Review of 'Toy Story 2'
2nd film in the 'Toy Story' series
Following on from Toy Story Andy (voiced by John Morris) is now a few years older with both Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) and Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) still a big part of his life. When Al (voiced by Wayne Knight) a sneaky local toy collector, operator of the “Toy Barn” toy store steals Woody to sell at a handsome profit to a Japanese collector Woody meets other toys from his television show “Woody's Roundup” who are also to be shipped overseas: Cowgirl Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack), prospector “Sneaky Pete” (voiced by Kelsey Grammer) and his horse Bullseye. While Buzz leads Woody's friends across the city to rescue him Woody has to decide whether he wants to live a long life of comfort as part of a collection or whether he wants to return to his friends to live with Andy who will eventually grow out of him.
A much more complicated story that the original film, Toy Story 2 has at its central story the issue of whether it is worth it to spend a short time loved than a long term with little love at all. It is a decision that Woody does not take lightly and is a complicated one to resolve. I am not sure the very young will understand this though there is still plenty for them to enjoy with the film likely to appeal to all ages.
Continuing from the first film, there are a lot of great gags and performances – The “out of the box” Buzz who still believes he is the REAL Buzz is amusing beside the now enlightened Buzz we have grown to love; The fun-loving Barbie dolls acting as tour guides of the Toy Barn…The animation quality is even better than in the first film and action scenes are even more intense. There are some real bad guys here that may particularly bother very young viewers. It is great to note that all of the original voice actors return for this sequel and have a few notable additions including Kelsey Grammer as the very er…sneaky…“Sneaky Pete”.
A lot of fun in a sequel that manages not to repeat itself but continue in the same vein as the original.
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2020-03-22
Directed by: John Lasseter, Ash Brannon and Lee Unkrich
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Year: 1999
Length: 92 minutes
Genre: Animation
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120363/
Other reviewed films in the 'Toy Story' series:
- Toy Story (1995)
- Toy Story 3 (2010)
- Toy Story 4 (2019)
Other reviewed films by Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich:
- Finding Nemo (2001)
Other reviewed films by John Lasseter:
- Toy Story (1995)
Other reviewed films by John Lasseter, Brad Lewis:
- Cars 2 (2011)
Other reviewed films by Lee Unkrich:
- Toy Story 3 (2010)
Other reviewed films by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina:
- Coco (2017)
Other reviewed films by Pete Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich:
- Monsters, Inc. (2001)