Review of Toy Story 2 (1999) by Bsh N — 29 Nov 2014

''Toy Story 2'' can be enjoyed -- enormously -- without wondering exactly why the Pixar animation looks even better than it did the first time. Among the many talents of the director, John Lasseter, and his huge crew of computer-animation pioneers is a gift for making their work look easy.

Motion is so fine-tuned that the film can stage high adventure in traffic, on baggage-moving machinery at an airport or anywhere else that comes to mind. Like the Japanese landmark ''Princess Mononoke,'' this kind of animation catapults past reality to create whole new realms of imagination.

Meanwhile, back on the toy shelf, appealingly human emotions are put in play. Buzz discovers that he is only one of many Buzzes, and must come to terms with existential questions about being mass-produced, one of the crowd. Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) now has a wife (Estelle Harris), who offers to pack ''your Angry Eyes, just in case'' when her mate goes off to rescue Woody.

The toys have their own enemies (including a hilarious take on Darth Vader), their own nightmares (being relegated to the broken-toy heap) and their own triumphs (just getting across a busy street) that take on epic proportions here. And this film continues the work of its predecessor, making sure that computer-generated animation will never be the same.