Review of Toy Story 2 (1999) by Pieter-Jan V — 13 Jul 2013

In 1995, the Pixar studio released Toy Story, a revolutionary breakthrough in animation. The studio continued their success with 1998's A Bug's Life, despite the disappointing response from those who were expecting another Toy Story. Pixar continued to dominate the world of CG animation with Toy Story 2, the sequel to the acclaimed classic. Generally, sequels are known for having a bad rep in the animation world, with the majority of sequels being dull repeats of what made the original great. But Toy Story 2 is one of the rare animated sequels that's just about as strong as its predecessor.

A couple years after the first one, Andy goes off to cowboy camp (he was going to bring Woody, but broke his arm in the last minute), leaving the toys to enjoy relaxation, except Woody (Tom Hanks), who ripped his arm. During a yard sale, Woody is abducted by Al (Wayne Knight), a greedy toy collector who also works at Al's Toy Barn. Buzz (Tim Allen), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Potato Head (Don Rickles), and Slinky (Jim Varney) go off to rescue their friend.

While that's going on, in Al's apartment, Woody discovers that he's a rare collectors item and was actually part of a TV puppet show from the 50's called Woody's Roundup. Woody's Roundup includes the yodeling cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), the horse Bullseye, and Stinky Pete the prospector (Kelsey Grammer). Al needed to brings all the toys together in order to sell them to a toy museum in Japan, which would make him big money. When Woody realizes that Andy will soon grow up and eventually not play with him anymore, Woody starts to consider the Japan idea. It's up to Buzz and the rest of his posse to convince Woody to change his mind before it's too late.

Other voice actors involved in this film includes Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head, R. Lee Ermey as the Sergeant, and future Pixar director Andrew Staunton as Emperor Zurg.

Toy Story 2 was originally supposed to be a direct-to-video sequel, like some of Disney's other sequels, but when the test footage proved impressive, and many of the voice actors wanting to return for the project, Pixar decided to make this a theatrical release, causing a big dispute with Disney over the contract (eventually, Disney bought out Pixar in 2006, leading to a good friendship between the two studios). I'm glad this was a theatrical release over a direct-to-video, cause Toy Story 2 probably wouldn't have had the same results.

The most impressive thing about Toy Story 2 how improved the CG animation is after 4 years between the two films. The human characters doesn't look as creepy, and start to feel like real people, and the toys look great as ever. Many CG sequences impress to the limit, from a scene involving toys crossing the road, the opening sequence with Buzz in action (it turns out to be a video game), and the climax in an airport.

The voice cast, especially the ones that returned, continue to dominate in their roles. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenburger, Don Rickles, and Jim Varney make great continuations to their characters and that's what a sequel should do. Even the new cast impresses. Joan Cusack is fun and sometimes moving as Jessie. Her backstory is the saddest part of the film and reminds us why the bond between kid and toy is important. Kelsey Grammer is memorable as Stinky Pete and there's some funny twists in the character. But it's Wayne Knight as Al the "CHICKEN MAN" that the best of the new cast. For a human character, he looks very realistic, and is very funny.

There's a lot of great humor in this film. It's funny to see two Buzz's in one scene (especially when Tim Allen does both voices and one Buzz is whacko like Andy's Buzz in the first one). The scenes in Al's Toy Barn are also crazy, especially when the toy heroes meet Toy Guide Barbie, voiced by "Little Mermaid" herself, Jodie Benson. Like in the first film, there's great humor for the kids (such as the scenes I mentioned), while there's fun adult jokes for the older crowd (such as references to Star Wars and Jurassic Park).

Randy Newman returns to write the songs and provide the score, and it's fantastic. "You've Got a Friend in Me" returns, which is a great thing about the franchise. New songs include "Woody's Roundup", which is a catchy tune, and the Oscar-nominated "When She Loved Me," performed by Sara McLaughlan, which is a sad, moving song (it's during the Jessie's backstory scene that I mentioned earlier). Score wise, Newman continues to impress.

While the first Toy Story remains the champ, Toy Story 2 is just about as strong and continues the CG wonder and strong, moving story as the great first one.