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Okay, time to prove a couple rules by exceptions.
Toy Story was one of the best movies of 1995, a magical, wondrous thing that really gave smile muscles a workout. When Disney decided to do a followup, they initially were going to release it directly to home video, as they have done with sequels to other hits of the last decade (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King). But as the project took shape, it was apparent that computer animation division Pixar had crafted something too good to consign to small screens. In so doing they’ve illustrated how (1) a sequel can be worthwhile if it has a good movie to build on, and (2) just because a script was written by eight people doesn’t always mean it’s good for nothing more than lighting fires.
Starting soon after the events of the first installment, Toy Story 2 succeeds by taking that plot and twisting it around. This time cartoon action figure Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) has to mount a rescue when Woody (Tom Hanks) is swiped by a greedy toy collector (Wayne Knight). It turns out that Woody, who finally gets in touch with his roots, was based on a Howdy-Doodyish 50s TV show, and Al needs him to complete a set of its characters for sale to a Japanese museum. New compadres Stinky Pete the Prospector (Kelsey Grammer) and Cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), who think that’s a great idea, try to play on Woody’s fears that his owner will eventually outgrow him -- “You never forget kids, but they forget you” -- to earn his sympathy. What to that point has been a very good, if not quite great, undertaking really finds the mark when Jessie flashes back to her owner, while on the soundtrack Sarah McLachlan sings a wistful Randy Newman tune about the poignant ironies of growing up; it was so moving I got butter in my eyes from using a popcorn napkin to dab the tears.
And just like that, Woody has been seduced by the Dark Side. It’s up to Buzz and pals not only to make the dangerous trek across town on little bitty feet and mount a rescue, but to point out that toys were not meant to be auctioned on Ebay, but to make kids happy through play.
Remarkable computer animation (there’s a dog in here -- a “real” one, not the Jim Varney-voiced Slinky Dog, that must be seen to be believed), consistently funny dialogue and situations (goofy lampoons of Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Jurassic Park), wonderful voice casting (Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, Don Rickles, and John Ratzenberger are all back), and a G rating make Toy Story 2 the best family film so far this season. A-
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