Fantastic Revolutionary Computer Animation Classic

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2006)

The toys in Andy's bedroom are worried when he gets a new Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger for his birthday. Sheriff Woody is jealous, but when he knocks Buzz out of the window by accident, he must face the outside world and go rescue him.
Toy Story is a World's First movie. The use of computer-generated animation had been pioneered in other films (Tron, The Last Starfighter, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, etc) and had been used extensively in short films (such as Lasseter's classic Luxo Jr., the origin of the Pixar company desklamp logo), but Toy Story is the original computer-rendered animation movie and its visual dynamics are simply stunning. In particular, the generation of movement through the frame (such as the point-of-view shot of Andy running up the stairs) and the ability to perfectly map any number of light sources to the motion of objects are amazing techniques previously unheard of in standard cell-painted animation. Lasseter and his incredible crew of artists have created an animation world which can duplicate almost anything a three-dimensional live-action movie could. It's an incredible achievement. Much more importantly however, it's a great movie - funny, scary, jam-packed full of great characters, and a terrific story. It has two ideas that are just brilliant; firstly, the central conceit of the toys coming to life, and secondly, Buzz struggling to come to terms with his identity. It kinda reminds me of a kids version of Robocop; on the one hand it's a goofy adventure story but on the other it's really almost a philosophical fable about a guy facing the meaninglessness of existence ! I also love the sheer variety of the toys, both visually and character-wise; as well as Andy's toys, Sid's monstrous hybrids are fabulous and the wacko three-eye greenies are hilarious ("Nirvana is coming ! The mystic portal awaits !!"). The voice cast are terrific, particularly Allen, Shawn and Ermey, and the movie sounds just as good as it looks, with excellent sound design by Gary Rydstrom. My one complaint is Randy Newman's song score, which is okay, but I'm afraid his laid-back LA showtunes style grates with me, and does he really need six credits for it ? Anyway, this is a great movie for everybody, kids and adults alike, and a genuine pleasure to watch. See if you can catch the shot they stole from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.