Friday, January 30, 2015

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!!!!!!!! Toy Story Tribute (AKA My 200th Blog Spectacular!!!!!)

Well, here it is, the blog I've been building up to since at least November... Blog two-zero-zero!!!!! I'm not going to do the who would've thought thing since knowing your luck, a little magic, and under the right amount of sunlight, you could have made it to such a milestone too. My topic Today needs no introduction, but what you may not know is how it came to be, How good it really is, and what it meant to me (then and now), so this review/tribute will be separated into 3 parts. so let's begin with...



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PART 1: THE HISTORY:

In the late 1970s, Pixar was created as the high tech animation arm of Lucasfilm, they made some of the most revolutionary bits of film history when they teamed up with Industrial Light & Magic, like the first computer animated character (something that would become more notable in the coming decades) in Young Sherlock Holmes, the genesis effect in Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan. But they made several shorts in between now and Toy Story, Such as The Adventures of Andre & Wally B. (their first short, and one using basic shapes), Luxo Jr. (the one with the lamp they'd use for their Logo), and Tin Toy (the one that would materialize into Toy Story). After Tin Toy's release, that caught they eye of Disney, and they wanted to make a Tin Toy Christmas special for ABC, but it was turning out so good that they wanted to make it into a Feature Film For Theaters. The 2 main characters had some history  Buzz was the tin toy from the tin toy short, but he got Changed to a spaceman inspired by astronauts and GI Joe figures from the 60s to make him more appealing. In an earlier version of the film, Woody was a Ventriloquist's Dummy, then he was changed to a cowboy to make him seem more like a charcter people actually want to root for. Woody was even isnpired by a Casper doll the John Lasseter (The Director of the Film) had as a kid. The original idea was it to be a edgy darker film aimed more at adults (a la animated films made by Ralph Bakshi), but as we'll discuss later, That wouldn't do for Disney. Now onto casting... Tom Hanks was a top candidate for Woody, so they played a Tom Hanks audio clip with footage of Woody, and it worked. Billy Crystal approached to play Buzz, but he turned down the role, so Tim Allen, of Home Improvement fame, approached to do so and was picked up (which IMHO was a great move for him and the film). When Pixar showed the film to Disney, They hated it, Woody was extremely unlikable, and the edgy tone just didn't work for the film. The rewrote the film, and even though it wasn't exceptional (yet), it would develop to become my favorite film of all time, And a lot of others liked it to, It was the highest grossing film of 1995, winner of 8 1995 Annie Awards, and winner of a special achievement award at the Oscars that year, What made this film so great? Well...


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PART 2: THE REVIEW:

With every Childhood Classic, There comes a bunch of questions on views on the film, like does it hold up to the adult films you watch today? Was it as good as you remember it? Was it ever that good? For Toy Story, after rewatching it, I can say, I seem to think so, I haven't seen this movie since my early teens, and I can say I get the feeling I can rewatch the film and it can be just as good, if not, better that when I watched it the last time. I'm a legal adult and have seen this film several times as a kid, and rewatched it as an adult as it's still my favorite movie of all time, sure there's films that are better written, better animated, or better overall, but as far as childhood movies, kids movies (then and now), and animated movies, there's no movie in all 3 categories that can top Toy Story. Enough Gushing, what's it about? Woody was Andy's favorite toy since kindergarten, and as he approaches his next birthday a few years later, he get's a BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!!!!!!!! As his family moves to a new house in the coming days, he becomes obsessed with him. He loses Buzz & Woody, and Buzz & Woody go through a living hell at their neighbor Sid's house. They learn new revelations, learn their destiny as who they really are, and even go in some epic scenes like The Chase Scene and flying in the sky. What makes this movie so good? Well, It's smarts and maturity. Very few films aimed at kids, let alone animated films aimed at kids, Feel like they've been written for everyone. There's a little something for everyone in this film, and has toys and a child like innocence for kids, and smart writing (almost like something you'd hear in The Simpsons or Ralph Bakshi's work), and the right amount of subtle Adult humor for older audiences. It's got a lot of subtle Easter Eggs hidden within this gem of a movie. Everyone Knows of the Hakuna Matata (everyone and their grandma has seen The Lion King), but has anyone who hasn't seen Cinema Sins' video on the subject seen the Super Nintendo? This movie also deals with themes not normally dealt with in most kids films, like Nostalgia, growing up, Childhood, rivals turned friends, and realizing who you really are... tHe characters start out as kind of unlikable but you root for the characters to get better (unlike Family Guy), they infact improve over the movie.This movie is just so good. Do I really need to tell you that this film should get a 4 Buzz Lightyears out of 4? I thought not...


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PART 3: WHAT THIS FILM MEANT TO ME:

I saw this film at a young age in 1998 (I think), It was one of my first films I ever watched in my almost 20 year life. I was litterally only 6 days old when Toy Story came out, I saw the film many times growing up since I first saw it 1998. I saw it in the Hospital, I saw the film and it's first sequel in theaters in 2009, Heck, as the years went on, I noticed subtle things hidden within the movie itself. There's things I'm super Nerdy about, Like the Hue they use on certain cans of A&W. But I get the feeling as the years go on, and I learn more about the film, I get the feeling I'll know things I probably shouldn't know about the film given my Age and Autism (yes I have Autism, Come at me). Heck the scene where we get an extreme close up of Sid's Mouth and Teeth gets to me in a way. I have some of these Images and quotes from the movie burned into my Brain (I mean Come On, ther's scenes taht are epic like the final chase scene, scenes that give you the feels like the scene where Buzz Lightyear learns he's a toy played to the tune of Randy Newman, and who could forget this Charlie guy who did the circ... Whoops I was thinking of another Movie...). It's personally more than just a goofy kids movie, it's a movie that just gets better with age. But It's not not the best movie ever, just a movie that happens to be my favorite. Every parent should show this movie to their kids plus the sequels, Which I may or may not review for the franchise's 20th anniversary (which is in just a few months in November (feel old yet?)). I could go on and on for years, but honestly this is more than just a film to me...


Now let's go see what Yoshiette 1's doing...




A. Yoshi: YOSHIETTE, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!

Yoshiette 1: Drinking Sake and watching "The Rise and Fall of Channel Awesome" on the Blu-ray I got from they year 2018...

BOTH YOSHIETTES ARE MODELED TO BE 22 AND A HALF YEARS OLD, SO THEY CAN DRINK BOOZE. THEY WERE MODELED TO BE 20 WHEN I FIRST FOUND YOSHIETTE 1 AND GROW UP AS THE YEARS GO ON...

AY: Fan-Freaking-Tastic, but where's Joe?

YE1: He got arrested days after he came to America...

AY: What did he do? Rob a bank? Murder Someone? Ra-

YE: No, Worse, he posted FAN ART OF SHONEN JUMP CHARACTERS ON DEVIANTART!!!! The Police had to use brute force to get him, he's now in solitary confinement. They're also considering Bringing back the Death Penalty for him.

YE2: Don't tell me we're starting YET ANOTHER FREAKING Storyline, We've got one start already since November.

Duck Nukem: OOOOOOOHHH, THAT'S GOTTA HURT!!!! *Fires RPG*

AY & Both Yoshiettes: Thanks for supporting us throughout the years and 200 blogs, Here's to more blogs in the... HOLY CRAP, WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!!!



SIGNAL LOST!!!!

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