Review of Toy Story of Terror! (2013) by Jacob M — 16 Oct 2013

Upon its original release in 1995, Toy Story has become a cultural phenomenon, causing two sequels, one of which was made way after the second one, three shorts, and a possible development of a fourth film. When I heard that Pixar was taking the Toy Story characters to television, in a Halloween special, I thought that Pixar was overdoing this franchise. Seriously, 3 was a fitting end to the characters, so why continue? Well, with my love for the characters, and hearing that the same cast is voicing the characters (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, etc.), I decided to give it a shot. And while I still believe that this special was completely unnecessary, in a weird way, I enjoyed Toy Story of Terror.

During a road trip, the car gets a flat, and Bonnie, her mom, and the toys are forced to stay at a motel for the night, ironically called "Sleep Well". When Mr. Potato Head goes missing, a series of insane events follows, leaving it up to Jessie to overcome her fears of going in boxes to save her toy friends from this "terror.".

For a TV special, this was pretty entertaining. Pixar managed in 30 minutes to put in the most popular characters from the Toy Story films, including two popular ones from Toy Story 3, and entertain its audience in a short amount of time, while introducing fresh new toys in the show as well. Here, we have the toy soldiers Combat Carl and Combat Carl Jr. who are dedicated to returning to their long-abandoned owners. And they're also very funny, particularly Jr.

As for the characters we know so well, as in the films, they still manage to entertain. Obviously, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen continue to entertain in the roles of Woody and Buzz, though here it's Joan Cusack's Jessie who gets the spotlight in this feature. I think feminists who have criticized Pixar for lack of female characters and were still disappointed with the final result of Brave will finally give Pixar a round of applause for making Jessie "rough, tough" cowgirl she's supposed to be. Also appearing in this entertaining special includes the dinosaur Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Mr. Pricklepants, and Trixie, who also managed to be funny in their parts.

What did I find wrong with it? First off, even though I surprisingly enjoyed this special, I was wanting more. 30 minutes is too short for a special involving these great characters. If I'd have know this ended up to be good, I would have wished it was an hour longer, though I do believe there's a reason why it's called a TV special. My other problem is that I also wanted to see the other toys besides Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Rex, etc. I kept thinking when is Slinky or Barbie or Ken or Chuckles going to appear in this? I felt their absence was a disappointing loss for a franchise that I felt should have ended with Toy Story 3.

Though I was disappointed by the absence of these memorable characters, what I ended up getting turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Was it a necessary release? Definitely no. But is Toy Story Terror an entertaining special to kill the time? Positive yes. After watching it, you won't feel like Pixar is terrorizing you into giving them more money.