A cowboy toy is profoundly threatened and jealous when a fancy spaceman toy supplants him as top toy in a boy's room.

CRITIQUE

Toy Story is a beloved classic that is filled with humor, heart, and substance with striking animation, engaging voice characterizations, and a winning story that leaves a smile on your face no matter what your age.  

Pixar was put on the map by the film, as was the director John Lasseter, and they have never looked back releasing a string of enormously successful films.  But it was Toy Story that got it all started through its tremendous computer animation (that was new and fresh at the time), as well as the true originality and creativity interspersed throughout this sweet natured fable.  It was through the wit of the story and dialogue, as well as the wonder of this new medium, that allowed people of all ages to find things to treasure throughout.  There weren’t many animated films that had come before it that had such a unique mixture of adult-oriented humor, sweetness, and exciting animated sequences.  This was an untapped market that Pixar jumped all over after the outstanding success of Toy Story.

John Lasseter, who really captured the spirit of youth and that overall theme of having purpose and relationships in life, competently and solidly directed the film.  The film was very focused and sharp, maintaining its themes while telling an entertaining story mixing in truly hilarious bits and dialogue.  He used his cast to their fullest potential, making sure each hit the right comedic notes. 

The groundbreaking animation is still amazing to look at and yet Pixar has somehow managed to improve on it with each and every new release (the animation in The Incredibles defies logic and makes this animation somewhat dated now).  Another strong point of the film is the terrific score composed by Randy Newman who uses his unique style to perfectly suit the mix of sweetness and originality.

The voice characterizations from the all-star cast are nothing short of astounding.  Tom Hanks is the true heart and soul of the film making Woody an endearing and lovable everyman that most of us can relate to in someway.  And Hanks is such a gifted comedian that he just knocks the comedic parts out of the park, using his frantic mannerisms he’s used to success in many other comedic roles.  The comic gem of the voice characterizations is definitely that of Tim Allen.  This is actually the best role he’s ever had, Buzz fit his comedic sensibilities perfectly.  I don’t think the film would have been anywhere near as good with a different actor voicing Buzz (which isn’t really the case with the others). 

The other two standout voice characterizations would be that of Wallace Shawn as the neurotic and hilarious Rex and that of Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head.  Everytime the two of them are speaking, I was just rolling.  The rest of the cast is top notch as well, without any weak links or problems throughout.

Film critique written by Greg Malmborg (for the 10th Anniversary Edition DVD).

THE VIDEO

Disney presents Toy Story in a 1.78:1/1080p transfer encoded with AVC onto a 50GB disc. This presentation is absolutely flawless; colors are extremely vibrant, detail is smooth and incredibly well-defined, and contrast is superb. Coming straight from the digital source, this transfer is immaculate.

THE AUDIO

Disney presents Toy Story with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Dialogue is sharp and very clear, and the surrounds are active throughout. Optional English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles are included.

THE EXTRAS

“No one is getting replaced.” - Woody

New Special Features

Toy Story 3 Sneak Peek: “The Story” (2:07, HD) finds director Lee Unkrich explaining the story in broad terms, giving viewers a small “sneak peek” and promising “surprises” in the third film.

Audio Commentary with director John Lasseter, co-writer Andrew Stanton, supervising animator Pete Docter, art director Ralph Eggleston, supervising technical director Bill Reeves, and producers Ralph Guggenheim and Bonnie Arnold: Filled with fun information, production stories and animation-related tidbits, everyone has good rapport, easily making this a superb commentary. One interesting story worth revealing is that there were pages and pages (and revisions) of what Woody’s first line should be.

Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: Blast Off (3:28, HD) explains to younger viewers how NASA’s Discovery shuttle takes off and gets to space, and what goes on inside the International Space Station.  A Buzz toy floats around the station in a few shots, which is a little amusing.

Paths to Pixar: Artists (4:47, HD) looks at several artists discussing their path to Pixar.

Studio Stories: John’s Car (1:28, HD) is an animated retelling of the awful state of John Lasseter’s car back in the day. A funny tagline at the end of this reel proclaims “99% true… as far as we recall!”

Studio Stories: Baby AJ (1:40, HD) is an animated retelling of what AJ Riebli went through to win a Halloween costume contest at Pixar.

Studio Stories: Scooter Races (2:18, HD) is yet another animated retelling, this one of the many competitive scooter races that took place at the Pixar offices.

Buzz Takes Manhattan (2:12, HD) shows the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York that featured a huge Buzz Lightyear balloon. Pretty cool.

Black Friday: The Toy Story You Never Saw (7:36, HD) reveals a direction of the story that featured an unappealing and rather mean Woody, as studio notes effected tonal shifts and story elements; Jeffrey Katzenberg pushed for “more cynical, more edgy, more adult” material. After a screening at Disney wasn’t well-received, a two-week shut-down occurred and everything changed, the Pixar guys realized they had to trust their own instinct and make the movie they wanted to make. Presented here is a reel of what was originally screened, with John Lasseter cringing but saying, “For history’s sake it’s important to see.”

Classic DVD Bonus Features

Filmmakers Reflect (16:35, SD) is a mini-reunion inside the Pixar offices ten years after Toy Story with John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Joe Ranft sitting around a small table and remembering stories from back in the day. There’s some fun stuff here.

Making Toy Story (20:20, SD) explains the inspirations of Pixar and what they were doing that got them to the point of making Toy Story, featuring interviews (circa mid-90s is my guess) with the principals at Pixar, including Lasseter and Stanton. There’s also an early test reel, Lasseter explaining toy characteristics, and looks at animation processes.

The Legacy of Toy Story (11:44, SD) features interviews with animators and many surprising faces all offering their take on the movie. (These interviews likely date back to sometime in 2004/2005).

Designing Toy Story (6:13, SD) goes into a little bit more detail about the designs of the movie, like the characters, backdrops, etc.

Deleted Scenes (18:50) features 10 scenes total, presented in story reels.

The following sections feature even more material, and it’s going to take you some time to get through it all.

Design is an extremely large gallery that you’ll want to explore but it may take some time.

Story features an introduction, a “Green Army Men” pitch, “Andy’s New Toy” storyreel, and “The Chase” storyreel/film comparison.

Production has a Production Tour (1:51), Layout Tricks (3:25), an Animation Tour (1:23) and a Multi-Language Reel (4:30).

Music & Sound has Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” music video (2:15), Designing Sound (6:35) and Randy Newman Demos.

Publicity features Character Interviews, Trailers, TV Spots, Posters, Toys & Stuff, and a selection of Toy Story Treats (15 vignettes). Lots and lots of spots.

Also featured is a one-minute featurette titled How To Take Your DisneyFile Favorite Movies on the Go.

There’s also a separate menu for Sneak Peeks with trailers for various Disney movies.

FINAL THOUGHT

Toy Story belongs in everyone’s collection. A great film, and a great disc. The wealth of bonus material here is staggering, even if more than half of it is ported over from previous DVD releases. This Blu-ray is a no-brainer, pick it up now.