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In 1995, Toy Story forever changed the realm of cinematic animation, paving the way for studios to move away from hand-drawn animation, an art form that is now nearly extinct. The first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story was a worldwide smash, and, especially after the success of A Bug's Life (Pixar's follow-up feature), a sequel was inevitable. Although initially envisioned as a 60-minute straight-to-video effort (reminiscent of the sequels to Aladdin and The Lion King), Toy Story 2 began shaping up far better than anticipated, demanding a longer runtime and theatrical distribution. This decision led to one of their most successful sequels to date - 1999's Toy Story 2 is a superb follow-up that's larger in scope while retaining the charms of the original film. This is also a rare instance of a sequel being more successful than its predecessor both critically and commercially - it cost $90 million to produce (three times more than Toy Story) and earned approximately $485 million at the box office.
Reminiscent of its predecessor, Toy Story 2 is about the toys owned by Andy (John Morris) pulling together to rescue a lost toy. During a yard sale, the spirited cowboy doll Woody (Tom Hanks) tries to save one of his friends from being sold, but is stolen by a diabolical toy collector, Al (Wayne Knight). See, Woody is a rare relic from the 1950s, and Al steals Woody to complete the set to which he belongs, as he intends to refurbish each figure and sell the collection to a Japanese museum. Thus, Woody reunites with the rest of his "Round Up Gang," including cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), horse Bullseye, and Stinky Pete the Prospector (Kelsey Grammer). Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) leads the rescue effort to find Woody, accompanied by a loyal crew of toys: Mr. Potato Head (Ron Rickles), Rex the Dinosaur (Wallace Shawn), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), and Hamm (John Ratzenberger).
Pixar once again crafts an animated magnum opus in Toy Story 2, with a charming cast of delightful characters and a masterclass screenplay (by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin and Chris Webb) providing spirited humour and high-flying adventure. At its core, the original Toy Story is about friendship and the importance of love in everyone's lives, and this quality is retained in Toy Story 2. The toys are important to Andy because they are his pals, Andy is important to the toys because he makes them feel needed, and the toys are important to each other because life is meaningless without interpersonal relationships. There's a powerful underlying story strand about the toys pondering their fate after becoming broken or replaced, or their owner outgrows them. An unexpected poignancy stems from the knowledge that the characters - despite being made of plastic - have a limited lifespan.
Toy Story slyly pokes fun at American popular culture, and Toy Story 2 has an all-out party both referencing and skewering pop culture. Barbie dolls appear here, and toy collectors receive a sharp grilling. Additionally, the black-and-white segments of the old Woody's Round-Up television show simultaneously pay tribute to and satirise old children's TV shows featuring marionettes. With all these elements in place, returning director John Lasseter and the four credited writers further expand the possibilities of what can be done in a movie about toys while recapturing the spirit and magic of the original film. There's even self-referential humour (cameos from the cast of A Bug's Life), and there are exhilarating set pieces galore, culminating in a breathtaking finale in an airport that's epic in scope and scale. One of Lasseter's co-directors on the film, Lee Unkrich, went on to direct 2010's Toy Story 3 and 2017's Coco.
Thankfully, the voice cast remains brilliant in this sequel. The principal actors all make their return here - Hanks as Woody, Allen as Buzz, Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Shawn as Rex, and many others, all of whom are impeccable in their respective roles. Toy Story 2 also boasts several new additions to the cast, including Joan Cusack and Kelsey Grammer as members of Woody's gang, while Wayne Knight voices the unscrupulous Al, and Jodi Benson (Ariel from The Little Mermaid) appears as Tour Guide Barbie. One has to marvel at how far animation managed to advance in the four years following Toy Story - in this follow-up, animated movement is more fluid, humans are more lifelike, and hair is more realistic. The camerawork is also more interesting, with an effort to duplicate the type of shots typically obtained through live-action cinematography. Cinematographer Sharon Calahan (A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo) uses lighting and filters to establish various moods (see the flashbacks during Jessie's song), and there's an effective depth-of-field to the imagery, with parts of each shot appearing out of focus.
You would have to be a joyless curmudgeon not to be entertained by Toy Story 2, which almost perfectly balances content for kids and content for adults. With its witty humour, thoughtful narrative, lush animation and marvellous set pieces, Toy Story 2 hits all the right notes and proves that not all sequels are inferior to their predecessor. One would never guess that the production of this sequel was so troubled; there were creative reshuffles and unrealistic deadlines, and the movie was almost entirely deleted from Pixar's internal servers after a deletion code was accidentally entered. Yet, everything came together in the end, making Toy Story 2 a strong example of art through adversity. Many have called this the Godfather: Part II of the animation realm, and who am I to argue with that? The film's box office performance and strong critical reception prompted another sequel, though it did not arrive until eleven years later, in 2010.
9.1/10
