Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 1999

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I won't be coy (and I won't be Bad, either - since some of the young'uns who watched the movie with me, may be reading this. Howdy there!); I'll just say it straight: I loved this movie. If you hang on my every word [and, really, who doesn't?], then the rest of this review can wait till later; hie thee to your local cineplex pronto, bucko. And be sure to watch the kids in the front aisle. If you're in need of a good dose of cheer (like I was before I went to see Toy Story 2,) the kids in the front aisle will bring as much of that as watching the movie itself will. Trust Bammer on that one. Ah, you're still here. Alrighty then; I guess I should earn my keep by actually reviewing this flick... THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) As the taglines so playfully pun, "the Toys are back in town": the old familiar faces (and voices) that many of us grew up with - even if "grew up with" started with the original Toy Story - come back to the big screen. Our old pals Andy (John Morris) and his "living" Toys, cowboy Woody (Tom Hanks), astronaunt Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), dinosaur Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm the Piggy Bank (John Ratzenberger), Green Army Men Sergeant (R. Lee Ermey) and Woody's lady, Bo Peep (Annie Potts, complete with Peep's Sheep), make a return appearance; they're joined by cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), Stinky Pete The Prospector (Kelsey Grammer), Bullseye the horse (David Odgen Stiers. I think.), Mrs. Potato Head (Estelle Harris), Tour Guide Barbie (Jodi Benson), and probably the Father of the beanie-baby craze, Al The Toy Collector/"Chicken Man" (Wayne Knight), in a tale that combines humor, nostalgia, amazing computer animation, and even a Lesson or two, for kids of all ages [yep, even for us 36-year-old Chicks]. [STRONGER WARNING: the next paragraph definitely contains detailed movie plotline information; if you do not wish to be "spoiled" whatsoever, click here to skip to "The Upshot"]. Lest you think that cast was too large to fit in a 100-minute movie, wait till you hear the plotline: in a rapid-fire turn of events, Andy shelves Woody after accidently "breaking" Woody's arm; Woody's shelf-mate, Wheezer the not-squeaking penguin (which, unless I'm mistaken, is either modelled after the Linux penguin, or is a character from a rather famous film short...but I'm digressing again) is destined for the one event Toys hate: the yard sale! Woody accidently winds up in the "for sale" bin, from which Toy-Collector Al - realizing that Woody might actually be a collector's item - steals him. This turns out to be a joyous occasion for Jessie and The Prospector, who belong to Woody's "family" - but not for his pals Buzz and company, who, remembering Woody's heroic rescue of Buzz in the original Toy Story, set off to do some derring-do of their own. But will Woody want to leave his new-found family, to go back to Andy, who may have grown too old to play with dolls? Hmmm... [end SPOILERS] THE UPSHOT I've taken the chance that some folks [who, obviously, will have forgotten their Reading Is Fundamental lessons] will be upset at the audacity of my giving so much of the movie away in the paragraph immediately above - because it begins to address a subtle, yet very important aspect of Toy Story 2: it's more than just a "kiddie movie". The attention to detail alone separates it from your average animated cartoon, even those that are as heavily computer-generated (ABC's ReBoot comes quickly to mind - RIP). But there's something more going on here, something that I'll address a little later. For now, what's on the surface is delightful as-is. The original Toy Story wowed us (especially us tech heads) with its very real-looking computer animation; I know I'm not the only one that had to look more than a few times, before realizing that Andy and the other Humans, weren't real. Still, though there are some moments where you'd swear they blended live-action with animation (check out Al's nose hairs when he's passed out on the couch after his Cheesy Poofs attack), the animation seems less precise in this movie than it was in its predecessor's. That's not necessarily a Bad Thing, though; where TS1 built the whole world of Toys and Humans as an introduction to the skill of the technicians, if not the writers and voices, TS2 has a much deeper tale. I found myself wowed by the Pretty Pictures less often; here, instead, I saw the characters. Toy Story And what a great bunch of characters there were! Without going into "spoilage" territory, I'll just say that the large cast was served well enough, with no one character really hogging (oops, sorry Hamm!) the spotlight the way Hanks' "Woody" and Allen's "Buzz" did last go-round; and, again with an eye on detail, storylines that took place in TS1 are built-upon in TS2. But who would've thought that Mr. Potato Head would be...[careful, Bammer; the kids might be reading]...would have a chance to play "house" with his wife? And remember the puppy Andy got in the first flick? Mmmhmm. If I had to choose a weak spot, I'd go with Rex, who bordered on whiny; even some of the kids in my group, started rolling their eyes (on the other hand, my eyes got a workout when Jessie started in with the Obligatory Disney Song - though after she was done, I was okay about it because the song moved the story along in a somewhat necessary fashion). Grammer's take on Stinky Pete reminded me exactly why I enjoy the TV show Frasier so much (would that my favorite actor on that show, David Hyde Pierce, have been cast in TS2 as he was in my previous-favorite animated flick, A Bug's Tale.) By the time the movie was over, I wanted to run home and hug my "Curious George" non-collector dolls. Next time I see this movie - and believe me, there will be a next time, if only so I can catch everything I missed in trying to take review notes - I think I'll bring old Curious with me. The HUMAN Factor Frequent readers of my reviews know what generally is written in this space; but something about this movie compelled me to take a different tack this time. Perhaps it's because I'm at a sensitive point in my life, with a seriously ill family member in the hospital, and other stressors that I won't bore my readers with - but there was something very deep-reaching in this movie for me. Between the concepts brought forth about family, about friendship and obligations, about the silliness of mere collecting and disposing of "junk" we no longer care about, I came away from the movie with an appreciation of things I'd not really given much thought to since I was a wee one, but that kids take the greatest delight in. Especially after seeing Jacob dancing his cute self into a tizzy in front of the screen when the credits were rolling, to the big-band-beat of Tom Scott's sax and Robert Goulet's singing "You've Got A Friend In Me". 4-year-old Jacob, who I'd never met until today, made me grin so hard in watching him dance, that I asked his parents if I could "interview" him and his 11-year-old sister Jessica for my review. I asked them both if they liked the movie (yes, they both did), who their favorite characters were (Buzz and Woody for Jessica, Buzz for Jacob; notably, their mom and I both liked Bullseye the horse, best. Hmmm.), and if they learned anything from the movie. Jessica couldn't really pinpoint anything, though she politely agreed with my prompts; Jacob, on the other hand, was so hyper after his delightful dance that he wouldn't stay still long enough for our "interview", and when he calmed down for a minute, the adult in me seemed to make him a bit less open than he was duringhis dance. Which is, basically, The Point I'm making: kids seem to have an understanding of the sheer fun of Fun, fun for its own sake, that adults like me are simply amazed at in watching it on a screen for an hour-and-a-half. For me, the layers that were behind the story in Toy Story 2, though at first glance they seemed to be simplistic "morals", made the story all the more deep. For Jacob, Buzz was cool, the music had a great beat, and he had a huge space in which to run amuck for a few minutes. And the funny thing is, we were both "right". Hey, call me a sentimental fool if you will, but some people pay Big Bucks in therapy to gain that kind of insight; I figure that $7.50 (including a box of popcorn - and lots of soul-cleansing laughs) ain't a bad tradeoff. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE I could feel the pull of the folks behind Toy Story 2 wanting to impart The Moral Of The Story to the audience, right near the end; by the last scene, even my rediscovered inner-peace was starting to roil a wee bit. But it was a minor roil, and Jacob's Dance got me back into the smooth groove. So forget the gimmicky toy tie-ins (but hey, Tour Guide Barbie had me rollin', and Mr. Potato Head's reaction...well, see it for yourself). If you can't picture yourself going to a kiddie movie, go for the gee-whiz animation, the inside jokes ("Father!")...look, if you just need a reason, go because Bammer said so, 'kay? TOY STORY 2:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 1999 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/