Toy Story 2 is a 1999 Academy-Award-nominated CGI film, the sequel to Toy Story; the third Disney / Pixar feature film, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them. Like the first film, Toy Story 2 was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, directed by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon, and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 19, 1999, in some parts of Australia on December 2, 1999 and the United Kingdom on 11 February 2000. The film is set for re-release in stereoscopic 3D on February 10, 2010, leading up to the highly-anticipated release of Toy Story 3 on June 18, 2010.

The movie keeps most of the original characters and voices from the first movie, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, and John Ratzenberger. They are joined by new characters voiced by Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Wayne Knight, and Estelle Harris.

This film is rated G by the MPAA, and Universal by the BBFC.

Plot

While Andy is playing with Woody in preparation to go to Cowboy Camp, Woody's arm is torn and he is forced to stay in Andy's room. Woody has nightmares of becoming a disused toy, but wakes to find that Wheezy, a penguin toy that lost its squeaker, is being taken by Andy's mom to be sold at a garage sale. Woody, with the help of Andy's dog Buster, manages to save Wheezy, but ends up being stolen by Al McWiggin, owner of "Al's Toy Barn". Buzz Lightyear and the other toys watch horrified, and Buzz sets up a rescue party with Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Slinky Dog and Hamm.

Woody is brought to Al's apartment, where he discovers that he is a toy created from a popular television show of the past, "Woody's Roundup", and that Al now has a complete collection of memorabilia which he plans to see to a Japanese toy museum. Woody meets the toy versions of the show's co-stars, Jessie, his sidekick, Bullseye, his horse, and Stinky Pete, an old prospector and who is still in his original box. The three are excited to be going to Japan, but Woody has doubts, knowing that he is Andy's toy. Later, Al brings over a toy repairman, who restores Woody's arm and gives him a fresh paint job, which Woody appreciates. Woody slowly warms up to the idea of going to Japan, particularly after hearing that Jessie was once a girl's toy but later abandoned after she grew up.

Meanwhile, Buzz and the others make their way to the toy store to try to locate Woody. In their escapades, Buzz gets in a fight with a newer Buzz toy and the original Buzz is trapped while the rest of the rescue team take Buzz #2 with them across the street to Al's apartment where they now know Woody is being kept. Buzz manages to escape and follows the team, inadvertently letting loose an Emperor Zurg action figure who trails behind him. The team manages to use the elevator to get to Al's apartment and attempt to take Woody home, but Woody refuses to leave. The original Buzz manages to catch up to the group, and helps to remind Woody that he is a toy, meant to be played with, and convinces Woody to leave with them. Woody gets an idea and invites the other "Woody's Roundup" toys to come to Andy's house, but before they can accept, they find that Stinky Pete, who has left his box, has blocked the exit route, determined to get the complete set to Japan. Before Buzz and the other toys can interfere, Al enters and packs the toys, including Woody, Jessie and Bullseye for shipping to the airport. Buzz and the others quickly leave the building, with Buzz #2 interceding to stop the Emporer Zurg toy; the rest of the team steal a Pizza Planet truck and manage to drive it to the airport.

In the baggage area, Buzz and the others find the crates with Woody and the other toys. They manage to free Woody and Bullseye, and stick the Stinky Pete doll into a girl's backpack so that he will know what it is like to be a toy, but they are unable to get Jessie out in time before she is loaded on the plane. Woody, Buzz and Bullseye give chase, and together they manage to save Jessie before the plane takes off, though Woody's arm is torn again. The toys happily return to Andy's home, later learning that Al has gone bust due to the failure to sell his collection to the museum. Andy returns home from camp, and is excited about the new Jessie and Bullseye toys. Andy carefully repairs Woody's arm and marks both Jessie and Bullseye with his name, making both of them feel appreciated. Woody and Buzz acknowledge they know that Andy will eventually grow up, but they'll be there for each other when he does. The movie ends with Wheezy, who is now fixed, singing, "You've Got a Friend in Me."

Voice cast

• Tom Hanks as Woody
• Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear
• Joan Cusack as Jessie
• Kelsey Grammer as Stinky Pete the Prospector
• Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head
• Wallace Shawn as Rex
• Jim Varney as Slinky Dog
• John Ratzenberger as Hamm
• Wayne Knight as Al McWhiggin
• Annie Potts as Bo Peep
• Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head
• John Morris as Andy
• Joe Ranft as Wheezy
• Jodi Benson as Tour Guide Barbie
• Andrew Stanton as Emperor Zurg
• Laurie Metcalf as Andy's Mom
• Jonathan Harris as Geri
• Jeff Pidgeon as Little Green Men
• Andi Peters as Luggage Handler 1
• Dave Foley as Flik
• Joe Ranft as Heimlich

Music

See main article Toy Story 2 (soundtrack).

Randy Newman wrote two new songs for Toy Story 2 as well as the complete original score:

• "When She Loved Me" - performed by Sarah McLachlan: Used for the flashback montage in which Jessie experiences being loved, forgotten, and ultimately abandoned by her owner, Emily. The feel of the flashbacks is very similar to the scenes that take place for Woody in "Strange Things", during the first movie. This song was nominated at the Oscars in 2000 for Best Song, though the award went to Phil Collins for "You'll Be In My Heart" from Disney's Tarzan.
• "Woody's Roundup" - performed by Riders in the Sky: Theme song for the "Woody's Roundup" TV show. Also end-credit music.

The film also includes two new versions of "You've Got A Friend In Me", the theme from the first film. The first is performed by the puppet Woody (Hanks) "on guitar" as part of the "Woody's Roundup" show. The second is a Vegas-style finale production number sung by Wheezy (singing voice provided by Robert Goulet).

Production

Toy Story 2 was not originally intended for release in theaters. Disney asked Pixar to make a direct-to-video sequel for the original Toy Story with a 60 minute running time. When Disney executives saw how impressive the in-work imagery for the sequel was, they decided to create a theatrical movie, and the plot was reworked to be much more epic and cinematic in scope and the duration of the movie was extended to just over 90 minutes.

Pixar and Disney had a five-film co-production deal and Pixar felt that with its change in status, Toy Story 2 should count as one of the pictures in the deal. Disney, however, felt that since the production of Toy Story 2 was negotiated outside of the five-picture deal, it should not count. This issue became a particularly sore spot for Pixar, leading to a falling out between Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and Disney CEO Michael Eisner, concluding in Pixar's 2004 announcement that it would not extend its deal with Disney and would instead seek other distribution partners. With Eisner's departure and Pixar's ultimate purchase by Disney, however, these problems have been overcome.

References to other Pixar films

Box office

Toy Story 2 made over $245,000,000 in its initial US theatrical run, far surpassing the original, and in fact, every other animated movie to that date except for The Lion King, though both were later eclipsed by another CGI movie, Shrek 2.

Reception

Prior to its preceding installment, Toy Story 2 received overwhelmingly positive reviews, earning a rare 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes with an average reviewer score of 8.5/10, also being the only film to have over 100 positive and no negative reviews, making it their highest rated film of all time. (123 as of September 21, 2008).

Television

The movie was first broadcast on pay-TV in the UK on The Disney Channel on December 8, 2001 but like Toy Story, the transition of the movie from pay-TV to terrestrial TV was extremely slow and eventually first appeared on terrestrial TV on BBC One on December 25, 2005.

It received an 87/100 Universal Acclaim on Metacritic.

Trailers

One Pixar tradition is to create trailers for their films that do not contain footage from the released film. In one trailer, released theatrically with Doug's 1st Movie, the green alien toys come up to a center with the claw coming down. First the claw was carrying down Toy Story with the aliens doing their trademark "Oooh." Second the claw brings down a "2" and with the aliens turning around and looking at the audience and saying "Twoooo." Then Woody appears and is swiftly disappointed when Buzz shows up as well. He expresses his annoyance that Buzz is in the sequel. Buzz replies, "Excuse me, pull-String boy, What would Toy Story 2 be without Buzz Lightyear?". "A good movie." counters Woody.

Attached short film

Theatrical and video releases of this film include Luxo Jr, Pixar's first short film released in 1986, starring Pixar's mascot, Luxo.

Video game

A briefly popular video game for the PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast was released. The game featured original cast voices and clips from the movie as introductions to levels. Once earned, these clips could be viewed at the player's discretion. Another game was released for the Game Boy Color.

References

External links

• Disney's official Toy Story 2 site