Toy Story (1995) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

They say your best friend is the one you’re not looking for. That couldn’t be any more true when looking back at Toy Story.


PLOT


The film takes place in a world where all toys are sentient, unbeknownst to humans. The story follows a houseful of toys that belong to a young boy named Andy Davis (John Morris) who lives with his baby sister Molly and their single mother Ms. Davis (Laurie Metcalf). The toys’ leader is Andy’s favorite, a cowboy doll named Sheriff Woody. Things take an unexpected turn when Andy has a birthday party a week early due to how he and his family are moving soon. The toys are all worried about the birthday because with each holiday and birthday, they worry of being replaced of a newer one. Woody however assures them all that won't happen because being there for Andy. That doesn't exactly come to fruition when Andy gets a new action figure called Buzz Lightyear from his favorite sci fi movie. Although Lightyear mistakes himself to be the actual space ranger character he's based off of, he predictably gains Andy's attention with ease whereas Woody struggles to maintain it. The cowboy's jealousy gets the best of him because within two days before the move, Andy must decide between one toy to take on the drive to his favorite restaurant Pizza Planet. Woody does the unthinkable of pushing Buzz behind his desk, only knock him out the window. When he gets caught doing so, Mister Potato Head and the other toys call him out of his actions. When Andy can't find Buzz, he instinctively picks Woody to take for the drive. The space ranger having landed in the garden follows the car and confronts the cowboy as well at a gas station, only for them to both be stranded by Andy who takes off with his family, without noticing his toy is missing. As Woody tries to explain to Buzz he's just a toy like him, he convinces him to join him to Pizza Planet, making him think it's a spaceship to Star Command. They almost sneak onto Molly's stroller when finding Andy, but Buzz sneaks onto a claw crane game still mistaking it to be a spaceship. As Woody tries bringing him back, they both get won by Sid Phillips, Andy's neighbor who tortures toys for fun. Inside Sid's home, they see firsthand that he makes his own mutant toys when not giving them to his pet dog Scud. When they try escaping the next day, Buzz sees a commercial of himself for the first time and accepts what he is. He tries proving himself wrong in an attempt to fly to a window, only for him to fall so hard his arm got detached. Woody then decides to message Andy's other toys across both houses. He throws Christmas lights to climb across, but Mr. Potato Head still don't trusts him since he pushed Buzz. He tries to prove innocence, but they mistake him to be a murderer when seeing him carry his detached arm. The toys abandon him for good for it, whereas the mutant toys fix Lightyear. Sid then buys a new rocket with the intent to destroy another toy with it the next day. He almost considers Woody until ultimately choosing Buzz. Overnight, Buzz feels worthless knowing he's not a real space ranger, but regains his confidence when Woody explains the real purpose for him is to make kids like Andy happy and admits he is the better toy compared to him. By morning, Sid takes Lightyear outside and prepares his intent to destroy him. Thankfully, Woody aligns with the mutant toys by revealing themselves to Sid, frightening him into never harming toys again. Just as they become free from Sid, the cowboy & space ranger duo race to Andy's moving truck as his family are officially moving away. Just when they get onto the truck, Scud chases them and Buzz ultimately leaves himself behind to help Woody. Not wanting to go without him, Woody uses the radio controlled toy car, RC, to pick him up. But because the other toys mistake him to commit murder again, they kick him off the bus. Buzz still catches up to him after getting away from Scud and when the other toys see Lightyear to be okay, Slinky Dog tries to get them onboard but RC's battery runs out which forces him to let go. Woody & Buzz then compromise to lighting Sid's rocket since the latter was still taped to it before leaving. It ends up working as they are taken to the sky, they lunge RC back to the truck and Buzz opens his wings to sever from the rocket before detonation. Luckily, he and Woody glide back into Andy's car, making the kid believe they were there the whole time. The film ends in a time jump where Woody & Buzz celebrate Christmas together, eager to know what new toy Andy would get, only to discover he got a puppy instead.


THOUGHTS


Everyone has their fair share of beloved films they deem timeless in their eyes and for the most part, Pixar's theatric debut is bound to be there with good reason. Computer animation was a rarity at its time and it has grown to be the revolution to filmmaking ever since. This is the holy grail of it because if no one liked it then, it would've not continued to be of use now. It worked then as it does now because the animation itself is timeless. Before you get a kick out of picking your favorite toy with their own personality, the landscapes and backgrounds give a great perspective into thinking you're a toy as well. Even little details like seeing chipped paint on a door, cardboard corrugation or the ripple effect on mud is quite impressive to make you think it's all real when it isn't. From there, you get hooked with the various characters that change our lives for the better. We are constantly laughing at the likes of Wallace Shawn for making Rex a shy and insecure toy when he's ironically based off of a real life carnivore that was once vicious. Then you have John Ratzenberger portraying the piggy bank Hamm as mischievous yet knowledgeable with human technology. You also can’t get enough of Jeff Pidgeon playing the Little Green Men from Pizza Planet who share the dilemma of not knowing they’re toys like Buzz. And on top of that, it can be easy to relate to how hot headed Don Rickles makes Mr. Potato Head since he is all over the place when played with. And it was easy to like Slinky because of how Jim Varney makes him the most laidback and doesn't pick sides until there's good enough evidence. Putting aside the smiles those side characters would give here and would keep giving once a franchise would launch from it afterwards, John Lasseter has made this film immortal because he and the writers onboard are able to make an exciting adventure that ends up telling us the importance of embracing change and how people stop being happy when they doing so. This was the dynamic that was explored of a duo that has memorable to this day. From the get go, we connect to Woody so much because Tom Hanks shows him to be the most passionate in making Andy happy but gets far too arrogant when Buzz joins the family. He is so intimidated by Lightyear because he's afraid of being forgotten when Andy starts playing with him less than usual. Buzz really did become the new favorite since Andy replaced Woody's merch with Lightyear themed ones, but that didn't mean he wasn't gonna forget about him which Bo Peep saw when he was away. It is a shame for their separation is what it took to accept, but it was better knowing unusually than never. Having said that, Annie Potts makes a great partner as Bo because she is his polar opposite in terms of being much more level headed in comparison. Tim Allen has us love Buzz equally in the way we already love Woody because even after his existential crisis, he is able to regain the confidence and courage his character is based off of. If you were in his shoes, it would feel uncomfortable to know you're meant for something else than you were expecting, but the fact he understood the silver lining proved how he cares as much as Woody does. Randy Newman's soundtrack does a great job depicting both of their feelings they go through as their journeys progress before it all concludes in epic proportion. "I Will Go Sailing No More" is about living in a more grounded perspective Buzz copes with, 'Strange Things" accurately depicts being overwhelmed of change like Woody did, and "You Got A Friend in Me" brings it full circle on the transcendent bond friendship is all about, which is exactly what gets sparked between both leads. Ironically, they would've not appreciated each other had they not been stuck with a cruel boy. Erik Von Detten really scared the crap out of me as Sid because he is far too mischievous for his own good as he enjoys torturing toys and bullies his sister Hannah (Sarah Freeman) in between. So when Woody took a big gamble in revealing himself to him, it's safe to say it was worth it as it meant he would do better from now on. Seeing Buzz & Woody glide back to Andy's car gives me chills to this day because it shows unpredictably fun an adventure can be if you let it and they sure did once the franchise progressed. The fact they got through having a dog part of their family comes to show they sure improved with change down the line. I stand by calling the film timeless, but after hundreds of times rewatching it as a kid has led to me picking up on a few confusing moments. For example, was Andy really sharing a room with Molly? They had a big house to begin with before moving, so there had to have been a third room upstairs besides the bathroom. I can scratch my head about how no toy knew about Andy’s love for Buzz Lightyear, but I scratch it harder over the fact Woody didn’t know of the birthday party being moved up. He’s with Andy, so he should’ve heard something sooner. And am I the only one questioning how Hamm doesn’t know Picasso that Mr Potato Head pretends to be, when he knows how Buzz’s quality sound for his buttons work. Another thing, if Woody is using a microphone to talk to all the toys in the room, wouldn’t that make it loud enough for the humans to hear them? I know they’re downstairs, but they had to hear some kind of echo even if the door’s closed. I laugh very hard when Woody opens Buzz’s helmet for the first time and thinks he’ll die, but it’s unbelievable Andy hadn’t messed with it yet. If he’s the new toy, he should’ve messed way before Woody does. It then felt odd for Andy to leave the car door open and his mom says nothing about it. They were out for two minutes, so that is like enough for a burglar to take the car for crying out loud. And yes, we even get continuity errors with the Christmas lights Woody uses disappear & reappear after he gets Buzz out of Hannah’s room. If that doesn’t make your head explode, seeing a car behind the moving truck for a split second will, which would’ve exposed all their existence. Another thing, if the mutant toys were able to fix two other toys, how would that be explained to Sid? Would he figure it out on his own that toys are alive or would he guess Hannah fixed them? I mean he’s not exactly a dumb kid if he gets creative in torturing toys. Also, how come the toy boxes weren’t sealed? I know it’s useful for Woody to get RC sooner but it’s odd Andy’s mom doesn’t seal them with the movers. Ignore this, then you’ll still be having the time of your life. In conclusion, Toy Story is arguably the best animated of all time, tied with The Lion King, for breaking barriers in a technical story and making the most relatable story to this day. If you feel the need to be inspired to make something, see this now.