Toy Story 2

Released 1999
Animated
Voices Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Wayne Knight
Directed by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Ash Brannon

Four years ago, the release of Toy Story forever changed the face of animated motion pictures. The astonishing, three-dimensional quality of John Lasseter's work amazed both average movie-goers and hard-to-impress critics. Now, in 1999, the toys are back. While not as innovative as the original Toy Story, Toy Story 2 is a worthy successor. The sequel picks up where the landmark original left off, and tells an enjoyable story without retreading everything that has gone before. Those who appreciated the first movie are virtually guaranteed to like the second, which represents family filmmaking at its best. All the elements that made Toy Story popular are present in this installment. Toy Story 2 makes Pixar three-for-three in the feature film arena and is sure to continue Disney's string of animated hits.

In the aftermath of their earlier adventures, Buzz and Woody are now fast friends. One day, Andy's mother decides to have a yard sale, and she collects a few old toys from her son's room. Since one of these discards is a member of the moving toy gang, Woody goes to the rescue, leaving the safety of the house for the uncertainty of the front lawn in order to bring the toy back. Although his mission is successful, he is placed in a serious predicament when a toy collector named Al (voice of Wayne Knight) spies Woody while hunting through the wares available at the sale. The cowboy toy represents the final collectible needed to complete his collection of merchandise from the old TV series, "Woody's Roundup." If he can acquire Woody, Al can ship everything to a toy museum in Japan for a huge profit. So, after Andy's mother refuses to sell the wooden cowboy, Al steals him, and it's up to the other toys, led by Buzz, to go into the city to save their friend. Meanwhile, as Buzz and the toys find themselves confronting things like busy streets and other Buzz Lightyear toys, Woody learns that he was once a TV celebrity and has a family - a cowgirl named Jessie (voice of Joan Cusack), a horse named Bullseye, and a father figure called the Prospector (voice of Kelsey Grammar), none of whom wants Woody to go back to Andy. The problem is, if Woody escapes from Al's clutches and returns home, they will end up back in the lonely darkness of storage.

Summary by James Berardinelli