Toy Story (1995)
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Toy Story Movie Review
Toy Story is a 1995 animated adventure film directed by John Lasseter. It is Pixar’s very first feature length film which is a good, but highly overrated one.
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“To infinity and beyond!“
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Its plot is undeniably very original as it follows toys who come to life after the kid is not playing with them. Woody the cowboy toy is jealous of a new toy who has to realize that he is not really a space ranger. In their relationship, the film is basically a buddy comedy, but mostly an adventure flick with a fantasy setup.
The themes are well explored. Jealousy is very well touched upon and I love that the protagonist has those negative feelings and isn’t perfect. And of course Buzz’s story is the highlight as it is a deep, powerful look at disappointment of who you are as a person and a realization that you are not who you thought you were. That identity crisis is superbly explored, but the film is also about friendship, the community and the roles within it as well as about change as Woody has to adapt to his new friend and status quo in the house.
Let’s talk about the characters. I actually find its two protagonists to be iconic, but the rest are honestly far from great. Woody is fantastic and such a complex, realistic character who has to learn to be a better person and naturally progresses during the film. Buzz Lightyear is also phenomenal and such a wonderful, highly endearing character. Watching his identity crisis was tough as you’d come to care for him by that point.
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The friendship between these two drives the whole film and it’s surely fantastic and so well developed. Their interactions are superb and the two actors have great chemistry together. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen both gave iconic voice performances in what has to be two of the best in the history of animation. A truly inspired work, even though I have always heard and recognized Hanks’ signature voice which was distracting at times.
But the others are not great. Andy is not that present in this first film, Bo Peep is the only female character here and she’s forgettable, Slinky Dog is also forgettable and Rex as this nervous dinosaur is one of the more memorable characters along with Hamm the piggy bank. But the highlight is easily Mr. Potato Head with his amusing awaiting of his love interest. As for Sid, he is definitely a dangerous villain for the toys, but over-the-top and a Pixar film is at its best when it does not have a villain in my opinion.
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Toy Story has a very overrated soundtrack. Strange Things is forgettable and I Will Go Sailing No More is a too on-the-nose song that distracted from the actually powerful Buzz realization scene. I really do not like when songs are that unsubtle and this one (similar to ‘Brother Bear’) is ridiculous in that regard. You’ve Got a Friend in Me is naturally the best song here and it has fine lyrics and is a catchy tune, but is in my opinion quite overrated and never on the same quality level of Disney’s great songs. Randy Newman’s work here is not his best one nor were the songs even needed here.
Toy Story is a short film, but it doesn’t feel short as it can be pretty boring at times. I am of course talking about its action which is highly excessive, especially in its third act which has its fine moments, but is overall your typical 90s kids’ triumphant finale. Most of the film is an adventure, but that high-spirited, authentic adventure is seriously offset by the constant urge for very fast pace and high action. That is the problem I have with this whole franchise and it is clearly evident here.
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So Toy Story of course proved to be a groundbreaking film when it comes to animation. It is the first ever computer animated film and thus it influenced all of the others in its wake which is unfortunate and this film is the best example of how computer animation is very timely and never at all timeless as its hand-drawn counterpart.
‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ is the first ever hand-drawn film and it looks miles better than the first CGI film. That is because this technology changes and improves constantly and at this point they were just beginning to use it and it shows unfortunately as the backgrounds are very poor and dated and the overall designs are very simplistic. The film is respectable and admirable for its time, but now it doesn’t look good. But I did find the overall toy designs very well done as there is a plethora of different toys in the film and they are very well utilized into the action with the highlight being those soldiers.
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The film is well directed by John Lasseter and although fast paced, it is engaging and especially entertaining in its first half which is my favorite one. I do admire the film’s authenticity and simplicity as it is simple at its surface, but actually complex thematically speaking. It is good as the first CGI and Pixar film, but far from the best works of the studio and I personally do not share most people’s and critics’ high praises.
Toy Story has two iconic characters in Woody and Buzz Lightyear so wonderfully voiced by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. The other characters are mostly forgettable, but these two are very well developed and highly memorable. Its story is very authentic, it deals with some powerful themes and is a fun adventure to follow. However, the soundtrack is weak and the film proved to be incredibly influential on the world of animation for better and for worse as it introduced computer animation to the world which looks far from timeless here and the action is simply too overwhelming. As Pixar’s first film, it is admirable and quite good, but far from the studio’s best works and it’s an overrated movie in my opinion.
