Toy Story 2 (1999)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Wayne Knight, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, and Laurie Metcalf
Grade: Classic

Can you believe Disney was considering releasing this direct-to-video?

Summary

We open in Sector 4 of the Gamma Quadrant where space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Allen) flies into an unknown planet believed to be the fortress of the Evil Emperor Zurg (Andrew Stanton). After blowing up an army of robots, Buzz finds himself deep in the heart of the fortress once he escapes a death trap in a hallway. He ends up in a room where at the end of a pathway, a battery that is the source of Zurg’s power is available for the taking. He falls but uses a contraption on his belt to help him float back to the platform the battery is on. He tries to grab the battery, but it’s a hologram. Zurg shows up, and it turns into a shootout. He shoots and kills Buzz.

Once this is all over, this entire sequence is revealed to be a level on the new Buzz Lightyear video game.

Dinosaur toy Rex (Shawn) has been playing nonstop but can’t seem to beat it despite Buzz’s encouragement. The two are interrupted to find a frantic Woody (Hanks) searching for his hat because their owner Andy (Morris) is taking him to “Cowboy Camp”, and they’re leaving any minute. Bo Peep (Potts) reminds Woody that Andy loves him regardless and how he shouldn’t be worried. Just then, Rex gets into a scuffle with Bo Peep’s sheep, and he falls onto the television remote. It turns the channel to a commercial for Al’s Toy Barn and the dressed-in-a-chicken costume owner Al (Knight). Fearing the humans will hear, they all yell at Rex to turn it off, but he’s so damn stupid he can’t figure it out. Thankfully, piggy bank Hamm (Ratzenberger) saves the day. Right after, Slinky Dog (Varney) shows up with Woody’s hat but unfortunately, it allows for Andy’s dog Buster to run in the room and cause a ruckus. Everyone gets into position, but it’s actually not that bad, as Buster just likes playing with everyone, especially Woody.

Obviously, the secret of the toys being alive is safe with a dog, so it’s cool.

Soon after, Andy comes into the room. After his mom (Metcalf) tells him he has five minutes before they leave, he decides he has time for one more big play session. Sadly, during playtime, Andy accidentally tears Woody’s arm. His mom suggests they fix him on the way, but a saddened Andy decides to leave him. Andy leaves to go to camp, and his mom puts Woody on the top shelf. This is almost a death sentence to the toys, as Mr. Potato Head (Rickles) tells Rex, “Woody’s been shelved”.

Woody is distraught and stays on the shelf for a while alone. After a terrifying nightmare of Andy coming home and throwing him out and into a garbage full of broken toys, Woody wakes up and disrupts the placement of a dusty book on the shelf with his wonky arm. Because of it, he hears coughing, prompting him to move the book to find Wheezy (Joe Ranft). Wheezy is a squeeze toy penguin whose squeaker doesn’t work anymore. A surprised Woody assumes Wheezy was taken by Andy’s mom to get his speaker fixed months ago, but it turns out she just told Andy that to calm him down. He just got shelved and couldn’t yell for help because his squeaker was busted. Plus, the dust on the top shelf aggravates his condition. Wheezy has come to the point of accepting his fate, pointing out they’re all one step away from being in Andy’s room to the yard sale. As he says this, Woody looks over and sees Andy’s mom putting up a “Yard Sale” sign. Woody goes into panic mode and alerts the room, calling for Sarge (Ermey) to set up an emergency roll call. In the middle of it, they are forced to get back into position because Andy’s mom comes into the room. She grabs some old toys to add to a 25-cent box, including Wheezy.

Realizing he only has so much time, Woody calls Buster and jumps on his back to ride into the yard sale. The other toys think he’s selling himself, but they see from the window that Woody jumped into the box to save Wheezy. He puts Wheezy under Buster’s collar and tries to ride back into the house, but Woody falls after the dog jumps over an object. A kid walks by, so he has to lay there. However, this same kid grabs him! The kid’s mother isn’t interested in buying him because he’s broken and puts the toy on a table. This activates Woody’s pull string voicebox. Al from Al’s Toy Barn is there and hears this. He collects rare toys and is overly excited to find the very valuable Woody. He tries to buy it, but Andy’s mom notes he’s not for sale and shouldn’t be there. She grabs Woody from him and locks it away in some strong box. However, Al causes a distraction by kicking a skateboard to knock some things over. Once Andy’s mom leaves the strong box unattended, Al breaks into it, steals Woody, and drives off. Buzz goes over to save him and jumps onto the trunk. Once the car goes over a bump, Buzz falls from the trunk just after he opens it. Buzz does get two clues though. He remembers the license plate and holds onto a feather that came from the car.

“Why would someone steal Woody?” Bo Peep asks. Well, that’s what we’re here to find out.

The rescue mission begins now. Quickly after, Buzz uses Mr. Spell to decipher the letters on the license plate. Mr. Potato Head passes this off as a useless idea, despite adding no help whatsoever to the conversation, and tells everyone to leave Buzz to “play with his toys”. This gives Buzz a moment of clarity, and they find out the letters on the plate are found in “Al’s Toy Barn”. He then has Etch A Sketch draw the man they saw in a chicken costume. Because of the picture, they now recognize him as the man from the Al’s Toy Barn commercial, and they realize they need to find where the store is at.

Meanwhile, Woody is taken to Al’s apartment. Once Al leaves to film a commercial, Woody is left alone to meet a new group of toys related to his origin story like cowgirl Jesse (Cusack), a still-in-the-box, mint-condition Stinky Pete the Prospector (Grammer), and Woody’s horse Bullseye. They’re all excited to see Woody who’s confused as all hell. To explain things, they show him all the merchandise and memorabilia regarding the Woody character. As he stands in shock, they show him the source of his fame by turning on an episode of Woody’s Roundup, a popular children’s television show centered around the adventures of Woody and this group of toys in marionette form from the 1950s. Woody stares in awe. He had no idea. At the same time, Buzz and the gang find the commercial for Al’s Toy Barn on TV again, and Etch writes down the picture of the map from the commercial. They now have an address, and Buzz will lead the group to save Woody like he did for him. The problem is that Woody may not want to go as much as they think.

My Thoughts:

Very few sequels are just as good as the original, especially in the case of animated movies, but Toy Story 2 defies the odds as it continues the franchise’s path of perfection. Some have argued it’s even better than the first!

Toy Story 2 is both a rescue mission movie and an introspective tale of identity and abandonment. For the first time since Buzz Lightyear entered his life, Woody gets a reminder of his shelf life in Andy’s room once his arm gets partially torn and he’s left behind. He’s thrown on the top shelf with other toys ready to be thrown out like Wheezy, and he starts to understand his fellow toys from a completely different perspective.

Wheezy is just the beginning though, as we will see later on.

It becomes less about Woody and more what Woody can do for others, proving his selflessness and heroic antics time and time again. It starts with his own rescue mission to save Wheezy from the yard sale, and it’s tested again when he befriends the other toys Al has collected. Once there, his entire world changes. For the first time ever, he’s faced with what the bigger picture is, and it affects the Woody character throughout the rest of the franchise’s run. The goal of a toy is to be played with, but what happens when those days stop? What happens when their child owner grows up, playtime is over, and the toy depression kicks in? Is there a different path a toy can take? Very few are given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Woody has in this film and though his beloved owner Andy still has plenty of years to play with Woody and the others, their time together is on a running clock, with Stinky Pete reminding him so. It’s not something that has crossed his mind beforehand but now, Woody comes face to face with the biggest fear a toy has to face: what happens when their owner outgrows them? Very few toys have a backup plan in place. Though Woody would be turning his back on his owner, he has the chance to be revered and loved for a lifetime in a toy museum. It’s a moral dilemma that tests our hero like never before.

Woody’s loyalty to Andy is still his priority but things change when we learn about Jesse, played by Joan Cusack in one of the very few roles I could honestly say I enjoyed her in.

The lovable Jesse is a revelation. At first glance, she’s the excitable western cowgirl who’s the perfect companion to Woody. You’re worried she’s going to be annoying and just “along for the ride”, being one of those additional characters thrown in for comedic purposes (like Ducky and Bunny in Toy Story 4), but she’s far from it. She’s instrumental to the layered story trying to be told in Toy Story 2. Her backstory changes everything. In short order, we find out she’s a toy who’s been emotionally destroyed because of her traumatic experience dealing with every toy’s fear: falling out of favor of your owner. In one of the most emotional sequences in a franchise full of them, we go through a montage of Jesse and her owner Emily. It starts out as something reminiscent to Woody’s relationship with Andy. Everything is all fun and games, and she feels loved. Then, reality creeps in. As time passes, Emily gets older and stops playing with toys. We see the sadness and depression set in as years go by, with Jesse seeing firsthand how Emily isn’t interested in her anymore despite being inseparable not too long before that. It’s the feeling of not being wanted, feeling useless, and knowing that things will never be the same that scares a toy, and Jesse gets the worst of it all. As humans, we have very similar feelings in certain circumstances, so we can’t help but feel for Jesse even though we just met her. Toys technically can live forever, but a majority of their lives are miserable.

This is because they will always feel loyalty to their owner, despite the inevitability of the owner not playing with them after a certain time or getting rid of them entirely (which will make them internalize their feelings of abandonment forever). Sadly, they will always crave being played with. It’s what their happiness stems from.

Unfortunately, every toy will eventually outlast their usefulness.

There’s only a span of a decade or so where kids will play with their toys and after that, the toys have to sit in storage, realizing that for the rest of their lives, they’ll do nothing more than take up space. If we’re being honest, girls stop playing with toys even quicker than boys. When you consider this, it makes Jesse’s story even sadder, and you start to wonder how long her playtime really was with Emily, compared to how long she sat there untouched when Emily got older. What’s even more heartbreaking is later on in the montage when Jesse is finally picked up after all those years. She goes back to her set expression of one of the happiest smiles you’ll ever see, but internally, it’s a genuine smile. Jesse thinks they’re going to have one more play session. In a gut-punch ending to the scene, Jesse is instead thrown into a donation box. Just like that, it’s as if her life is all but over. After putting all of her trust and love into one person, she’s tossed to the side like nothing. Even Woody can’t help but feel for her, even though he wants to get back to Andy knowing the same thing will eventually happen to him too. We are then posed with the question by Stinky Pete that reminds Woody about the reality of the situation, “How long will it last Woody? Do you think he’s going to take you to college, or his honeymoon?”. It changes Woody’s world, especially when Stinky Pete talks about how in a way, he can last forever if he comes with them.

Once again, the Toy Story franchise makes us emotional about something we do in our everyday lives after seeing it from the perspective of a toy. It’s as if once we see this sequence, we are given the ultimatum like Woody has. We can’t ignore the emotional trauma Jesse has been going through (as well as the anxiety she gets from being in her storage box for too long), and we start to look at our own toys differently. It’s remarkable how well it’s done in this emotionally charged sequel. When you combine it with the grief-stricken vocal cords of Sarah McLachlan, the “When She Loved Me” sequence will have you tearing up in short order, wanting to give your toys one last play session to make up for lost time.

Every additional character to this sequel is a welcomed one. First of all, we finally got to see the debut of Buzz Lightyear’s arch nemesis in the Evil Emperor Zurg, and I love the Darth Vader-inspired look of the character. The Roundup gang are excellently crafted as well. Their looks and the idea of Woody’s Roundup being straight out of the 1950s (akin to shows like Howdy Doody, Four Feather Falls, and Hopalong Cassidy) are excellent touches. I love the rich backstory given to Woody in this sequel. It may not be as touching to newer viewers today, but when it came out, you have to think how well audiences connected to where Woody came from. Many of the parents taking their kids to see Toy Story 2 in 1999 grew up on shows similar to Woody’s Roundup. Kids in the late 90s may not appreciate the reference as much as the parents did, but as a bit of a media historian myself, I loved it. What a way to explain the feel and spirit of the doll, from the old-timey pull string to the western style show that was so popular back then. Woody’s reaction to it all was even better, especially when he gets his first taste of all his merchandise and memorabilia surrounding Al’s apartment. It’s a sequence that always gives me goosebumps because it’s such a revelation for both the character and us, as we find out the true origin of Woody. He’s not just Andy’s toy, he’s the star of his own multi-media franchise that is its own piece of television history lost in time.

Just like the lore of Buzz Lightyear and how popular he is in the present day, generations of children used to flock to TVs across the nation to watch Woody save the old west with his trusty steed in Bullseye, his rambunctious partner Jesse, and the goofy prospector in Stinky Pete. He was the star. With Buzz and the everyday dealings of hanging out in Andy’s room and making sure his owner is happy, Woody hasn’t thought about himself since midway through the first Toy Story. It’s not that he’s being selfish here, but it feels good to be the center of attention. The shyest person you know may deny it, but everyone appreciates adulation from others, even if it’s the tiniest bit. People love to be loved, so seeing the amazement and happiness in Woody’s eyes when he comes face to face with this reveal of a whole television series about him is as pure as they come. It’s not just Andy that loves him, millions did. If he joins this lonely group of toys in their quest to be taken to Tokyo for some display in a museum, he could be loved forever by everyone! It’s a chance at immortality! For a toy like Jesse whose experienced true heartbreak, this option is a no-brainer. It gives us the toughest choice Woody’s ever had to make, arguably the toughest of the entire series.

Woody’s loyalty becomes his defining trait throughout this franchise. He’s loyal to Andy, he’s loyal to the toys in Andy’s room and will do anything to help them, and he’s loyal to any toy in need. He’s a hero in that regard and as we see over and over again, he will always do the right thing in helping a fellow toy whether they be good or bad (Toy Story, Toy Story 4), and even if they end up trying to screw him in the end (Toy Story 3). In Toy Story 2, his loyalty is tested like never before because he’s divided between his friendship with the Roundup gang and learning how important it is to fulfill their prophecy of making it to the museum and how he’s the last piece to get them there, and how he’s still got a life back home with Andy, Buzz, and his friends. It all lies on Woody. If he chooses Buzz and going back to Andy, Jesse and the others are put into storage forever because without the star in Woody, the collection is useless. Sure, the others have value, but he’s the star. Without him, it’s not worth it, and they will be screwed because of him. Can he live with that? Is there another solution? The movie plays with all of questions, and it’s an enriching experience because of it.

To keep things light and fun in the middle of the emotional and morally complicated sequences Woody finds himself in, we’re treated to the hysterical rescue mission Buzz leads up with his almost useless rescue team of Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, and Slinkey Dog. As I mentioned in my review of the first Toy Story and how it will always be a major “pro” regarding the franchise, it’s so cool to see how the most normal of actions becomes such an entertaining and chaotic sequence for the toys to navigate through. Through the point of view of a toy, this world is a hundred times bigger than it is to us, making everything even more dangerous and laugh-inducing. This couldn’t be truer when seeing Buzz lead his crew to Al’s Toy Barn as they fight traffic, try to figure out a map, and cross over roads no toy has ever come back from. At one point, Buzz has to fight another Buzz Lightyear who just like the first film, has no idea he’s a toy. We even get an introductory scene to this other Buzz in the same vein as the scene in the first Toy Story when Woody looked over the bed to see Buzz for the first time. Tim Allen’s delivery as Buzz, with his annoyed reaction to seeing how he used to be, was so simplistically funny (“I don’t have time for this”).

To the surprise of no one, the voice acting was again top notch. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were just as all-in as they were during the first go-around, but what was even better was the excellent inclusions of Joan Cusack’s Jesse and Kelsey Grammer’s twisted Stinky Pete. Cusack exemplified the excitable cowgirl and seemed to internalize the traumatic feelings just as well, making her one of the most beloved additions to the Toy Story crew. Grammer did an excellent job at being the soft-spoken leader of the group that tries to keep the toys’ spirits up despite the looming possibility of being stuck in storage forever, pending Woody’s decision. The twists the story takes in his characterization gives a level of danger not even considered a possibility in the first half, and it’s spectacular. It all sets up a third act just as exhilarating as the first film. Just like when Buzz was flying while holding Woody in the climax of the first film, Woody trying to save Jesse from the airplane is a sequence that will give you chills.

A special shout out goes to Wheezy. Being one of the very few asthmatic animated characters in recent memory, Joe Ranft makes a relatively small supporting role into one of Toy Story‘s most underrated and loving characters coming out of the franchise. This was the only film the character appeared in, but us fans know, he’ll live on in our hearts. Money-hungry toy collector Al was fantastic too. I liked how he was animated perfectly to look like Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander, but in fact was played by fellow Seinfeld alum Wayne Knight. Honestly, he personified the slimy clown. I’m not mad at it.

*It’s also important to note that we got one of the most satisfying scenes ever put to film: When Woody gets fixed*

There’s a myriad of reasons as to why Toy Story 2 is one of the very few perfect sequels. Along with getting to see our two favorite characters back in action with missions of equal importance, we are also introduced to an entirely new group of characters that are carefully presented to the audiences with an immaculate touch. Even with the amount of screen time given to all the toys we know, these new characters make their mark in the Toy Story universe with well-layered personalities, significant and striking designs, and well developed and intriguing backstories that gives us another extraordinary tale worth seeing. Their presence changes the outlook and motivations for Woody and Buzz, giving them different perspectives they’ve never realized they would be faced with before. Simultaneously, it all comes together to remind us that the real treasure in life is our friends and family.

Director John Lasseter and his team delicately constructed one of the best animated sequels ever produced in Toy Story 2. It’s pure movie magic, the kind Disney and Pixar used to be known for. They could’ve left the original Toy Story as-is, and it still would be remembered as one of the finest animated films of all time, but they decided that these characters and this world was loved by too many to not give it another go. Thank God for that! Because of the love for these characters, and the writers’ willingness to go deeper into their minds and ever-evolving personalities, we were able to get an entirely new story that not only furthered the lore of the franchise while keeping the entertainment value at the all-time high the first one had, but it legitimized the legacy of Pixar and their partnership with Disney for a lifetime.

Oh, and make sure you stay for the bloopers!