Toy Story 3-D Double Feature a Classic Re-Release
There isn’t a lot to say about Pixar/Disney’s re-release of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 as a 3-D double feature. I get the reasoning behind doing this, the studio wanting to make sure audiences are ready for Toy Story 3 hitting theaters next Summer. I also get the point of remastering them into 3-D, people for some reason infatuated with the technology making the films feel new. What I don’t know is whether or not audiences are going to respond, the market for re-releases sadly not what it used to be.
The toys are back in town in Walt Disney Pictures' Toy Story 3-D Double Feature
I say sadly because once upon a time Disney routinely put their animated classics back into theaters on a semi-annual basis. I’ve seen a whole slew of the studio’s hand-drawn classics like Pinocchio, Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 101 Dalmatians, Lady & the Tramp, The Jungle Book and Peter Pan this way, whole generations sadly only experiencing these films on DVD or video. While I’m ecstatic Toy Story is getting a new theatrical run, I worry that people won’t spend the money to see something they can already watch in the comfort of their own home, missing out on an opportunity that might not come their way ever again.
Pity, because if they do choose to avoid this double-feature it will be their and their family’s loss. Toy Story isn’t just a landmark film because it proved the viability of computer animation; it is a classic because it is fantastic motion picture. This movie set the template for every single Pixar title to come, director John Lasseter and company showing that they valued story, plot and character above all else which is why their efforts consistently year-in and year-out prove to be of the absolute highest qualities.
As for the 3-D I admit freely it is incredible. The early scenes of Andy’s bedroom and his cloud-filled wallpaper kind of blew my mind, while that sensational luggage carousel chase sequence in Toy Story 2 had me sitting on the very edge of my seat. But the best thing about the 3-D is that the movies are so good on their own you could care less if the technology was being used or not, just the fact they’re being shown theatrically enough to make hearts young and old beat in happy appreciation.
The three hour running time could potentially be a bit much for some, and even with a 10-minute intermission I will admit to seeing a couple of kids in my preview audience squirm in a tiny bit of discomfort about a third of the way through the second feature. But mostly everyone seemed to be just as engrossed by the two films as I was, this double-feature a rapturous event I almost couldn’t get enough of.
There was one thing about watching the two together I didn’t quite expect, and that was my own re-evaluation of the films themselves. For the longest time I’ve always stated I felt that Toy Story 2 was the superior effort, not just from an animation standpoint (naturally, technology only improves with time after all), but from an entertainment value angle as well.
What I will say is that I still hold to finding the plot of the second one to being richer and more complex, its musing on aging and family quite emotional. But, other then the amazing (if overly frenetic) climax, it’s just not as euphorically enjoyable. There is something about the unique newness of Toy Story that is impossible to duplicate, and as magnificent as Toy Story 2 is I didn’t get that same zip watching it as I did the first one. Side-by-side this fact was impossible for me to miss, and while we’re talking a matter of minute degrees here I just didn’t find the sequel as having the staying power of the original.
Not that any of this matters. Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are bona fide classics and films that simply must be seen in a theater. This re-release is an opportunity for a new generation to experience them for potentially the very first time, and 3-D or not I think this is a ticket audience members would be absolutely foolish to pass on.
Film Rating - Toy Story (1995): êêêê (out of 4)
Film Rating - Toy Story 2 (1999): êêê1/2 (out of 4)
Additional Links
