Toy Story 2 (1999) Review

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

Toy Story has rightfully grown to be one of the biggest revolutions in filmmaking as Pixar made a big breakthrough of storytelling with its theatric debut. With such success critically and financially, there was no way to not make a sequel.


PLOT


Toy Story 2 takes place only a few months after the first film. Sheriff Woody & Buzz Lightyear are now co-leaders to the other toys that belong to Andy Davis (John Morris). Their owner is going to Cowboy Camp and wants to take Woody with him, but that doesn’t happen when accidentally ripping his right arm. His mom Ms. Davis (Laurie Metcalf) decides to leave him on the shelf so she can intend to fix him before he returns. That doesn’t get to happen because when Woody saves another toy named Wheezy (Joe Ranft) from being sold at a yard sale, with the ride of the family dog Buster, he accidentally gets himself left behind. This leads to him stolen by Al McWhiggin, in which Buzz deduces from the license plate to be the owner of Al’s Toy Barn. Al stole Woody hoping to sell the cowboy on display for a Woody’s Roundup museum collection in Tokyo. The cowboy doll doesn’t even remember what he was based off of until meeting other toys part of the collection: Jessie the Cowgirl, Bullseye the Horse and Stinky Pete the Prospector who all come from the 1950s series that was popular until cancellation. Stinky Pete explains the museum is only interested in the collection if Woody is in it and they’ll remain in storage without him. Woody gets his arm sewn back only after Al accidentally rips it off completely when trying to do a photo shoot. When Buzz discovers the address to the toy store published on one of the commercials, he goes there hoping to get his friend back. He also goes with the company of other toys: Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog (Jim Varney) & Mr. Potato Head. Woody ends up considering to join the collection when he binds with Jessie who shares to have claustrophobia due to being abandoned by her previous owner Emily for years until Al found her. Prospector further convinces Woody to stay when pointing out Andy will grow up and likely get rid of him once he reaches adulthood. Buzz and the gang do reach the toy store which is across the street from the apartment Al lives in. Going there doesn’t go as planned when Lightyear accidentally swaps places with a Utility Belt version of him that thinks he’s real and mistakes him to go awol. As Utility Belt Buzz takes his place, he joins the other toys onto Al’s bag when believing they’re on a mission to defeat his fictional rival, Evil Emperor Zurg. When Al leaves his bag behind, Utility Belt Buzz has the group sneak into the building through one of the vents and reach Al’s room before him. Andy’s Buzz catches up as well and prevents any more confusion when revealing he still has Andy’s name on his boot and removes the helmet of his Utility Belt doppelganger. The gang would then leave disappointed when Woody prefers going to Tokyo. He then reconsiders and offers his Roundup gang to be part of Andy’s family. Jessie & Bullseye do consider it, but Stinky Pete refuses and blocks them from going before Al returns since he was never played with. The search party follows the elevator hoping to retrieve Woody from there, but they blocked by a Zurg toy who followed Andy’s Buzz. Utility Belt Buzz fights him off long enough until the two discover they’re related to each other. As the two make amends by playing catch, Andy’s toys follow Al by driving a car to the airport. This leads to them being accompanied by three Little Green Men (Jeff Pidgeon) from Pizza Planet. At the airport, they split up in the baggage sorting system to find Woody. Stinky Pete re-tears Woody and almost kills him until Andy’s toys subdue him with flash photography and place him in a girl’s backpack where he’ll forcibly deal with constant makeovers like a Barbie doll. They then save Bullseye, but Jessie still gets loaded onto the plane. Woody & Buzz rush to save her when riding Bullseye and the cowboy doll hops onto the plane before takeoff. He is able to get Jessie off the plane by using his pull string to swing themselves off the cargo hold, safely landing onto Bullseye. All the toys return home before Andy via baggage cart. By morning, Andy fixes Woody himself and accepts Jessie & Bullseye and the Little Green Men. Because Mr. Potato Head saved the latter three from being thrown out of a car, his wife Mrs. Potato Head adopts them all as their own children. When Wheezy celebrates getting his squeaker fixed, the film ends with Woody telling Buzz he'll enjoy whatever time is left with Andy before he hits adulthood.


THOUGHTS


Growing up watching this immediately after the first in my childhood was a big privilege as this was my introduction to sequels period. Getting to see a story continue fluently is incredibly exciting because at the time, I always had the wonder how a story continues when it was meant to be over. Sequels are so fun to watch when written right and for the most part, John Lasseter struck gold once again. The animation immediately improves with not only modified designs for all your favorite toys, but also given neater details to the environment for things like Woody getting fixed, the soft jiggle Slinky’s body has when standing still, the dirt on Andy’s Buzz or Zurg’s pov shot. Even Al’s car was so shiny from the outside like a real car deep down and you can also see the scratches on the trunk keyhole. With commitment like this, you can’t help applauding such details. With new characters like getting to see the Barbie dolls shine briefly, I was still laughing hardest with the returning supporting characters. Particularly, it was Wallace Shawn who had laugh most with his inner dilemma of wanting to beat Zurg in the Buzz Lightyear video game, only for him to beat him for real when unintentionally helping Utility Belt Buzz. I'm still laughing that Hamm had so much animosity towards chicken without any valid reason and each delivery by John Ratzenberger had me cackling. It was even a real knee slapper for Don Rickles to show Mr. Potato Head still be un-decisive despite being loyal to Woody. He stood out more for getting to have a companion this time and I thought Estelle Harris to voice Mrs. Potato Head because she nailed it for feeling more rational yet matched his wittiness. They get along so well not because they're designed to be, but because they want to be together. With them being on the same page, it's a given to say they'd be good parents for the Little Green Men. When getting into the seriousness of it all, this movie works well on its own because we get a new lesson that tells us that love and connection with others is more valuable than admiration. Tom Hanks shows Woody go through that because despite still having a passion to make humans like Andy and be selfless for other toys like Wheezy, paranoia came to him on what could happen to him when Andy doesn't need him anymore. The museum sounded nice because generations of people get to appreciate the era he was part of, but knew being part of Andy's life was important because he was the first person he ever made happy. Even though Andy would outgrow him in the third film, it was worth going through because the true reward in being a toy is making kids happy. Tim Allen makes Buzz the best friend he has because he reminds him that and goes out of his way returning the favor in saving him from something worse. On the other hand, I was still laughing to his Utility Belt counterpart having a much different existential crisis. Even though this is another journey that wasn't planned, he got to make new friends in the process. Frank Welker made Bullseye adorable with his given vocals, but Joan Cusack fit into the mold so well as Jessie because she is so full of energy and wants to let it out for the right people. Getting to hear the song 'When She Loved Me' by Sarah McLahlan was a real tearjerker because it accurately reflected the feeling of heartbreak after being forgotten. When Woody hears her inner fears, that is what makes him want to still be a good friend while still expressing worry for his own future. It was the right solution to bring her and Bullseye with him and be part of Andy's collection because he knew he'd take good care of them. Sadly, the Prospector never saw the opportunity. Wayne Knight was a solid villain for the relatable greed that can flow through businessmen like Al, but Kelsey Grammer was the real threat as Stinky Pete because in all honesty, he was too bitter for his own good and felt he'd never be loved the way Woody would. Even if he had a point with generational love from the museum, he never understood the value of being out of the box. He feels that if no one is gonna play with him, no one else can. Because of his decision to be simple minded, it really cost him to get what he wanted. In the end, the rest of the roundup gang got to remember the value of spreading joy to kids for generations to come and not him. This film is just as great, but the many times of rewatching has led to many confusing moments to pick up on. For instance, why was Al even at the yard sale to begin with? If someone like a neighbor from Andy’s block tipped him off that there was a Woody doll, I wish that was clear. It even feels crazy Andy’s mom doesn’t notice Woody was stolen when she left him locked in the cash box before Al broke into it. It even feels weird for Al to have priceless Woody magazines on the floor for no reason. If there is one set of tension that is pointless, it has to be Woody walking over a fallen bowl of cheese puffs to Al at night just to bet his arm, until Prospector prevents that by turning on the tv and shifting the blame on Jessie. There really is no point for Woody to make that trip if he knew Al was gonna have it fixed by morning. And if Stinky Pete turned on the tv, how did Jessie not see him? It doesn’t seem like toys can sleep, so I don’t see any excuse for her to not see what he did. I was laughing a lot over the fact Buzz’s group use coens to cross the street, but I lose my mind over the fact no one on either side of the street see the cones move during that sequence, whereas the cars only see the cones stop. What tripped me out more than not seeing any Ken dolls in the Barbie aisle is the fact there weren’t any cameras that would’ve seen the phenomenon of living toys causing a ruckus. I don’t even buy the fact of Zurg being in the bargain when he’s Buzz’s rival. Yes there was overload of Buzzes in his own aisle, but I’m sure Zurg should have his own aisle nearby if the Lightyear movie is so popular. Mr. Potato Head is also very lucky to keep his pieces together after Rex fell onto him on accident. Having been to an airport a few times, there ain’t no way Al got a valet to park his car in time for him to get his luggage put through the baggage sorting system. I even crack up so much that Andy’s mom is un-phased of the fact new toys are part of his collection like the trio of Barbie dolls, Jessie & Bullseye and rolls with it. Other than that, this movie is still a joy to get through each time. In conclusion, Toy Story 2 is the first of many great sequels in the franchise because it remains on par with its heartwarming storytelling, further proving animation is on par in quality as a live action adventure. If you enjoyed the first film, it’s a no brainer you’ll love this as well.