Toy Story 2

Woody the cowboy is stolen from Andy his owner, and it is up to Buzz Lightyear and the rest of those nutty toy friends of his to save his wooden ass. During his abduction, Woody meets a few of his older friends from his days as a TV star and is suddenly faced with the tough decision of remaining with them and preserving his legacy forever, or returning to his rightful owner, who is bound to get rid of him any year now.

A rollickin’ great lil’ fun adventure for newborns, children, kids, teenagers, young adults, parents, grandpas and grandmas alike. It doesn’t take much for one to enjoy themselves with this movie. It’s got fantastic effects, a fun story, likeable characters, an upbeat soundtrack, a decent runtime and toys, toys and more toys. And what an adventure they get into here. Indiana Jones could take lessons from some of these cartoon munchkins. From its opening scene, which is one of the cooler action animated sequences that I have ever seen on film, to the last twenty minutes of the movie which just rattle from one humdingin’ close call after another. This film has got everything that its original had and more, including one really cute new toy named Jessie. Va-va-voom! What an adorably cute doll! They even toss in a decent “touching” scene for effect. Pretty cool. Now folks, please don’t get me wrong here.

This film is not a revolution of the medium of film. I mean, honestly speaking, the animation isn’t a thousand times better than the original or anything, but does remain quite spectacular on the big screen. But if you happen to be reading this review a few years after the film’s original release, you may just scoff at my enthusiasm since the leaps and bounds which continue to be made in this burgeoning industry seem to leave much of their own ancestry flying in the wind. Buuuuut, at this point in time, I can honestly say that this film was a positively enjoyable treat. In fact, the first film seems more like a “set-up” for this one, a sketchpad used to clarify the actual creation of this complete animated “movie”. In fact, most of this film takes place on the “outside” of the room in which the human being characters have become eerily lifelike. I can’t wait until they start creating computer-generated pictures starring human characters in extraordinary situations…wow, things are really gonna be nuts! All in all, kudos to everyone associated with this exciting new-age cartoon adventure sure to satisfy all lighthearted people looking for a good time.

Of course, the biggest handshake should be reserved for the genius who actually thought to come up with an idea for a cartoon film based on the actual merchandise of the film (i.e. the toys)!! Wow, now what kind of merchandising exposure do you think we could get with this one, boss?!? Yikes, laughing all the way to the toy bank, eh fellas?

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian