johnlinkmovies

I absolutely cannot believe that it has been over fifteen years since this film’s release. That baffles me. I haven’t had a chance to see the third one yet, though I got the BluRay for Christmas. But it’s been a few years since I’ve seen the first two, so I thought I would revisit them first.

I watched TOY STORY (1995) on 1.30.11. It was, I would say, about my tenth viewing of the film. TRAILER HERE

It is a credit to the entire Pixar team that this film has aged as well as it has. Sure the humans and the dog feel especially digitized, but the painstaking detail in the toys is so perfect that I’m sure it will still look incredible in another fifteen years.

This viewing made me realize, more than ever before, the fickle nature of the toys’ loyalty to Woody. Once they turn him away, it isn’t until they see him on the car with Buzz that they ever side with him again. Sure Slinky Dog wants to, but the negativity of Mr. Potato Head trumps any good will the others try to muster. It’s interesting to see those secondary power struggles play out. The good minded lose to the quick to judge. And Rex has guilt over it in the end.

It’s fun to discover the layers in this film. I wrote my college thesis on curiosity in Pixar films, and it all starts with the self-aware TOY STORY. The levels of detail, from the Pixar short titles appearing as book titles, to the playing of Disney’s Hakuna Matata, to the Realtors being called Virtual Realty… this is the start of animated kids’ films winking at adults who are willing to stop and pay attention.

The voice work in the TOY STORY films is always top notch. It starts with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. But the supporting work of Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, and the Pixar stalwart John Ratzenberger. I guess it says something that my biggest worry about TOY STORY 3 is who could possibly replace the late great Jim Varney as Slinky Dog? The voice work is just so perfect.

TOY STORY is an all time classic. Not just as an animated film, but as, simply, a film. It is one of the top flicks of the 1990s, and one I can’t wait to one day share with my son.

SCORES

FILM: 8; MOVIE: 10; EFFECT: 9; WRITING: 8; BONUS: 1

The bonus is for the amazing computer animation. TOY STORY was the start of an era in animated film, and its excellence cannot be understated.

8+10+9+8+1=36

FINAL SCORE: 9

~ by johnlink00 on January 30, 2011.

Posted in johnlink favorite flicks, ~ T ~, ~~~ 1995 ~~~
Tags: animated