Review: Toy Story

The adventures of a group of toys owned by young Andy (voiced by John Morris), who come to life when he’s not around. The main plot centres around the arrival of a new toy, egotistical ‘space ranger’ Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen), a pompous arse who thinks he’s a real space ranger. The fact that Andy is playing with this new toy especially hits cowboy doll Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) really hard, as he was previously Andy’s favourite. However, the other toys start to believe in Buzz’s hype, making things even worse for Woody. Even worse than that? The fact that Woody accidentally causes Buzz to end up in the neighbouring backyard, home to a toy-destroying little bully of a kid. Now it’s the space hero who needs rescuing, whilst the other toys accuse Woody of jealousy-motivated attempted murder. Don Rickles voices Mr. Potato Head, R. Lee Ermey voices the leader of a group of toy soldiers, and John Ratzenberger is the voice of Hamm, a piggy bank (which is a pretty shitty excuse for a toy if you ask me. I bet one of Andy’s relatives is a humourless accountant).

 

Anyone who says they don’t enjoy the “Toy Story” films is a lying fool or completely dead inside, but I must say, they aren’t even close to my favourite animated films (“Pinocchio”, “Peter Pan”, and “Robin Hood”, in case you were wondering). The premise behind these films is lovely, but by the third film, it became problematic because you were meant to take seriously and get all misty-eyed at the prospect of throwing away your toys on your way to college. As someone who gave away their toys in the first year or so of high school (like a normal person), that cinematic conceit left me a tad cold. All three are entertaining, though, even if this 1995 originator from director John Lasseter (“Toy Story 2”, “Cars”) doesn’t hold up so well in 2014 on the animation front.

 

Yikes, does this look kinda ugly and outdated at times. That’s the problem with computer-based FX and animation, it dates quicker than more traditional stuff ever did. For 1995, it was top-notch stuff (As someone who can vividly call every film I saw in cinemas in 1995- not that many, admittedly- thinking about 1995 nostalgically makes me feel very, very old, by the way), and was the first feature-length film of its kind. It’s with the character of Woody that you can see how outdated the animation is. It looks a bit crude at times, though part of that may be the fact that Woody seemed to become more streamlined in the other films, whereas here he looks more like a ventriloquist’s dummy (intentionally, to an extent, as the next film plays into that).

 

The film is nonetheless still entertaining, with a fun cast of characters (led undoubtedly by Tom Hanks’ Woody), and some good gags. I’ve never been partial to Don Rickles brand of insult humour, but he gets the film’s best line early on when his face is improperly rearranged: ‘Look, I’m a Picasso!’. There’s also a great homage to “Temple of Doom” featuring a giant, rolling globe. The funny one-liners and references come thick and fast, making sure adults will get just as much out of this as kids. Meanwhile, the climactic revenge on the neighbourhood kid who likes to pull toys apart and blow them up was cute too. The third film dealt with the end of childhood, and the passing on of toys to another generation. This first film’s theme is that of the threat of a new toy. It’s cute and works a whole lot better than the third film’s premise because it’s aiming smaller.

 

But I’m going to be a touch controversial and say: Buzz Lightyear is an unlikeable, delusional, pompous arse of a character. I hate him. Always have, always will, especially in this one. You see, in this one, Buzz doesn’t realise he’s a toy, but every other toy does. The second film was immediately better for having Buzz settled in to being a toy, but even if the idea is that he’s ‘new’, it comes across as silly and annoying to me. He hadn’t seen the ‘Made in Taiwan’ mark before? Really?

 

Also, perhaps only slightly less controversial, is my view on alleged genius singer/songwriter Randy Newman. Some consider Mr. Newman to be genuinely talented. I’m not one of them (aside from “Three Amigos!” of course), and I wish he’d stop strangling that poor cat throughout this film.

 

I like this film, but I think the fact that I was 15 when it first came out, and didn’t even see it for a few years anyway is telling. If you were a kid in 1995, this series probably means a lot to you. I like all three films, but I like a lot of films. It’s an entertaining, fast-moving, and really sweet film, and I respect the fact that many of you will think even more highly of it and its sequels. I guess I’m just more of a “Monsters Inc.”, “Monsters University”, and (especially) “Rango” kinda guy. The Oscar nominated screenplay is by  Joel Cohen (“Pass the Ammo”, “Cheaper By the Dozen”), Alex Sokolow (“Cheaper By the Dozen”), Andrew Stanton (“Toy Story 2”, “Toy Story 3”), and Joss Whedon (creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”).

 

Rating: B-