful. A perfect way for Pixar to prove it can milk emotion and resonance out of the most basic of scenarios.

3.5/5