Okay, here's the deal. People, there are things in this world that you find yourself really waiting for. I mean, really anxious waiting, like tapping your foot, looking at your watch, all that maternity ward behavior. Only thing missing is some goofball scamperin' off to boil water.
It happens to me all the time with movies. I mean, you hear so much, and all the magazines and websites harp and harangue and brag, and you get so worked up that when a movie does finally come out, you're about to bust a gut. Well, I've been that way waiting for Toy Story 2. I wasn't desperate just to see it though. I was dying to know if they could do it again.
You folks know it as well as I do. Sequels have to be almost twice as good as the original if they're going to hold your attention. That's why most of them drop through the floor like a Loony Tunes anvil. The filmmakers don't double the effort; they just retread the story, add a new sidekick, change the villain's name and, pow, there's your sequel...thanks for your seven bucks.
I was so thoroughly impressed with the first Toy Story, I really doubted that the magic of that first story would ever be topped. When I heard that the sequel was headed straight to video, I lost hope. Disney, for all its marketing savvy, hasn't made a worthy sequel to any of its own movies, in particular those straight-to-video flicks. They may sell swell, but the spirit of the original is A.W.O.L.
Then, out of the blue, when it was announced that Toy Story 2 would be a theatrical release, it clicked in my head. The Disney suits watched the finished product and realized that Pixar, the computer animation studio that first developed Toy Story, had slipped up. They were supposed to be making a straight-to-video movie, but they made it too dang good. They made a viable movie for the theatrical market. And the marketing went wild! And, when Disney marketing goes wild, that much in advance, they know something.
Welp, they were right. Toy Story 2 is not only good enough for a theatrical release, it's, indeed, better than the original.
All of Andy's toys are back for this one. Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Hamm the piggy bank (John Ratzenberger), Potato Head (Don Rickles), even Rex the neurotic dinosaur (Wallace Shawn) and Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), they're all back and in fighting shape. One day, Woody ventures out to try and save a toy from the family yard sale, and finds himself "kidnapped" by a dastardly man named Al McWhiggin, a discount toy merchant and collector, the apparent scourge of beloved toys everywhere. When the others realize Woody is purloined, a rescue team consisting of Buzz, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, and Rex is dispatched to save him.
Meanwhile, while being held prisoner by Big Al, our ragdoll cowboy stumbles onto his true identity. Woody is actually Sheriff Woody, the star of an old black and white marionette TV show called "Woody's Roundup." (Think Howdy Doody...) It spawned a slew of memorabilia, from Woody lunchboxes to Woody record players, from yoyos to cereal spoons. Woody also had friends on the show, including Jessie (Joan Cusack), a rootin'-tootin' cowgirl, a horse named Bullseye, and Stinky Pete the prospector. Big Al needs Woody to complete the Woody's Roundup collection, so he can sell the whole thing to a toy museum in Japan and pocket a huge wad of cash.
Will Woody stay with his new-found original family? Will Buzz and his commando crew save Woody? I'll let you unearth those answers for yourself.
Guys, I gotta tell you, point blank, this thing is beyond great. In the short time that has passed since Toy Story, the technology has changed so much more for the better, it will astound you. As good as the original was, it looks very constrained and flat in comparison to this one. By making the character of Big Al so important to the plot, it forced the people at Pixar to make the human characters look more fluid and real. Some of the shots of Andy's dog, Buster, are downright freaky 'cause you find yourself at dog's eye level, looking at a dog as he acts with a talking toy. Everything is so much more rich and textured than before. Mark it down: at the tail-end of 1999, we have officially passed the threshold of "cartoon" and entered "virtual actors." Whether or not you want to admit it, it's really here.
Aside from the visual impact, though, Toy Story 2 has a wonderfully free sense of humor, a trademark of Disney's recent efforts to make its animation smarter so the whole family can enjoy it together. The in-jokes about toys are there, like before, but this one gets braver, poking fun at Jurassic Park, and even funnier, Star Wars.
And despite all the laughs, there are some surprisingly tender moments here as well. Woody and Jessie both have a struggle with the possibility of kids growing up and forgetting them. Being forgotten is sad, but to a toy, it means the end of their existence. Jessie has spent years in storage, and if Woody leaves, she'll go back into the darkness of a cardboard box. All she wants is to be in the sun again. (Don't we all?)
But I don't want to give away more than necessary, 'cause this movie is just a conveyor belt of treats...one goodie after another. If I had one complaint about it, it'd be the disappointment that there are no "outtakes" at the end of the film, like Pixar did with A Bug's Life. Seeing the toys deal with their bloopers would've been even funnier than watching a grasshopper throw a tantrum and go to his trailer, like Hopper did. I'm guessing they're saving them for the DVD release.
That tiny disappointment aside, Toy Story 2 is a perfect family present for the Christmas season. No ifs, ands, or buts about it -- it's perfect. And definitely worth the wait.
Image copyright Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar.
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