The Story:
You all know the story, there is no way you don't. But for the sake of the review I will humor you.
Its Andy's birthday, and this means bad news for all of his toys. They decide to have a meeting about what they should do, and all the toys fear they could be replaced by some new cooler toy that Andy might get.
Woody (Tom Hanks), a cowboy who is the leader of the toys tries to convince everyone that no one with be replaced, but is soon proven wrong when new toy Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) as Andy's new favorite toy.
Their rival spins so out of control to the point of Buzz accidentally getting knocked out the window. Andy who was going to dinner wanted to take Buzz with him must then settle for Woody. At a gas station Woody and Buzz get in a fight and end up getting lost. Then when trying to find their way back to Andy, they end up getting taken by Sid, a boy who tortures toys.
Turns out that Andy will be moving tomorrow, and the rest of the movie is a race against time to escape Sid's house, and get back to Andy.
The Movie:
Reviewing Toy Story isn't something thats very easy to do. People love Toy Story. So much so that we don't even have to acknowledge why. And it can also be pretty hard to pinpoint why, but I think I've figured it out.
Not only is Toy Story a movie that changed the medium of animation forever, but it is also a good movie. Okay let me break this down for you.
There are some movies that are really innovative like say Avatar. But Avatar isn't well rewritten, and is basically a rehash of a lot of other movies. Sure it might look pretty, but you're not going to watch it more than once or twice.
Then there are well written movies like The Dark Knight. It was well written and fun to watch, but it didn't really try any technical innovation. But it didn't need to.
I worked Batman into a Toy Story review, aren't you proud of me?
Now take both the good writing, and the innovation, and bam you get Toy Story. But when you really think about it, its the writing that really keeps us coming back. Don't get me wrong, its great to create new techniques, but innovation without substance fails. Avatar will be remembered for its visual effects, and only for its visual effects.
Now think what Toy Story would be like without good writing. We wouldn't remember it with so much fondness and nostalgia as we do. But Toy Story turns twenty this year, and we got the movie that we did and its awesome.
Toy Story's jokes and clever, and never fall flat and repeat viewings only make them better. Every single time I watch this movie there is some new joke or gag that jumps out at me that I might have missed. You always find something new with this movie.
This movie is also super quotable. Whether it be "You are a toy!" or "To infinity and beyond" this movie will give you plenty of good one-liners.
The story is also excellent, but what really carries this movie is the characters. All of them are likable in their way, and well written. Even the "Villain" Sid has his funny moments. You know, when he isn't blowing toys up.
There is not one moment in this movie were I don't care about what the characters are doing. Its also really clever that its the astronaut that replaces the cowboy, since that actually did happen in our culture.
Nothing feels forced in this movie. Its not like half way through the movie Woody and Buzz start to care about each other out of nowhere. They hate each other at the beginning of the movie, but that hate naturally grows into friendship. And this is due to the excellent writing and attention that is put into this movie.
The Music and Presentation:
Alright lets talk animation. This movie is groundbreaking. This was new uncharted territory back in the day. Toy Story was a new thing, there wasn't anything to really anything to compare it to. Remember this was the first fully computer animated film, there was no Frozen or anything else like it. The animation is still as amazing today as it was 20 years ago, with the tinniest exception of the human characters. They look more like plastic toys then the actual toys do, but you can't fault the movie for that because this was fairly new technology so there were bound to be some weird problems. OH MY GOSH WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT DOG!!!!!
The music is also really well done. Randy Newman crafted an excellent soundtrack, perfectly conveying the feelings the audience, and the characters are feeling. You've got a friend in me, is in my opinion one of the best themes for a movie ever. Lets listen:
Verdict and Final Thoughts:
Toy story is quite possibly one of the greatest movies of all time. Its a near perfect movie, the story is great, the pacing is great, the characters are amazing and iconic. If you haven't seen Toy story then go watch it now, and everyone who has seen it before you go watch it too! I'm giving Toy story ten out of ten stars. Its a "Masterpiece."
To Infinity and beyond!!!
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