Review of Toy Story 2 (1999) by Torion O — 17 Jun 2015

Considering how successful the first installment was, a sequel was inevitable. But instead of a ham-fisted, direct-to-video effort, Pixar rounded up the same actors, spotlighted some fresh new characters, took the established ones into new territory, and took us on a journey every bit as fun and profound as the first, if not more so.

Here Pixar showed it meant business, tackling themes of adulthood and abandonment, and proved it's seemingly limitless talent by maturing the story for the second go around, rather than aping the themes that already proved successful.

One, if not the best sequels ever, Toy Story 2 is where Pixar grew up, (and so did we) tackling intimate themes on a massive canvas of whip-smart, screwball humor, and thanks to Randy Newman's "When Somebody Loved Me," somehow making us cry buckets over the tragedy of a child growing out of his toys.