Review of Toy Story (1995) by Matthew O — 04 Jun 2016

TOY STORY is a big part of childhood to anyone who grew up with it, including me. I knew about this movie for as long as I can remember and I've watched it all the time as a kid. And it's not just a movie for kids, there are so many aspects that adults can appreciate and enjoy as well. Not only did this movie have groundbreaking effects with the new CG animation, but it has some of the most entertaining and memorable characters of all time, sharp and clever writing with so many memorable lines that we constantly recite, and a well-developed and simple story that everybody can follow.

We all adore these characters because they're so memorable, so likable, each one as their own way of entertainment, and the voice cast for them is impeccable. All of the actors nailed their voice performances, particularly Tom Hanks as Woody. Some people see Woody as kind of a jerk in this movie, but you can't dislike him for it. It's understandable because it's a form of jealousy that we all know, and he eventually learns his lesson in the end. That's what I love about his character arc, he evolves to become a better person (or toy for that matter). Same thing for Buzz, he originally sees himself as a real space ranger and eventually realizes he's just a toy. This serves as a great moral that even though you're not what you think you are, your real self may be even more important than you would think. In Buzz's case, he realizes that he's not meant to protect the galaxy, but to make a child happy. It's writing like this that makes TOY STORY so good.

It's not just the toys who are great characters, the child characters are also very relatable. They may seem there isn't a whole lot to their character, but they're not supposed to. Andy is just an every day kid who loves to play with his toys, and Sid is that kid who loves blow up toys. You were either one of these two kids when it comes to having fun with toys.

For a movie that came out in 1995, that CG animation is pretty impressive. This was around the time where CGI had just been invented. Back when CG wasn't very detailed, it makes the models look more like plastic, which really works to the film's advantage when creating the models for the toys. Because of that, the animation on the toys still look great to this day. But when they needed to create the models for the humans and the dog, it does look a bit dated. I give it a pass because it was the first ever CG animated film, not everything will look perfect.

Also, when comparing to other Pixar films that came out afterwards, the story, while told exceptionally well, is pretty standard. It's not like a Pixar film where you could re-watch multiple times and get something new from it every time. You can get the whole story and morals fairly quickly upon the first viewing. It's a pretty short movie, only 81 minutes. But it's still a great start for an animation studio.

Everybody loves TOY STORY and I do too, it's a classic! I can't imagine anyone disliking it. With an animation studio that has an innovative animation style and innovative storytelling, the possibilities would seem to go to infinity and beyond!

Grade: A.