When I think back to seeing the first 'Toy Story 4' trailer, I remember feeling disappointed. I felt like Pixar was just doing the sequel thing again, and 'Toy Story' just plain didn't need a fourth title. I felt like the way 'Toy Story 3' ended was the perfect way to end a long-lived trilogy, and this felt like Pixar running out of original ideas. I'll admit, I pretty much just rolled my eyes at the idea. Along would come a second trailer that gave us a bit more, and I decided that if Pixar had ever taught me one thing, I probably shouldn't judge this book by its cover. There had to be something more to it than I was seeing. Thankfully, I was right to think that. 'Toy Story 4' continues Woody's (Tom Hanks) story under Bonnie's (Madeleine McGraw) new ownership. Woody and the gang are all in their element with Bonnie, and have all become friends with Bonnie's other toys; among Bonnie's mainstays are a triceratops named Trixie (Kristen Schaal), a unicorn named Buttercup (Jeff Garlin), an elegant porcupine named Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton) and and the aptly named Dolly (Bonnie Hunt). Taking a moment to rewind to 'Toy Story 3', I appreciate the fact that Bonnie owned a Totoro, who sadly doesn't come up here. But I'll tell you who does show up - Bonnie's toys she leaves in the closet; Carl Reineroceros (Carl Reiner), Bitey White (Betty White), Chairol Burnett (Carol Burnett), Melephant Brooks (Mel Brooks) and Old Timer (Alan Oppenheimer). Also, two fluffy carnival prize animals, Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key) and Bunny (Jordan Peele). I still don't even know if I've covered all the great voicework, but we must move forward. The plot of the film starts with Bonnie's Kindergarten orientation. She's scared, so being the comforting toy Woody is, he sneaks into her backpack to keep an eye on her. Bonnie sits alone, not really knowing where to start on a class project. Instead, she finds some materials Woody tossed on her table without her knowing, and creates Forky (Tony Hale). I find this shines a light on a question I never thought of with these movies - if a kid creates a toy, is it alive. The answer turns out to be "yes", but Forky thinks he belongs in the trash, being that he basically came from there. Woody tries to convince him otherwise, and that he's potentially Bonnie's new favourite toy. Forky brought her joy when she was feeling sad and scared. I have to appreciate the analogy that sometimes we can consider ourselves useless and/or pointless, but there's someone on the side lines trying to steer us in the right direction, reminding us we're loved. After Bonnie gets through her first day of Kindergarten, the family (Lori Alan and Jay Hernandez as the parents) decides to go on a road trip, allowing Bonnie to bring along all of her toys. During the trip, Forky jumps out and Woody goes after him, promising to meet at the RV park they were headed for. On their way over, Woody and Forky happen upon an antique shop where Woody recognizes Bo Peep's (Annie Potts) lamp. They go to explore, only to find themselves amid creepy ventriloquist dummies (Steve Purcell) and a doll named Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) who needs a new voice box if she ever wants to be enjoyed by a child - even if it means taking Woody's. As for Bo Peep, they do manage to eventually find each other after Woody escapes his situation, leaving Forky behind. Bo Peep, along with stunt driving Canadian, Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves) and a "Polly Pocket"-like character named Giggles McDimples (Ally Maki) help Woody try to get Forky back to Bonnie. As the plot unfolds, so does Woody's character development. While he remains used to the idea of playtime and loyalty to Bonnie (and once, Andy) he remains somewhat freaked out by the idea of being a lost toy. Bo Peep, on the other hand, tries to convince him that perhaps being lost isn't so bad. Her story is an interesting call-back to 'Toy Story 3' when Bo Peep is mentioned as a lost toy. Somehow, with the way Woody puts things in the scene, we all knew there was some untold story behind Bo Peep's disappearance. This movie fills in the blanks, namely with the opening scene. I always found that each of these movies speaks to a certain aspect of the life of a toy, which is very interesting. The first deals with going missing, and having to deal with that cynical kid we all knew who loved destroying toys. The second one deals with being stolen as a collector's item, and finding out you're part of a set. It further deals with the idea of being grown out of, and what will happen. This is all answered with the third film, showing Andy having grown out of his toys, and moving on to college. It deals with being donated, and whatever the next step in a toy's life might be, which brings Bonnie into the picture. Finally this film deals with the idea of a toy she creates, and Woody taking care of him. He also wants to take care of Bonnie, as he's loyal, but for once the film asks why he doesn't take care of himself. So while they all have to do with escape/break-out, they all have very different stories going on through the escape/break-out. 'Toy Story 4' would go on to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar, earning Pixar Golden Statue #10 for the category. I have to say that speaking for myself, it was probably my favourite animated film that year, and above all else, a very pleasant surprise. I remember leaving the theatre, wondering how the hell they pulled things off so well. It even gets kind of deep in a way we might not ever expect. In all honesty, I was kind of surprised by the way it all ended. With a very solid four titles under its belt, all being pleasant surprises for their time, the 'Toy Story' franchise may very well be the best series (including all sequels) in the Pixar library. One way or another, my generation has grown up with these movies. For me, it started when I was 13, and ended before the, shall we say, terror of 2020. There's a lot of nostalgia here, and I'm happy to have these films to refer to when I need the boost. 5/5
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Pixar had this point in time where they got a little sequel-happy, despite the odd original title. Sometimes it seemed like a cash-in, but most of the time these sequels had something a little new to say. 'Finding Dory' ultimately ended up being the Pixar sequel no one really seemed to know they wanted until it actually became a thing - a whole thirteen years after its predecessor, making it the biggest gap between Pixar sequels at the time (prior to the fourteen-year gap of the 'Incredibles' films). It's interesting to note how beloved a film 'Finding Nemo' was. It earned Pixar its first Best Animated Feature Oscar, it was experimental with its variety of animation, and it was a fun adventure story one could easily recommend as a family flick. The thing was, speaking for myself, I always considered it a sort of one-off, and the idea of 'Finding Dory' actually frustrated me. Why? Because there was still no hint of an 'Incredibles II' quite yet, and I strongly considered 'The Incredibles' to be the Pixar title most worthy of a sequel (save for perhaps the 'Toy Story' series). Nevertheless, I decided to check it out, and was actually pleasantly surprised. While this takes the concept of 'Cars 2' of all things (in as much as the comedy relief from first film being the sequel's lead), this actually did something with it, and takes a good, broad look at what it's like to live with a mental health issue. Of course, in Dory's case, we all know it as her short-term memory loss. The same short-term memory loss that made us laugh in 'Finding Nemo', however, is actually played on a somewhat more serious level here. The film begins with a young Dory (Sloane Murray) and her parents, Charlie (Eugene Levy) and Jenny (Diane Keaton) dealing with her short-term memory loss in a very loving, caring way. One day, however, Dory finds herself separated from her parents. With that comes a pretty sad opening sequence where Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) literally grows up looking for her parents. Eventually, she bumps into Marlin (Albert Brooks), and they begin the events of the first film. In 'Finding Nemo', Dory mentions her family, says "hm, where are they?...", and the audience laughs because it's played as a gag. Here, we're even reminded of that gag, and things suddenly take a whole new spin; in my opinion, one of the most clever Pixar call-backs I've seen yet. Anyway, 'Finding Dory' takes place a year after 'Finding Nemo'. At this point, Dory has pretty much forgotten all about her parents, and has a whole new life with Marlin and Nemo (Hayden Rolence). One day, during a school field trip, Dory is helping out when something suddenly jogs her memory about looking for her parents. She implores Marlin and Nemo to help her out with it, especially since she has her memory loss, and with that, they almost too easily head to California by way of riding the current with Crush (Andrew Stanton) from the previous film. Here, they are lead to a public Aquarium where Sigourney Weaver's voice (playing herself) is the guide for visitors. It turns out, this is where Dory is from, but in her excitement she gets separated from Marlin and Nemo Eventually, Dory does get help from an octopus named Hank (Ed O'Neill) who makes a deal with her, a whale shark named Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) who remembers her, and Destiny's neighbouring beluga whale, Bailey (Ty Burrell). With Dory's adventure, it shows that even at our worst when it comes to whatever mental health problem we're dealing with, we can persevere. There's actually a few moments here when we see her cope with things rather than have it be an element of humour. That said, I wouldn't suggest that 'Finding Nemo' was ever really making fun of things so much as suggesting there's a bit of a hidden side to Dory. Speaking for myself, she actually turns out to be that Pixar character I've always wanted to hear the story on, but, as mentioned before, didn't realize it. One could even say I forgot about it, which is pretty interesting to think about. Personally, I tend to appreciate 'Nemo' a bit more, mostly due to the variety of animation techniques of the time, along with a solid story and likable characters. However, I would definitely consider this a very worthy sequel, and might recommend a back-to-back viewing to newcomers. This one wasn't up for any Oscars, ultimately losing out to 'Zootopia', but when I look at the films in that category that year, it was a challenge - 2016 was a very good year for animation! I would still recommend this pretty strongly to 'Finding Nemo' fans who haven't checked it out yet. This is Pixar taking the humour from the first film and turning it on its head while maintaining its own somewhat different sense of humour. I don't know that I'd say it's Pixar being brilliant, but it's certainly Pixar being clever with things they had to work with. 4/5 I still remember seeing the teaser for 'Toy Story 3' and thinking to myself something along the lines of surprise. At that point, we were in 2009, watching the trailer ten years after 'Toy Story 2'. It made me wonder what it was gonna be about, and of course, the eventual trailer would answer that. I was immediately fascinated because it looked like it was going to be a pretty deep movie, telling us whatever would happen to Andy's Toys. Andy (John Morris - and huge kudos to him reprising his role) is 17 now, and getting ready to go away to college. All of our favourite toys make one last effort towards playtime with Andy. Of course, it falls through, and soon every toy but Woody (Tom Hanks), who Andy decides to take with him, is put into a garbage bag, headed up to the attic. Mistaking the trash bag as actual garbage, Andy's Mom (Laurie Metcalf) takes them out to the curb, giving Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Slinky (Blake Clark, replacing the late Jim Varney), the Potato Heads (Don Rickles/Estelle Harris), the Pizza Planet Aliens (Jeff Pidgeon), and Barbie (Jodi Benson) the impression Andy thinks they're trash now. The toys escape, and Jessie suggests they climb into the donations box Andy's Mom is about to take over to Sunnyside Daycare. Woody, having seen everything and knowing they were destined for the attic tries to convince them not to go, and accidentally ends up in the box with them. The toys are donated, and find themselves amid what could be a paradise, however Woody remains loyal to Andy and tries to go his separate way, eventually meeting Bonnie (Emily Hahn) who finds him and takes him to her house to play with a whole new group of toys. Meanwhile the other toys are shown around the Daycare by Lotso-Huggin Bear (Ned Beatty), and are shown the Caterpillar Room where they'll be staying. Soon, the toys figure out just how much of a nightmare playtime can be when the room is flooded with toddlers, and just to cut down on more exposition, things eventually kinda-sorta turn into our third "escape and get back home" movie - but this one is so much more fun in my opinion. As for Woody, despite the idea that he could have a new home with Bonnie, he chooses to go back and help his friends and get back to Andy. The whole movie ends up being a fun parody of 'The Great Escape' (or at least that's how I take it), and parts of it have certainly grown up with the audience. My ages upon the release of each movie at this point were, respectively, 13, 17 and now, approaching 28; so I was certainly in the older area of the audience, but it's interesting how these films become a bit more reflective for me than watching them in more of a real-time situation, growing up with Andy. Still, this was a film that once again hit me right in the feels, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the combination of moods it had going through it. It's got dark fun, it's got cute fun, it's got joy, it's got sadness, it often has a sense of dread, adventure and dammit, it's got a Spanish-speaking Buzz Lightyear. Maybe it's just me, but dammit, Spanish Buzz Lightyear cracks me up. Anyway, of the three films, it was easy for me to see this one as the tip-top of the pile. The first two were always more on the fun level, but this had a certain "grown-up" style to it I couldn't help but appreciate, and at this point, Pixar was very high on a pedestal for yours truly. Their track record was just amazing at this point, and 'Toy Story 3' would be their sixth Best Animated Picture Oscar winner, and second nominated for the Best Picture category. I tote the Oscar history of these films more to keep track of the stereotype that says "Pixar will win the Oscar indefinitely". Up to this point, a fairly accurate assumption considering their track record since the Best Animated Picture category came into play. They have only lost the Oscar twice, first 'Monsters, Inc.' to 'Shrek' (which was the first year of the category, 2002), then 'Cars' to 'Happy Feet'. Otherwise, Pixar seemed untouchable, and with good reason. Watching Pixar meant watching a quality story that had humour, adventure, and above all else, a deeper meaning. They could be a kid's movie that any adult could still get a lot out of, but more than just something cute and fun... but then again... we have what Pixar cranked out next. But just to dwell on the wonderful movie that is 'Toy Story 3' a bit longer, and more on my personal take, it was fascinating to watch this now, with the knowledge of 'Toy Story 4'. At this point, I was convinced they were done with the way things end here, and I still think that it makes a very well-rounded, almost perfect trilogy. I really did love 'Toy Story 4', but in a way, its existence makes the ending of this a touch less impactful than it once was. They go out on a high note here, and I'm fairly convinced that when I saw this in theaters, there wasn't a dry eye in the audience. Regardless, I still hold this film close to my heart, and yet again, it makes for one of my all-time Pixar favourites - a category that now feels redundant but true. 5/5 This may prove to be a bit of a lengthy review, but one must understand that this movie carries a certain powerful magic with it that puts me in a trance every time I watch it. On one hand, it's like looking into a societal mirror, centuries into the future, and it really looks like we humans have caused the end of the world. There's something sort of heavy-hitting about that. On the other hand, the appreciation this movie gives me for the simple things in life we take for granted actually somewhat changed my lifestyle. Not a lot of movies can open my eyes that much! But more on that soon. Far into the future, we see the Earth of 2805 and what has become of it; a vast wasteland of trash and neglect left behind by the human race. Nowadays, humankind has relocated to "starliners" - essentially gigantic cruise ships but in space - to keep on living. On this deserted Earth, we meet a left-over Waste Allocation Load-Lifter, WALL-E (Ben Burtt). He does his job, hangs out with a cockroach friend, forms various collections of trinkets and has a connection to a video recording of 'Hello Dolly', specifically with the song 'It Only Takes a Moment'. One day, things take a turn when WALL-E happens across an Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator robot, EVE (Elissa Knight). She was sent to Earth to search for some form of living vegetation, but WALL-E becomes interested. With a few complications at first, the two robots hit it off, but everything comes to an abrupt halt when WALL-E shows her his latest collector's item; a live plant. EVE collects the plant and sits in standby mode for a while until she's eventually picked up by a probe, and starts heading back to a starliner called the Axiom - with WALL-E hanging on for the ride. Centuries have passed since the Axiom left Earth (2105, so to us now, it would be like looking at the year 1321) and humankind has become overweight, mindless drones who do nothing but sit, eat, have their faces in their computer screens, and can do it all on the go on account of hover chairs. The ship's captain, McCrea (Jeff Garlin), receives the positive response from EVE and the notion that it could allow them to go back home to Earth - a place he had never heard of. However, upon inspecting EVE, the plant turns up missing. At first, it's registered as a false alarm, but EVE and WALL-E set about the ship looking for it, running into trouble along the way which includes, above all else, a nasty ship's computer. What really makes this movie stand out for me is that it's a film that really makes you look at the way you're living. Most who know me know how much I like going for long walks in nature these days, and honestly, this film is responsible. I've always enjoyed walking, but it wasn't until I saw this that I learned to appreciate all of the little subtleties of a good nature walk; birds chirping, the warm sun on my face, the beauty of plants in bloom, hell, even Winter has its moments. The cool thing is, 'WALL-E' does it in more ways than one. There's the notion that we're killing our planet and the whole thing probably will look similar to this, centuries from now, but I also really enjoy the lifestyle message here. This was 2008, so we haven't entirely improved our situation - but all of the right "be careful, human race" messages are here. I have to appreciate that even though this is very much an environmental movie, and the message certainly looks like it's highlighted and bolded, it still doesn't slap you across the face with it. You get the film's point, but there's not really that (what I like to call) "Lisa Simpson voice" in your face telling you how it is. This movie gets its whole message across without the use of hardly any speech at all. Part of the brilliance of this movie is that it shows and doesn't tell, and you have no problem understanding everything going on throughout its entirety. The message almost becomes tenfold with how exactly the execute things. Often using classic material (like 'Hello Dolly' along with various old songs) you get this sense of a planet Earth that humankind has all but left behind entirely. The brilliance of that is that it's something you can feel that way about now. Ever since the advent of internet in homes, we, as a human race, have somewhat lost touch with a lot of things that this movie shows we take completely for granted. One character here is so engaged with her computer that WALL-E bumps into her and she suddenly realizes the starliner has a massive pool. Better than that is a scene that I find truly touching where McCrea is having the computer define all of these Earth terms, right down to the word "dance". The idea that the film has this character fall in love with Earth the way we remember it now is somewhat heart-breaking when you know from the beginning of the film what Earth has actually become. 'WALL-E' would yet again pull in another Best Animated Picture Oscar for Pixar, bringing their count up to four. It would also become the Pixar film to earn the most nominations in the library, and I daresay, it certainly could have been nominated for Best Picture. I believe that due to opinions like this, the academy would soon loosen up enough to allow animated films back into the Best Picture category ('Beauty and the Beast' was the only one ever nominated at this point). For me, it is easily one of the best in the Pixar library if you just look at the way it's crafted. It makes you appreciate the little things in life, it opens your eyes to the state of the world and where we're going, and it's somehow still a lot of fun while taking you through all of its heavy stuff. 5/5 As far as Pixar environments go, one of my all-time favourites is the oceanic world of 'Finding Nemo' (and 'Finding Dory' for that matter). The year was 2003, so all in all, this was pretty impressive in its showing off of what CG animation could do for the time. Everything Pixar creates certainly touches on providing varying environments, but there's something massively impressive about the detail of this underwater world, right down to being able to see blurry distortions and light ripples in the water, among other details. As the film opens, we are introduced to Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Coral (Elizabeth Perkins), who are just starting a family, and keeping a loving eye on their eggs. They've recently relocated themselves to a new sea anemone home on the Great Barrier Reef, and life is good. However, in true Pixar fashion, we learn that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows just because this is a cartoon. The nest is attacked by a barracuda, and Marlin loses Coral in the struggle. All is lost except for one lone egg, housing a fish with a deformed fin, decidedly named "Nemo", based on a name Coral liked. That's right folks, for as much praise as we give 'Up' for its heart-wrenching opener, 'Finding Nemo' certainly did the attention-grabbing tragic beginning first. As time passes, Nemo (Alexander Gould) grows to be a young boy, eager to start school. Marlin takes him to school where, unbeknownst to him, Nemo is to go on a field trip to "The Drop Off" - where the reef ends and the dangerous deep blue ocean begins. When Marlin finds out where they're going, his overprotective manner makes him chase down the class, as he knows first hand how dangerous the Drop Off can be. This embarrasses Nemo to the point of frustration, and just to show up his Dad, Nemo swims towards a nearby boat just so he can touch the bottom of it and prove to his Dad that he worries too much. However, this leads to Nemo's capture from a scuba diver (Bill Hunter) who brings him to a fish tank at his dentist office, under the impression he's rescuing him on account of his deformed fin. Now, Marlin must overcome his fears of the dangers of the ocean, and begin a journey to find his son. He's soon accompanied by everyone's favourite, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres); a royal blue tang fish, suffering from short term memory loss. Meanwhile, Nemo meets a variety of fish in his new tank home; Bloat the puffer fish (Brad Garrett); Peach the starfish (Allison Janney); Gurgle the royal gramma fish (Austin Pendleton); Bubbles the yellow tang fish (Stephen Root); Deb the black & white humbug fish (Vicki Lewis); Jacques the skunk cleaner shrimp (Joe Ranft); a visiting pelican named Nigel (Geoffrey Rush) and Gill the moorish idol fish (Willem Dafoe), who is plans to use Nemo's size for an elaborate escape plan that should get them all back into the ocean. Between Gill's plan and Marlin's long journey with Dory, the father and son do everything in their ability to find each other and reunite. One thing I appreciated this time around that I didn't fully take in before was that it's cool that they decided to go with two very different extremes of underwater environments for the film. This gives the CG I've always admired here an extra boost. On one hand, you have a fish tank, where the water is a little more crystal clear, and you can see what's going on outside of the tank. It lends itself to various types of distortion, the atmosphere is altogether bright and this is where a lot of the comedy relief comes from when Dory isn't on screen. On the other hand, you have the deep, dark ocean, where everything Marlin and Dory run into is something new and uniquely animate when you really think about it. Things like the jellyfish swarm, riding the current with the sea turtles, and the deep dark trench with the lanternfish offer quite a lot of variety. I never gave it any thought before, but they really played with the animation in this movie, making it, as far as Pixar films go, easily one of the most beautiful to look at. I had to admit so much to myself upon this viewing that I took for granted the several times I've watched before. When I really think about it, this movie actually has everything I like about Pixar within it, but for some reason, I never picked up on it before. It provides the viewer with beautiful CG environments, a lot of likable characters done with solid voice acting (and yes, John Ratzenberger comes back again, keeping his ongoing track record), it gauges every emotion (especially with its opening), and it's a solid family adventure that manages to providing morals for both kids and adults. The film is thoroughly good enough that it would win Pixar its first Oscar for Best Animated Feature, beating Disney's other big entry that year, 'Brother Bear'. But this was only the beginning for Pixar. From here, as most of us know, they would eventually become the epitome of Oscar bait animation. 5/5 I'm not going to lie; when this first came along, I wasn't entirely interested. I thought it was playing too much on cuteness, and there wouldn't be much more to it. Upon finally watching it at a friend's house, I turned out to like it more than I thought I would. I've come back to it a handful of times over the years, it grows on me with every viewing. At first it was cute and fun, but nowadays I see it as one of the most creative Pixar films in the entire library. It's seldom that I go into a movie with low expectations only to have me come out of it saying "that was actually pretty awesome." 'Monsters, Inc.' could be considered a sort of electric company, located in the Monster World. A few monsters known as "Scarers" harvest "scream energy" by going through a system of doors that lead to closets of children all over the world. This "scream energy" is essentially their version of electricity - it's pretty much what makes their world run. However, a problem had arisen in recent years involving a world full of children who are much harder to scare than they used to be. This is largely due to various media violence and horror largely desensitizing them, and as a result, the Monster World experiences things like rolling brownouts. 'Monsters, Inc.' looks for a solution, but the best they really have is to just continue scaring, and hope things can get better. The top Scarers are Sulley (John Goodman) and Randall (Steve Buscemi). Randall is a strong competitor for Sulley and his assistant Mike (Billy Crystal), but Sulley and Mike seem to always come out on top. Late one night, Sulley finds a door in the "ready" position. Curious, he opens the door to see if anyone is doing some late-night scaring, accidentally letting in a toddler who Sully would eventually name "Boo" (Mary Gibbs). Children are known as being extremely toxic in the monster world, so Sully and Mike soon find themselves having to hide her until they can get her back through her door. In the meantime, Randall is working on a project that could improve upon scream energy, and since Boo is running around the Monster world now, she could very well be in danger. Due to Sulley's newfound feelings towards Boo, the film becomes something of an "Escort Mission" - get her to her door while dodging Randall and whatever his plans may be. While I wasn't exactly wrong about the movie playing a lot on cuteness, there's much more to it that I seemingly took for granted when I first saw this advertised. My appreciation for this movie largely goes towards the concept of the Monster world and how it runs. It's a simple enough idea when you think about it (and to be perfectly fair this is after 'Little Monsters'), but certain details about how things work are super creative. For example, I like the idea of the real world's mystery monsters (Bigfoot, Nessie, etc.) being monsters who have been banished from the Monster World. The example is done here with the Yeti (John Ratzenberger, now at four Pixar movies and counting). I also really enjoy the idea of the world's closet doors in a factory setting. Think something along the lines of a gigantic warehouse of dry cleaning racks, but holding closet doors instead of suits. In 'Little Monsters' it's just a super cheap looking set of boxes and stairs. Funnily enough, another highlight of the film is the very thing I was worried would ruin it for me - Boo. Anyone who has ever seen this movie can agree that she is one of the most adorable characters ever created. Boo is the heart and soul of this movie, and despite the fact that she's just a little gibberish speaking toddler (voiced by a real one), Sully and Mike actually end up learning a whole lot about humans through her. You get a lot of good laughs from her, but you end up really feeling for her all the same. She's not JUST put there to be cute, as I thought she might be. She's put there to represent children in general. She finds solace in one monster while being terrified of another, and a lot of this is, as you may have guessed, about overcoming fears. The catch here is that the fear works in two different ways. Kids can watch this and relate to Boo's experience in that she simply fears the monster in the closet. Generally speaking, a kid's first fear will probably have to do with something that goes bump in the night, leading them to imagine something under their bed or in their closet. That makes the film universally relatable to children. On the other hand, adults can see the fear the monster society has about Boo and the rest of human society and, I daresay, could stand to learn a thing or two as well. A part of what makes this such a solid movie is that even though it looks like a kid's movie on the surface, there's a certain depth to it that speaks to a more grown up audience as well. It's not just a movie you'd watch with your kids to have fun with, this one actually has something to say, and it does it pretty subtly as well. My takeaway from this film is a positive message about understanding the unknown instead of fearing it, and it's timing or release was impeccable. This just so happened to be released the November after 9/11, so may very well have been seen as one of the first family movies trying to teach kids and adults alike that a society as a whole isn't something to be feared, but in some cases it doesn't hurt to be cautious. Sulley and Randall make the perfect characters for that message. This was the first of many Pixar film get an Oscar nomination for 'Best Animated Picture', and with good reason (beyond the fact that the category hasn't existed until now). It may have lost to 'Shrek', but the results must have been pretty damn close considering the underlying subject matter in "understanding" was very similar. Personally, I'd consider 'Monsters Inc' to be just a touch more timeless. 5/5 While I admire the 'Toy Story' saga being so good altogether, this is probably the one I manage to get the least out of. It's still a great movie, but I'll get to my various nitpicks about it later. It otherwise introduces new characters who develop with the rest of the toys we already know, plays with new ideas, and certain things follow through from the original. For example, Andy now has a dog, and Mrs. Potato Head has now come into play. One of the best things about the writing of these movies is the way things stay consistent, and for that, I admire this one along with all of the others in their own way. It all starts when Andy (John Morris) starts getting ready for Cowboy Camp. He's playing with Woody (Tom Hanks) and accidentally rips his arm. As a result, Woody is left behind, and placed on a shelf where he runs into Wheezy (Joe Ranft); a penguin squeeze toy with a broken squeaker. He talks to Woody about being a "forgotten toy", and when Andy's Mom gathers some of Andy's old stuff up for a yard sale, she takes him, prompting Woody to try to rescue him. In the mix-up, Woody is discovered, and stolen by a greedy collector named Al McWhiggin (Wayne Knight), who the other toys actually recognize from an ad where he dresses up like a chicken. The other toys, lead by Buzz (Tim Allen), then begin a search and rescue mission for Woody, using the "Al's Toy Barn" ad to help them find where Al probably took him. Meanwhile, at Al's apartment, Woody meets the rest of a set he had no idea he belonged to; "The Roundup Gang". Said gang includes Woody's horse, Bullseye, a cowgirl named Jessie (Joan Cusack), and Stinky Pete, the still-in-the-box Prospector (Kelsey Grammer). Jessie has a real problem with claustrophobia; a fear triggered when Woody expresses his desire to get back to Andy. As a set, they are to be put on display in a museum to be admired, but if Woody leaves, that means being put back into storage for Jessie and the others. She also suffers from the trauma of being a forgotten toy, so Woody's desire to get back home is much to her chagrin. Woody is now faced with a choice; find a new home as part of a display collection, or get back to his home knowing the day will eventually come when Andy has to move on. This choice of Woody's is actually part of my issue with this one. He can eventually be forgotten, donated or left behind in some way as an eventuality that may not even really come to pass, or he can be shelved permanently anyway with his Roundup gang and live a life behind glass forever. The choice seems pretty obvious to me, but to the film's credit, Buzz does point out how silly the latter choice seems. Beyond that, I do have a certain pet peeve when it comes to animated family films like this involving a closing musical number. 'Shrek' did it, and suddenly "everyone" seemed to have to follow suit. I think this is the one and only time Pixar does it, but they also do it here along with the animated outtakes we got from 'A Bug's Life' which nowadays seems kind of corny to me. To be fair, however, this was still very early for Pixar, and they were trying new things. With all of that said, there's still so much to like about it. The good absolutely outweighs the bad here as far as storytelling and character development goes, and I won't deny that when Jessie sings her song about being forgotten, it provides the old Pixar heartstring puller - and probably the first one that really exists in the library. We all know that Pixar has a way of getting to your emotional core, but the previous two movies in the collection were much more fun than they were deep. This was something that actually made you think and even feel for the characters involved. Although it follows the infamous "Toy Story Escape" trope, the underlying ideas here are very different. While the first film is very much about getting back to Andy, this one, though basically the same idea, actually offers Woody a choice in the matter, and has him think about his potential future as Andy's favourite toy. 'Toy Story 2' is a very good balance of serious and silly, balancing Woody's more dramatic side of things against he comedic mission of Buzz and the other toys from the original. The search and rescue mission gets very funny at points, some of which includes Andy's Buzz Lightyear facing off against a store-shelved Buzz and even his nemesis, Emperor Zurg (Andrew Stanton). We get more of the other toys here than we got in the first, and they really add to the fun of it all. It's interesting to think of 'Toy Story 2' being the peak of emotional response in the Pixar library at one point, but it would have nothing on its eventual sequel, ten plus years (and eight more reviews) down the line. In the meantime, Pixar would expand its universe into some really memorable moments - many of which completely dethrone Jessie's song here as the big emotional Pixar moment. We can, however, at least give Jessie credit for being Pixar's tear-jerking pioneer! 4/5 I tend to be a little bit disconnected from this particular Pixar title for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. It's not by any means "bad", portrays plenty of likable characters, and it's an underdog story, which I usually tend to eat up. I can't very well argue that it's more directed at kids, because so was 'Toy Story', which I obviously have a love for. Perhaps it's just a simple matter of not being able to reach me on that deep level, as there's nothing particularly deep about this one. It doesn't really make you think so much as it's a simple underdog vs. bully story, which I've obviously seen done before. Taking place on "Ant Island", a bustling colony works to gather various bits of food to appease a gang of grasshoppers led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey). Everything is going okay until an outcast ant named Flick (Dave Foley) knocks over the offering, resulting in the grasshoppers demanding twice as much food for compensation. It all must be done before the last leaf drops in Fall, or the grasshoppers will destroy the colony, including the Queen (Phyllis Diller), her eldest daughter, Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and youngest daughter, Dot (Hayden Panettiere). With no hope in sight, Flick makes the suggestion to seek help from stronger bugs who dwell in the neighbouring city. Seeing it as more of an opportunity to get rid of their "problem", the colony gladly sends Flick on his merry way, not believing he'll be able to come through. On his journey, Flick comes across a group of recently fired circus performing bugs; Slim, the walking stick (David Hyde Pierce); Francis, the ladybug (Denis Leary); Manny, the mantis (Jonathan Harris); Gypsy, the moth (Madeline Kahn); Rosie, the spider (Bonnie Hunt); Dim, the rhino beetle (Brad Garrett); Heimlich, the caterpillar (Joe Ranft); and two fleas named Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane). Flick mistakes these circus performers as tough bug heroes, and brings them back to the colony to fight the grasshoppers. However, the performers are under the impression Flick is a talent scout, looking for an act. It could turn out to be the dumbest thing Flick has done yet, but it could also turn out to be a happy accident, with the right mindset. I've always enjoyed this movie for the fun, underdog adventure that it is, but there's nothing all that special about it to me. To try to find a deeper meaning to this one is like trying to find the gold at the end of the rainbow. As mentioned earlier, it's quite simply your average underdog hero vs. bully, or 'David and Goliath' story, and the big takeaway is really just that the smallest person can make a difference, or not to judge people too quickly as they may serve a bigger purpose than you think. To be perfectly fair, however, Pixar was still a very new thing, and as it's trying to speak to a whole new generation of kids, so my "brush-aside" opinion on the film should be taken lightly. If you want a good underdog story you can show your kids, I'd still consider this a good place to turn. Regardless of the old idea behind the plot, there's still quite a lot to enjoy about this movie. The voice acting is well-played, and the side characters here are generally likeable. By the way, I forgot to mention John Ratzenberger (who we recently say play Hamm in 'Toy Story') comes back to play P.T. Flea (head of the circus who initially fires the performers). Beyond that, however, technically speaking, this pushed what CG animation could do forward a little bit. One interesting thing about exploring early CG titles is their somewhat ground-breaking takes on environment, and if there's anything I can really give to this movie, it's the world these bugs live in. If you were to zoom out, it would only be a few hundred square feet, according to sources; yet in the movie, it's a whole world. It's interesting to think of things taking place in an area no bigger than say, perhaps your living room. At the end of the day, 'A Bug's Life' isn't as impactful as 'Toy Story' was, and it's not as impactful as a lot of the titles to follow, but it is still a lot of fun for what it is. I very much appreciate the environments, and a lot of the different and interesting ideas that take place in a bug world - for example, using lightning bugs to light up billboards (I hope they get paid well). I believe this was also the first animated film to contain bloopers in the end credits for a funny way to cap things off. At times it's just dumb toilet humor, but others are fairly clever in their execution. Either way, animated outtakes were something new and different for the time, and still pretty entertaining. For as much as this one is only just "decent" to yours truly, there's bound to be plenty here others might like more, so I still recommend giving it a look for yourself, if only for a fun time. 3/5 Back in 1995, at the age of 13, I was pretty fascinated by CG animation. It all started for me with 'Reboot' on YTV, circa '94. Coincidentally enough, the show was generally preceded with a bumper series called 'Short Circutz', among which was my first glimpse of Pixar animation; Jon Lasseter's 'The Adventures of André & Wally B'. At this point, Pixar was still known as The Graphics Group, originally under Lucasfilm, but would eventually break off and create cinematic history with 'Toy Story'; the very first in an eventual long line of full-length CG animated films. 'Toy Story' starts out on a kid named Andy's (John Morris) sixth birthday. Much to the dismay of Andy's favorite toy, Woody (Tom Hanks), Andy unwraps a new action figure known as Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) who poses a potential threat to replace Woody as Andy's new favorite toy. In an attempt to try to get rid of Buzz, Woody knocks him out of Andy's bedroom window, and when Andy grabs Woody to go with him to a restaurant called Pizza Planet, Buzz hitches a ride (having fallen outside). Eventually the pair's squabbling leads to their disappearance from the family car, and capture from Andy's neighbor, Sid; a kid who delights in torturing, disfiguring and destroying any toys he can get. Now it's up to Woody and Buzz to set their differences aside and try to work together in order to get back to Andy in time for moving day, so they won't get left behind. This would admittedly become the beginning of the 'Toy Story' formula in that they all seem to involve an escape from somewhere, and the need to get back home. Although there's a truth to that, I wouldn't say it stifles the creativity too badly. Each time these toys are trying to "escape", although it's for the same reasons, there's always a difference in what fuels their need to escape. In the first chapter's case, it seems as simple as survival. It's quite literally "get back to Andy, or die." It's topped with Woody's love for Andy, but it doesn't seem nearly as obvious here as it is in the sequels. Of course, we're also introduced to a handful of other toys along the way. Among the favorites are a Piggy Bank named Hamm (John Ratzenberger - who will be in a lot of these reviews), a T-Rex named Rex (Wallace Shawn), a Slinky Dog named Slinky (Jim Varney), Mr. Potato Head before he became a problem (Don Rickles) and Woody's apparent love interest, Bo Peep (Annie Potts), an Army of little green soldiers (lead by R. Lee Ermey), and a group of Pizza Planet aliens (Jeff Pidgeon). Pretty much all of these characters are mainstays throughout the series, each representing various strong personality types, and they all add a little something to the mix. It's neat to know I actually had some of these toys in my childhood, like Mr. Potato Head, and most kids my age had some sort of toy dinosaur. In a way, that expands the nostalgic factor of the movie beyond it just being from my youth. One of my reasons for the big Pixar marathon is to see if there's a deep, personal takeaway from each of them like I found with 'Soul', late last year. In the original 'Toy Story', I think the trouble they run into is basic enough that the takeaway isn't necessarily deep or profound. Woody has to cope with his jealous feelings for the "new kid in town" and Buzz has to really come to terms with reality, but while realizing reality can be a good thing too. He even ends up doubting himself, thinking he's insignificant, but Woody has to convince him he's still loved and wanted by Andy. We all have moments like that, especially in our youth, and this is a film that gets the right message across in that regard - you are not as insignificant as you might think you are, because someone out there still loves you. Speaking for myself, I still don't find this one quite as deep as any of the three chapters that follow it, but in many ways it's still a very solid film. On a technical level, it's a massive achievement, and something like plastic toys was a great way to go when it came to early CG. I'd say this is one of the more fun movies in the Pixar library, and it doesn't leave you thinking and pondering so much as leave you with a smile on your face. It brings a lot of nostalgia to the table for me, in more ways than one. In fact, of the Pixar library, I would probably consider this one the go-to for nostalgic purposes altogether. Sometimes you just need to take a trip down memory lane, and between the portrayal of one's carefree childhood days, and simply being there for something cinematically groundbreaking, it serves that purpose well. 5/5 |
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