The Pitch:
But, why can't the Toy Story sequel be made for theaters?
I really didn't expect this movie to force me to
confront my mortality. Yet, that's exactly what happened, and in a couple
different ways. First, there's the part I was ready for. The main thing I
remembered about this movie was the "When She Loved Me" sequence with
Jessie. That's a gut punch of a scene, and it got me thinking about the passing
of time and obsolescence.You know, the standard Toy Story ennui. Second, the
aspect I wasn't prepared for, was realizing how long it had been since I'd seen
the movie. I last saw this movie when it was in theaters 20 years ago.
I'm too young for that to be true (right!?). I can't be talking about movies in
terms of two decades ago. More importantly, there's no way this movie is 20
years old. That would mean I'm...oh god.
I'm not sure that I agree with the ever growing
sentiment that this is the best Toy Story movie. For me, the first movie
is too tidy and nimble for me to pick anything else, not to mention the
historical significance, which I can't separate from my assessment. This is
damn good though. The animation holds up well for - sigh - 20 years ago.
Adding Joan Cusack to the already unimpeachable voice cast is an excellent
choice.
It's crazy to think that this was ever going to be a
straight-to-video release. We forget that, up to that point, Disney's standard
procedure was to release animated sequels under the Disney Toon banner and
release them straight to video. In 1999, Pixar was still independent from
Disney, who only handled the distribution of their films. It made sense for
them to follow Disney's operating procedure though, since it was a proven
model. I'm not sure of all the machinations that led to Toy Story 2
getting a theatrical release and becoming the third highest-grossing movie of
the year, but it was a very messy production. I'm glad it all worked out.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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