Toy Story 2 Review

Toy Story 2 Review

We’ve made it to the month of June, that means we can know say we have a new Toy Story film hitting theaters this month. This week we’re talking about Toy Story 2, a film that actually had a strange production but they ultimately came together and made a great film. What do I think about the film? Does this film have a friend in me? Let’s talk about it!

The Good

I’ll just cut right to the chase, but Toy Story 2 is a great sequel. I think all three of Toy Story’s sequels are the three best sequels that Pixar has made. The film is able to recapture all of the magic and charm of the 1995 original so well and create a film that’s equally as fun, funny, and memorable. As I said earlier, but this film actually had a weird production where this wasn’t meant to be a theatrically released sequel. They were developing this film as a straight to DVD sequel which was common for Disney to do during this time. But as they developed and edited the film, they realized that this film was actually really good and decided to release it in theaters. It’s very interesting to think where Pixar and the Toy Story would be in 2026 had this film not gone to theaters. Everything that worked about the original from the fun characters, humor, and heart is 100% present in this film. Rewatching this film helped me realize why I love this franchise is the fact that I love these characters and want to spend more time with them. It’s partly why I’m very excited for Toy Story 5, it’s another adventure with these characters in a world that I love. 

Speaking of the characters, whether the characters are old or new they’re simply fantastic in this film. They find different ways to develop Woody and Buzz in this film without it feeling like it’s copying what came before. In the original film, Woody was trying to convince Buzz that he’s a toy and there’s nothing more important than a child’s love. With this film and given the nature of the story, that dynamic is flipped. This time, Woody is the only one that needs to be snapped out of it, not being a toy and returning to Andy. Buzz is the one having to talk Woody out of it. We’ll talk more about the story structure later on in the negative section. But I think the switch up of character arcs changes up the formula just enough to make things more interesting. These films continue to solidify that Woody and Buzz are one of the best movie duos of all time. But all of the characters are so much fun and charming. What’s fun about this movie is that we get the side characters from the first film more front and center. Characters like Slinky-Dog, Rex, Mr. Potato-Head, and Hamm are more prominent in this film so we get to spend more time with them and see how they interact with each other while on this adventure. You also get some great new characters in here with Jessie and Bullseye that have become mainstays of the franchise ever since. Not to sound like a broken record, but they’re fun characters that you enjoy spending time with. 

Building off of that, the new characters in the film plus Woody all have a different worldview on the basic themes and ideas present in the film. The film and the villain’s motivation, The Prospector all tie into this idea of immortality and being viewed as relics in a museum. The Prospector views himself as that, not as a toy that children will love. He’s a villain with a very clear and understandable world view because he wasn’t raised and brought up the same way that Woody and Jessie were. Because The Prospector is this evil mastermind that’s manipulating Woody’s thinking into getting what he wants, that’s where the character arc for Woody comes from. If The Prospector is the devil on Woody’s shoulder, then Buzz is the angel on his shoulder teaching him the lesson that Woody taught Buzz in the original film. The film is tackling similar ideas of love and friendship, but on a deeper level because there’s more characters involved in this adventure. That’s when you have a great sequel, great characters, and a great story when all of the themes and ideas are able to come together seamlessly and make a film that’s thematically rich that both children and adults can love and understand. 

One aspect I think the film does better than the original is bringing out more of those classic Pixar emotions. The first does have a heart and makes you feel things, but it’s not an emotional film. Compared to other Pixar films like Finding Nemo or Up, that deliver bigger and more overt emotions. I think Toy Story 2 delivers those bigger emotions that fans will come later to expect from other Pixar films. The big example of this would of course be Jessie’s backstory that’s one of the best pieces of visual storytelling I’ve ever seen. Pixar is one of the kings of this style of storytelling between this film and the opening 5-minutes of Up, that deliver these big emotions and let the audience know so much without having to say a single word. In a lot of ways, this film feels like when Pixar found their groove and what they’re good at. That’s not to say that Toy Story or A Bug’s Life are bad movies, but it’s to say that this movie added in those big human emotions in these films that were a bit absent in this film. 

Finally, I absolutely love the film’s sense of humor and the wittiness included in it. What’s fun about this movie is that there’s so many references to movies and other forms of pop culture. The obvious one of course being Star Wars and them parodying the Darth Vader plot twist from The Empire Strikes Back, and it’s such this great moment that puts a smile on your face. But there’s references to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Jurassic Park are more subtle but are fun nonetheless. But there’s even more witty jokes along the way that are so much fun and don’t feel dated despite this film being over 25 years old. 

The Bad

The big thing here is that with the inherent plot of the film, it means that there’s more characters off on the adventure and the film isn’t as focused as the original. Where in the original, Woody and Buzz were off on the adventure while the other characters are back at Andy’s house. This film allows for Buzz, Slink, Hamm, Rex, and Mr. Potato-Head is off on this adventure while introducing three prominent new characters plus two more antagonists with Zurg and Al. That’s just a lot of characters to have focused on in one movie that’s about 90 minutes long. I say this because it makes the plot a bit unfocused at points in time. It means that the film is having to rush through things faster than it should. I think the big victim of this is The Prospector. You understand what his motivation is and what he’s trying to do, but it feels a bit like an afterthought and not fully fleshed out. I wish he got a sequence that was like Jessie’s backstory explaining his origins. But since the film is trying to focus on so many other things it means that those elements are on the backburner. 

Also, the film’s plot and the themes and its exploring are very reminiscent of the original. I mentioned earlier in the review that I liked that they flipped the formula where now Buzz has to teach Woody the lesson that Woody taught him in the original. There’s something very interesting and emotional when doing that. But because it’s exploring different themes and ideas, it doesn’t feel as fresh as the original. In the grand scheme of things, that aspect doesn’t really hurt my overall thoughts on the film. 

Final Thoughts: Toy Story 2 is a great sequel that does a lot of things right. It might not be as fresh or as creative as the original. But that doesn’t really matter as you’re having so much fun in this world with these characters. They do have some great emotional moments that feel like when Pixar found what they’re good at. When you mix the film with the new characters and the humor you get a really fun sequel. 

The Score: 9.2/10 (A-)