Toy Story

When it comes to animated movies Disney has always been a powerful force. Pixar Studios  in 1995 showed that they were ready to take animation to "infinity and beyond" and become the part of Disney Studios that has given us nothing but great movie after movie. What Pixar does is not just absorb the younger demographic and keep the older ones mildly entertained. It completely absorbs everyone watching no matter the age or the level of maturity, films of Pixar, starting from Toy Story, have kept a certain magical touch around it with an unexpected amount of depth. While animation has continued to improve since Toy Story came out due to all the great technological advances, Toy Story was very cutting edge in 1995 and was actually the first movie to be a complete computer created animated film.

The plot is simple but effective and actually has genuine drama and excitement to it. The main story is fun but the degree of character development is what really shores it up. The conflict between Buzz and Woody is taken deeper than this and, when confronted by the truth of his status as a toy, Buzz's turmoil is very real as opposed to him being a cartoon character and nothing more. Despite the two strong leads there is a real depth in the support cast. They may not actually have that many lines, but they have all the funniest lines. Most of the `adult' wit comes from the Potato Head, dinosaur, the pig and slinky dog. They are funny and are very well used. In fact the majority of this humor and plot will go right over kids heads.

And of course, who could forget the revolutionary animation! The computer animation used for this movie not only made it startlingly realistic but also opened up tons of possibilities, and thankfully the filmmakers chose to explore these possibilities. There are dozens of things that are hidden in the woodwork throughout the film, as well as in the songs – note, for example, the subtle playing of the Indiana Jones theme song in the scene where Woody knocks Buzz out the window with the desk lamp. Every time I watch Toy Story something new comes out in the pop culture hidden things.

The thought of the story is really brilliant. I can't count how many times growing up as part of imagining you imagine your toys to be real with an actual voice. That is precisely what Pixar gives us is a fantasy world where toys are not just toys but are actually more like us. They have actual emotions and when no one is around they have their own little world.

The visuals and animation are so great that it is amazing but there are actual subtle moments where the facial expressions and gestures of Woody gave me a feeling that I was actually looking at Tom Hanks dressed in a cowboy outfit and not a computer generated image.

With a clever story and a great gang of characters that keep the movie enjoyable for even adults. Toy Story is a movie that never seems to get old no matter how many times you have seen it. I am giving this movie three and a half buckets of popcorn. This is a great family film, and one of the best parts is that it is using the Disney marketing strategy currently of the DVD/Blu-ray combo pack.

-The Movie Man-