Toy Story of Terror! (2013) Review
THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Sometimes, the best changes happen in darkest times.
PLOT
2013’s Toy Story of Terror! is a holiday special for Halloween, taking place about a few months after the third film. Bonnie and her mother (Emily Hahn & Lori Alan) are on a road trip to visit her grandma. The choice of toys she brings along are: Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Mr Potatohead, Mr Pricklepants, Rex (Wallace Shawn) and Trixie (Kristen Schaal). During the drive, the toys make the most of it by watching an old horror movie on a portable dvd player. When the car gets a flat tire, the family checks in at the Sleep Well motel and must wait til morning for the tow truck to arrive. Things would instantly go wrong for the toys because Mr Potatohead wants to explore wanting to get something nice for Hamm, he’s the first one to get lost as Woody worried. Ironically, Mr Pricklepants predicts they’re getting picked off like the horror movie they watched as he, Rex & Trixie get swept in the dark. Once Woody & Buzz get taken as well, Jessie tries hiding until encountering a Combat Carl action figure. He warns her to save herself before the two both get taken by an iguana named Mr Jones (Dee Bradley Baker), a pet that belongs to the motel manager Ronald Tompkins. Ron has been using Mr Jones to collect unattended toys and sell them online. Jessie gets put in a glass cabinet with her group, Combat Carl & his miniature self, including other toys from other toys. With Woody next to be sold, Jessie needs to sneak into one of the boxes to save him from being separated. This scares her due to past claustrophobia, but encouragement from Carl is able to help her focus long enough to save her friend. By the time they make it back to the office, Bonnie and her mom about to leave. Mr Jones tries to stop her, but she ultimately pulls down the curtain to get Bonnie’s attention and it works as she recognizes all her toys. Once the trip resumes for her family, the story concludes with the other toys escaping, hoping to return to their owners, while Ron tries to escape from the cops for his illegal activities.
THOUGHTS
Before Toy Story 4 and 5 became possible, I thought it was grega holiday specials and multiple short films to be made in order to keep in touch with our favorite toy characters and bond with Bonnie more than the way we did with Andy. Here, director/writer Angus MacLane who would go on to helm the Lightyear spinoff, is able to successfully provide a joyful adventure given the suspenseful atmosphere. This is Pixar we’re talking about, so you know the animation is great. Mr Jones was a cute iguana, but I like how Transitron (Peter Sohn) & Carl have heavy influence from real life 80s action figures. Speaking of which, the latter is portrayed by Carl Weathers, who also got to play a trio of Combat Carl Jrs in the fourth film before his death led to being recasted by Ernie Hudson in the fifth. Carl is straight up the best part of the special for me because his confidence is what paves the way for Jessie to overcome her fears, teaching the audience it’s never too late to do so. While it’s good to see Woody & Buzz again, especially when they couldn’t understand what Potatohead’s missing arm was trying to tell them where to go, which was well played by Tom Hanks & Tim Allen as expected, this is straight up Jessie’s story and Joan Cusack still manages to be more resilient than before that is carried for the rest of the franchise. She still has moments of hesitance since she’s never been motivated by others before, but it doesn’t stop her from trying per se. Before it came down to overcoming her claustrophobia, she was still more concerned with saving her friends before herself which says a lot on how selfless she is. If it wasn’t for Carl giving her enough of a push, the separation would be heartbreaking for everyone especially Bonnie who would go on to favor her over Woody. When it came to the big laughs, I’d give it to Potatohead and Pricklepants. It’s totally the former’s fault they get separated when he could’ve waited til reaching the grandma’s house if he wanted to get something for Hamm, but Don Rickles remains hilarious for being so cynical that it put him in danger. Timothy Dalton brought in meta humor as the latter and it works so well because you know there’s gonna be a solid resolution and for him to call the plot down the middle is what makes it funny. Surprisingly, Sid was the only human villain for the franchise in a long time and that changed when being introduced to Ron. Portrayed by Stephen Tobolowsky, he is greedy to the core if he’s stealing from kids and using his pet to get away with it. Hell, he even ditches the reptile when trying to make a break for it. If that don’t seal the deal he’s a prick, I don’t know what to tell ya other than that it’s a miracle he had no cameras to see the toys come to life. It’s just like Sid and Scud where the animal knows more than the human. Anyway, at least he is gonna put up with whatever consequences he’ll have to face depending on how long he’d been doing that side hustle. In short, Toy Story of Terror! is an excellent holiday special for succeeding in keeping the smiles afloat. If you’re still a Pixar fan, see this now and watch it every Halloween if you can.
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