Retro Movie Review: Toy Story (1995)

The Toy Story movies are very near and dear to my heart. I love them all, and I’m looking forward to seeing Toy Story 4. It’s because of Toy Story 4 that I’ve decided to do something that I wanted to do for a long, long time, and this is to review the Toy Story trilogy. I look forward to re-watching these movies and sharing my views with you.

Toy Story was a huge success at the box office, back when it was released in 1995. I still remember seeing it in cinemas and being completely in awe. This was the first feature-length movie to be fully computer animated, and it was also the first feature-length movie to be released from Pixar. Toy Story was also the first animated movie to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay. You could say that Toy Story is a trendsetter. Ask yourself this, how many computer animated movies have followed Toy Story since 1995? Had this movie been a failure would there be as many computer animated movies today? Would we still be talking about Toy Story had it been a traditional animated movie? Would this still have been as huge as it was? I have my doubts but making it a fully CGI movie made it stand out and that’s the reason why we’re still talking about this trilogy of movies in 2019.

It’s worth noting that there was a time in development where this movie may never have happened. Debut director Jon Lasseter would constantly have drafts of the script rejected by Disney, who wanted Toy Story to be edgier in tone and appeal to both children and adults. The constant rewrites and changed made by Disney got to the point where the characters were so unlikeable, so unhappy, so miserable, and so mean. Woody got to the point where he was made to be a bully dictator who ruled with an iron fist. Disney was wrong to do that. Thankfully common sense prevailed, and Pixar were allowed to continue with their intended vision without any further interference from Disney.

Toy Story is set in a world where toys can come to life. Sheriff Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll, is his owner Andy’s favourite toy and a caring, wise leader to the rest of Andy’s toys. His position as being Andy’s favourite comes under threat after Andy receives the new Buzz Lightyear action figure for his birthday. Unlike the other toys, Buzz actually believes he is a real space ranger whose spaceship has landed on Earth, much to Woody’s annoyance. One day, a freak accident cause Buzz to fall out of a bedroom window. It’s up to Woody to save Buzz and return him to Andy before the family move to a new house.

 

I’ll just cut to the chase; Toy Story is a masterpiece.

I’m going to give it five stars.

It’s a movie that I’ve seen countless times, it’s a movie that I’ll never get bored of, it’s a movie that I know every scene off by heart and quote along with every time I watch it, and I make it a yearly tradition of mine to watch it every Christmas Eve (don’t ask me why, I just do).

This is a movie that has been passed down from generation to generation and has well and truly stood the test of time. I think the reason behind that is down to the CGI, it looks very impressive and to see it on the big screen just blew my mind. It made the movie fresh and unique from all the traditional animated movies that were out at the time. It’s obviously new for its time and it makes the toys look like plastic, but it also makes the human characters look like plastic, too. This is something they would perfect over the years.

 

I love everything about Buzz Lightyear. He believes he really is a Space Ranger, much to Woody’s annoyance, and it does lead to some excellent comedic moments like this one scene where Woody shoves him, causing his helmet to open up and Buzz reacts as if he’s suffocating and does so in this over the top way.

There’s this other scene with Buzz that always gets me emotional. It’s when they’re in Sid’s house and he sees the Buzz Lightyear toy commercial. Man, he looks heartbroken. He spends this whole movie believing to be a real Space Ranger only to find out that he’s not. ‘Not a flying toy’ is just the final nail in the coffin. He finally accepts that being a toy and being loved and bring joy to a child is the greatest gift of all. It’s a great, solid character arch and you get invested into from beginning to end.

Another character that I love is Rex, a nervous, kind-hearted, simpleminded dinosaur. It would be wrong for me not to mention the Pizza Planet Aliens. Kids nowadays have the Minions, we had the Pizza Planet Aliens.

The movie’s main villain is Sid Phillips. He’s Andy’s next-door neighbour who loves to destroy toys. He’s the exact opposite of Andy is every way. Andy’s home has this very homely feel about it, this welcoming presence, Sid’s is everything but. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Sid’s house is the number of lava lamps he has in his room. Lava lamps were a big deal back in the 90s but I find it hard to believe that someone would be as obsessed about them as Sid.

Sid also has these mutant toys that he’s made, you could say that he’s the original action figure customizer. There’s this one mutant toy that has a baby doll’s head and these claws. That one always gives me the creeps.

It’s not only Spider-Baby that freaks me out. This scene towards the end when all of Sid’s toys come alive and rebel against him is like something from a zombie horror movie. What always sticks out to me is these two Action Man figures, Combat Carl I think they are called, one of them has a nail lodged in his head and the other is headless, and they’re slowly limping towards a terrified Sid, just like zombies. It was a great scene.

That’s one of my favourite scenes, but my absolute favourite has got to be the scene where the green army men have to transport a walkie talkie downstairs so they can spy on Andy’s Birthday party, relaying back to the toys in the bedroom what presents he’s received – Genius. A visual masterpiece. I loved the way they moved. This was achieved when the animation team nailed a pair of shoes to a sheet of wood and perfected the movement by walking around with them on.

And finally, I can’t talk about Toy Story without talking about the soundtrack. This movie contains the best work Randy Newman has ever produced. ‘You’ve got a friend in me’ is an all-time classic. It’s so recognisable, it’s so catchy and I honestly think it’s legendary.

I adore Toy Story. It’s a timeless classic, it’s stood the test of time, it will live forever and is a masterpiece in cinematic history.

Love it.

Rating: ***** (Top of the pops)