I took my Niece to see it and expected it to begood but I was not prepared for what followed. What a terrific movie.Woody and Buz have worked through the problems that existed between them in the first Toy Story and have become the best of friends. I laughed throughout the movie. What humor, I loved the scene where Mrs. Potato Head is packing Mr. Potato Head for his trip to save Woody and she packs his angry eyes "just in case". The depth of the personalities, the humor and thoughtfulness of each of the characters makes me feel as though these are real people. I have put this movie on my list of "All Time Favorites" My Niece is 5 and I am 47 and we both loved it. I am eagerly waiting for it to be available for home viewing so I can own my own copy. Hats off to Disney and Pixar for a job well done.
Enjoy... I can't wait for it to come out on DVD to once again enjoy the great graphics AND sound effects that so impressed me in the theater last week!
Buy Toy Story 2 (Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo w/ DVD Packaging) (1999) Now
It is rare for a sequel to surpass the original movie artistically as well as commercially. One of those rare sequels is "Toy Story 2". I didn't think it was possible for Disney and Pixar to create a sequel as good as the first "Toy Story" but they did. "Toy Story 2" is that rare treasure.In "Toy Story 2" Woody is stolen by Al, the toy collector who plans on selling his collection of Woody and the Round Up Gang to a Japanese toy collector. With Woody kidnapped, Buzz Lightyear, Ham, Slink, Mr. Potato Head, and Rex sets off to find their kidnapped companion. There are three new characters in the movie, Stinky Pete (voiced by Kelsey Grammar), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and Bullseye the horse. The writing and animation is superb. I really enjoyed the scenes with Woody, Jessie, Stinky Pete, and Bullseye. One of my personal scenes is when the toy collector calls in the old man to fix Woody's arm. The details in the animation is amazing and very realistic. I also loved the scenes when Jessie reminisces about her former owner Emily. It was very poignant without coming off as drippy. Sarah McLachlan's song added a melancholy feel to the scenes. Another great moment in the film was when Buzz and the gang were in the toy store looking for Al, the toy collector.
"Toy Story 2" is one of my favorite Disney/Pixar collaborations. This is a film that can be enjoyed by all ages. It is also one of the best films ever, animated or not. The writing in this film is simply too good to ignore. I still enjoy watching this movie to this very day and not get tired of it.In November 1999, the sequel "Toy Story 2" was released in theaters and the $90 million dollar film like its predecessor did extremely well in the domestic and worldwide box office making over $485 million.
What is interesting was that the film was originally not intended for a theatrical sequel but a direct-to-video release. When Disney execs were pleased with the results, Pixar Animation Studio staff literally were on overdrive as they had only 8 months to finish the film, when the usual animated film by the company takes four years. Needless to say that while the making of the film was stressful and even some the film's animator's suffering repetitive stress injuries for working nearly 40-straight hours (rarely any sleep) shifts, the company made what was impossible...possible.
And now with a third film to be released in the Summer of 2010, 11-years-later, both "Toy Story" 1 and 2 films will be released on Blu-ray.
VIDEO:
"Toy Story 2" is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1). The first thing one will notice (especially after watching "Toy Story 1") is how much detail is included in "Toy Story 2" (and after watching the special features, you'll see how much have improved over a decade later with the sneak peak of "Toy Story 3").
For the most part, "Toy Story 2" has improved animated-wide by including much more detail and textures as seen during the close-ups of Mr. Potato Head (you can see the texture as you would see from the actual toy), the plastic covering on the package of Stinky Pete, the detail of Rex the Dinosaur, more shading and the scenery of the outdoors, from vehicles to the store, the trees, the ground and everything you can think of, looks much better than its counterpart.
And of course, on Blu-ray, you see the detail and the amazing clarity. Colors are absolutely vibrant, you can see details and textures which come alive on HD and for an animated film that came out in 1999, even over a decade later, this animated film looks much, much better than a few of the animated TV shows and films that we today.
Also, the movements of the characters are just well-animated. From the characters of "Woody's Roundup" dancing, the toys and their walking movements. The movements were very good on the first film but they improved on it for the sequel. Very impressive.
Overall, wonderful picture quality for this sequel.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
"Toy Story 2 " is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Maser Audio and English 2.0 DTS-HD, English DVS 2.0 Dolby, Spanish and French Dolby Digital EX and I was amazed by the lossless audio quality for the first film on Blu-ray but for this sequel. WOW! Lossless audio is amazing. Just the first few minutes of the beginning of "Toy Story 2' as we see the Buzz Lightyear video game sequence, we are treated with an immersive soundscape with the center, front and surround channels being utilized as well as LFE. The film has a good amount of action sequences as Buzz Lightyear #1 takes on Buzz Lightyear #2 along with Emperor Zurg. We hear the Cheetos snap when Woody steps on them and much more.
Sound is crystal clear and overall, another impressive lossless soundtrack.
As for subtitles, subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Toy Story 2' includes the following special features:
* Characters: An Exclusive Sneak Peek At Toy Story 3 (4:00) A sneak peek at the new characters and the talent voicing the new characters for "Toy Story 3'.
* Director Commentary
* Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs:
o Episode Two: International Space Station (3:43) Buzz reports back about his adventure to the International Space Station.
* Paths to Pixar: Technical Artists (4:24) In this series of shorts, Pixar artists talk about their career path and share advice to aspiring filmmakers and animators.
* Studio Stories: A series of amusing anecdotal shorts about life at Pixar.
o "Toy Story 2 Sleep Deprivation Lab" (1:25) This short featurette gives audiences an inside peek into the intense time pressures under which the Toy Story 2 editors found themselves.
o "Studio Stories: Pinocchio" (2:15) This short featurette shows an impromptu competition between the animators to decorate their workspace by throwing toys into the ceiling.
o "Studio Stories: The Movie Vanishes" (2:32) This short featurette tells how a mischievous technical error almost erased all of Toy Story 2 from the computer system.
* Pixar's Zoetrope (1:58) A look at the creation of the live-action zoetrope that Pixar created to capture the principles of animation in a live sculpture.
* Celebrating our Friend Joe Ranft (12:46) A tribute to beloved Disney and Pixar story man Joe Ranft, regarded as one of the industry's most gifted story artists.
* Making Toy Story 2 (8:10) A featurette on the making of the film, talking with director John Lasseter, crew and talent.
* John Lasseter Profile (3:02) Crew and talent talk about working with John Lasseter.
* Cast of Characters (3:28) A featurette on how the talent bring the characters to life and the new talent who provide the voices for the characters of "Toy Story 2'.
* Toy Box This section features outtakes (5:27), Jessie's Gag (1:00), Who's the Coolest Toy (3:19), Riders in the Sky Music Medley (3:11) and autographed pictures (:45).
* Deleted Scenes (4:11) Featuring deleted animation intro (:47), Godzilla Rex (1:28) and Crossing the Road (1:56).
* Design A featurette on the design of each character (Galleries), the 3D-Visualization and the colorization of the characters.
* Production Featuring Designing Woody's Past (2:50), Making Woody's Roundup (1:51), Production Tour (2:31), Early Animation Tests (3:04), Special Effects (1:38) and International Scene (1:47).
* Music & Sound Featuring Designing Sound (5:38), Making the Songs (3:25), Woody's Roundup" Music Video (2:17) and "Jessie's Song" Randy Newman Video (2:48).
* Publicity Featuring Character Interviews (2:05), Trailers (3:24), TV Spots (2:12), Posters (:50) and Baseball Woody (:18).
EXTRA:
Included in the "Toy Story 2" Special Edition is a DVD of "Toy Story. The DVD is featured in Widescreen (1:78:1) Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions and is in English 5.1 EX with English SDH subtitles.
JUDGMENT CALL:
Having gone crazy for the Blu-ray release of "Toy Story 1", I can easily say that this Blu-ray release for the sequel is equally impressive and a title definitely worth owning and worth having in your Blu-ray collection.
Although, I enjoyed the storyline for the first film much more, I enjoyed the second film because of the additional characters and the animation showed great improvement nearly five years after the first was made. But since the release of the film on VHS and on DVD (multiple times), I have owned each release because these films are both magnificent.
The voice talent and acting is top notch, the storyline is well-written and Pixar Animation Studios set the bar higher then and they continue to set the bar higher now when it comes to CG animated films.
And so far, every Pixar Animation Studio release on Blu-ray have been nothing short of magnificent. From the Blu-ray releases of "A Bug's Life" and "Monster's Inc." (and yes, we are still waiting for that Blu-ray release of "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles") and their releases from "Cars" all the way up to their 2009 film "Up", when it comes to new releases that are Pixar related, so far we have been given awesome picture quality, awesome lossless audio and plenty of special features. "Toy Story" 1 and 2 are among those films that just look and sound fantastic but also additional content to keep any animation fan happy.
I will say that if you own the "Ultimate Toy Box Set" that was released in 1999, you will want to hang on to that set because although the Blu-ray's do have new additional content, a lot of content from the Ultimate Toy Box Set are NOT included on the Blu-ray release.
"Toy Story 2" is just an enjoyable family film that holds up well today, over a decade later and will still produce plenty of laughs and even in today's world of awesome CG animation, you can't help but see this vibrant film and just enjoy it on so many levels. Just seeing the detail and texture and how much the film had improve within the last five years from the original film is incredible. And the fact that the employees busted their heart and soul to get this film done in eight months vs. the usual four years is equally impressive.
With the release of both special edition "Toy Story" films on Blu-ray, these are the definitive versions of the film to own and for those like myself who have owned several versions of "Toy Story", the upgrade to Blu-ray is definitely well worth it and highly recommended!
Want Toy Story 2 (Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo w/ DVD Packaging) (1999) Discount?
This has GOT to be on the short list of movie sequels that are superior to the originals. First off I felt that an entirely digitally animated movie was incredible to begin with, and when I finally saw the original 'Toy Story' I was in awe of not just how technologically incredible it was, but how GOOD it was as well. Forget for a moment we are talking about ANIMATION...I think too many people believe that just because it wasn't live-action it simply wasn't worth an adults time. Thank heavens I have little children who want me to take them to these kinds of films so I won't feel embarassed as an adult walking into a so-called 'Children's movie'...but it just DOESN'T matter in the case of 'Toy Story' and this particularly amazing sequel. I have to hand it to the producers and writers for coming up with such a great story! First off you have to put yourself into the role of a toy, and think to yourself, "IF it WAS true that toys were alive, what kinds of problems might they encounter?" They certainly did come up with a plot that seems a perfect natural for this scenario. All of the voices do a superb job of giving life to these animated toys we see, so good in fact that I watched the entire film without once thinking to myself, "Hey, that's Tom Hanks and Tim Allen talking there!" You find very quickly that you are enveloped in this creative and might I add VERY FUNNY story which moves along at a great pace and well, even if you have seen it before, it is definitely worth another look...and if you have put off seeing this because its a 'kids film' get OVER it and see it. Good stuff no matter HOW old you are.Save 48% Off
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