Part I: The History:
Around the time of Toy Story 1's release, John Lasseter saw a kid with a Woody doll,to show it to his dad, The pitch was to make a movie just as good as, if not better than the original, while making it a direct to video release. It was successful for Disney in the past as far as the Direct to video part, but they juts weren't as good as the originals. The idea for the film was based off of John;s obsession with toys, and wondering what it'd be like as a toy in the hands of a collector. A demo reel for the movie was shown to Disney/Pixar, they thought it was so good that it'd be worth a theatrical release. After a few months of production, in 1998, lasseter and the others were upset that it wasn't that good. They wanted to redo it, but they only had 9 months to do so. Less interesting backstory aside, were those 9 months worth it. short answer, yes, long answer, well...
Part II: The Review:
Basically the story goes like this. Andy, grown up a little, goes to summer camp, The Toys decide to have their own vacation, Woody's arm rips, and he has to save one of the Toys with his bad arm, but he gets stolen by a Toy Collector named Al. so it's up to Buzz Lightyear, Ham the Big, Rex the Dinosaur, Mr Potato Head, and Slink the Slinky Dog to form Voltron and save Woody. Ok the Voltron part wasn't true, but What is true is that Woody learns he's a collectors item, and part of a franchise. He meets his gold friends Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete the Old Prospector. various things happen in their journey. Buzz gets trapped by another Buzz, Emperor Zurg (Lightyear's arch enemy) is released from his box, and they have to save Jessie from a departing airplane. The story is darker, more emotional (with Woody learning his existence as a toy is finite (which'll be a plot point in the next movie (NO, I'M NOT REVIEWING THAT, SO DON'T ASK!!!!!)), and Jessie reminiscing over being stuck in storage for years), and more deeper (with the 2 main characters being turned into 3-dimensional characters (Buzz get's an archenemy, and Woody a whole backstory). The New characters from Woody's Roundup are interesting in their own way Jessie being a hyperactive cowgirl with a tragic backstory, Bullseye being the team pet, but no one is as interesting as or is as tragic of a villain as the prospector, who I won't spoil. Zurg is an interesting mix of Darth Vader and Lord Zedd with a plot twist that is very much executed in such a humorous yet emotional way. Andy's other toys are pretty much background characters, one note, or both. The animation's better this time around, and that when she loved me bit gave me the feels. The BGM isn't as memorable this time around, but The Lyrical songs are really good, The jokes are just as good as the original. the biggest flaw (if any) in Toy Story 2 is that it rips too much from the original, from resolved plot points, quotes, and even whole scenes. Sometimes it's interesting reincorporation, but it kind of gets a little old... I give this film 4 Emperor Zurg Toys out of 4.
Part III: What This Film Meant To Me:
Not as much, I can remember the whole movie from the back of my head, and I COULD have fun trying to find easter eggs, but I can't remember any specific childhood memories from this movie other than watching it several times, and watching it in theaters when it was rereleased in 2009. I mean I vaguely remember watching Digimon the Movie in theaters and crying to it, and watching my brother getting a scyther cutout from a pokemon related event both at a young age, but this movie doesn't stand out as much because I'm not as obsessed with it as much as the first one. Most of my memories from the movie come from the game on N64, which pissed me and my brother off to no end, and my most lasting memory from it was being teased about Toy Story 3, which wouldn't happen for another decade. Oh just FYI, this was before Wikipedia, and before I could use most of the internet. It's just as good if not better than the original, but it isn't really as high in the favorites as the first one. I still like Toy Story 2, heck I like it better than the 3rd one, but it doesn't stand out the same way the first one did. One thing that stands out to me as an adult is how relatable it is as an adult (overactive pets, taking care of valuables, etc.). I recommend seeing this and the other 2 movies for a really good animated film series.
Here's my thoughts on Toy Story 3, watched it in theaters, It was really good, but the weakest of the 3. 3.75 Muscle Bug Guy Things out of 4. There I reviewed it, HAPPY?!?!
No comments:
Post a Comment