Toy Story 2 1999

While Andy is playing with Woody he accidently tears him. Woody ends up on a shelf, then in a garage sale, and finally in the hands of a collector. This collector is Al from Al’s Toy Barn and he has a collection of Woody’s Roundup toys that he intends to sell to a Japanese museum. Buzz decides that since Woody rescued him that he should return the favor. Buzz and some of the other toys set out for the real world and go to rescue Woody. While Woody is in Al’s apartment he finds out that there used to be a television show about him and that other characters exist and that there were also toys of them. These other toys are also in Al’s collection and Woody ends up making friends with them. Buzz and the others eventually track Woody down to Al’s and try to rescue him. All things escalate and they end up at an airport try to rescue Woody and the other toys. They eventually do and then return home to Andy’s with two new toys by their side.

Having a sequel to one of the best animated films of all time is an impressive thing, but only if it is done right. PIXAR did it with Toy Story 2!! It lived up to the reputation that its older counterpart had laid out for it. Unfortunately I did not think the second was as good as the first. Don't get me wrong, I still loved it, and still do. Toy Story 2 did not have the same flare as the original and that is probably for a few reasons. For starters we couldn't be as impressed with the animation this time around because it was PIXAR's third computer animated film and other studios were doing 3D movies as well by then. Another reason it didn't capture me as much was because I was four years older then and that four years between ten and fourteen can make a big difference and can change kids a lot.

Despite the fact that I did not find it spectacular, it still was a good movie. Some of the things that we briefly saw or heard in Toy Story were expanded upon in Toy Story 2. For example Mrs. Potatohead appears and so does Andy's dog. The most interesting thing from Toy Story to Toy Story 2 was Al and Al's Toy Barn. Seeing where Buzz and some of the other toys came from reminds us that they really are toys and at the same time shed some light on the characters. Along the lines of characters; Woody had the most development in this movie. We got to see that Woody had a back story which was the television show that he was based off of. Woody's Roundup was like Howdy Doody meets Roy Rogers with a touch of Lassie in it as well. We found out that Woody really was a classic toy which is why he was a cloth pull string toy and not like Buzz who is all plastic with sound chip technology to make his noises.

All the characters in this film go through changes. The old characters go out into the real world and we get to see their true colors of personality. Buzz meets and defeats his arch nemesis Emperor Zurg. Then to top it off we meet all sorts of new toys that become characters. They were Jessie the yodeling cowgirl sidekick, Bullseye who is Woody's horse, and Stinky Pete the grumpy old prospector. Each of these toys has their own story that eventually adds to the main story of this film. Also these characters added new members to the cast of talent. Joan Cusack took on Jessie and did a marvelous job. Kelsey Grammer played the angry and evil Stinky Pete and did as brilliantly as he has in all his other roles. We also had the hilarious Wayne Knight as Al from Al's Toy Barn. These actors added so much life to the new characters that it really helped to mesh everything together perfectly to be able to make a decent sequel. Toy Story 2 really was a good film; it went to infinity, however, not beyond. Don't let me be the final judge for this movie; you should still see it yourself. No matter your view on Toy Story 2 we still have Toy Story 3 to look forward to in 2010!!

Run time: 92 mins.

Directed by: John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, and Lee Unkrich.

Written by: John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Ash Brannon, and Andrew Stanton.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Jim Varney, Annie Potts, and Wayne Knight.