They have taken us underwater, into outer space, to Paris and the Amazon. And each year, the computer technology -- sometimes cartoon-driven, other times realer-than-real -- only gets stronger. But at the beginning, there was Toy Story, the foundation for all that would follow at Pixar.
In their short-film work, Pixar had been working up to Toy Story gradually. Proving that computer animation could become as beloved a medium as hand drawn animation was an uphill battle. But the Pixar brain trust, so to speak, saw life in a desk lamp. The rest as they say, is history.
Pixar and the New Toy on The Block
It's hard not to get wrapped up in the overall ingeniousness of the original Toy Story. In a way, the general structure has become something of a mantra for Pixar ever since.Like all of the studio's most successful films, Toy Story brings its camera to a fictional world within our own, on the fringe of our imaginations, in this case down to the ground.
"I wonder what it would be like if..." seems to be the first thought in nearly every Pixar entry, and only a few (The Incredibles, Monsters Inc.) deliver an answer as well as Toy Story. Our wonderment at this world is not unlike Woody's (Tom Hanks), as he first peers up from the bed, gazing at the marvelous Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). There's a bit of self-awareness on director/writer John Lasseter and the rest of the Pixar team's part.
They (Pixar) were the new toy on the block, and while thanks to Lasseter, there's still 2-D animation in the works at Disney, the animation game in America was changed forever. Think about it -- few films can claim to have more influence on the look of current American cinema than Toy Story. Don't think for a second people could have adjusted to something like the new Star Wars films or The Polar Express if not for Toy Story's warmth behind the computer-drawn images.
From Computers to the Third Dimension, Both Toy Story Films are Classics
Clearly, computer animation won out, no small thanks to Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Now, the new frontier is 3-D. Disney's first foray into 3-D remastering and theatrical re-releasing, The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D, was a smashing success. The Toy Story films -- shown as a double feature with an on-screen trivia and extras-filled intermission -- provide a similarly thrilling revamp of the old favorites.
Toy Story 2, especially, benefits from the 3-D enhancement. Buzz's opening sequence fighting the Evil Emperor Zurg looks spectacular, as does his and the other toys' trips through the apartment building air ducts. Of course, Toy Story doesn't look shabby, but Pixar's advancement in visual storytelling from 1995 to 1999 makes all the difference. The animators were more aware of depth, which completely serves the new 3-D's aesthetic of a "window that you see into", as co-writer Peter Docter put it in an interview last spring.
Beyond the visual pop of Toy Story 2, the film sticks out as one of cinema's great sequels. While it certainly doesn't have quite the same ingenuity of the original, Toy Story 2 managed to carry the first film's energy and wit. The action gets dialed up (because, after all, sequels must be bigger), but never at the cost of character.
Toy Story to Toy Story 2 -- Buzz's Ego Wanes and Woody's Waxes
If anything, the sequel is a completely logical extension of the ideas expressed in the first film. Toy Story is Buzz's existential struggle, in which he gets knocked down from intergalactic savior to mere "child's plaything". Simultaneously, the film follows Woody as he grasps with the idea of replacement -- up until Buzz's arrival, he never so much as doubts his place in Andy's Room, his universe.
Conversely, Toy Story 2 finds Woody thrown into the same sort of larger universe or mythos he had previously forced Buzz out of. Turns out, Woody was once a sensation (or more aptly, fad) in the vein of Howdy Doody. His insecurities of being replaced or forgotten ("shelved") resurface.
Apparently, when you turn out the lights or shut the doors, your toys have a lot of things keeping them up at night, and that's the marvel of Toy Story and its sequel. Lasseter/Docter and the Co. (Joss Whedon and Andrew Stanton were two of the other credited writers on the original) created toys as petty, sad and insecure as humans. They got away with it too, and went on to build an animation empire.
Never Give Up, Never Pander -- The Toy Story Legacy
Both Toy Story movies aren't dark, per say (although the stuff with Sid is still pretty twisted), but they deal with the sort of flawed traits of humanity that so-called kids movies don't normally allow us to see. There's no reason to believe Pixar can't go three-for-three when Toy Story 3 hits theaters next year, because they have never let up or truly let us down.
The movies certainly do look excellent in 3-D, but what sticks out most in these movies is the absolute love for storytelling. That's a quality you don't need polarized glasses for, because it comes across in any medium.
RATINGS:
Toy Story: 5 out of 5 stars
Toy Story 2: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars
VERDICT: Especially with the double feature release, now is definitely the time to re-experience (or experience, if somehow you've been living under a rock) the Toy Story movies.
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