Toy Story Reinvigorates Movie Animation

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2012)

Toy Story is a computer animated comedy produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.It was the first feature length computer animated film and the first film produced by Pixar. Toy Story follows a group of anthropomorphic toys who pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are present, and focuses on Woody, a pullstring cowboy doll, and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut action figure . Woody feels profoundly threatened and jealous when Buzz supplants him as the top toy in the room. The film was written and directed by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, and Joss Whedon, and featured music by Randy Newman.
The star of the proceedings is Woody, a pull-string cowboy toy belonging to a wide-eyed youngster named Andy. Whenever Andy's out of the room, Woody revels in his status as the boy's number one toy. His supremacy is challenged by a high-tech, space-ranger action figure named Buzz Lightyear, who, unlike Woody and his pals, believes that he is real and not merely a plaything. The rivalry between Woody and Buzz hilariously intensifies during the first half of the film, but when the well-being of Andy's toys is threatened by a nasty next-door neighbor kid named Sid whose idea of fun is feeding stuffed dolls to his snarling dog and reconstructing his own toys into hideous mutants such as Woody and Buzz join forces to save the day.
There is greatness in film that can be discussed, dissected, and talked about late into the night. Then there is genius that is right in front of our faces--we smile at the spell it puts us into and are refreshed, and nary a word needs to be spoken. This kind of entertainment is what they used to call "movie magic," and there is loads of it in this irresistible computer animation feature. Just a picture of these bright toys reawaken the kid in us. Filmmaker John Lasseter thinks of himself as a storyteller first and an animator second, much like another film innovator, Walt Disney.
Lasseter's story is universal and magical: what do toys do when they're not played with? He further scores with perfect voice casting that includes Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz,Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head and Wallace Shawn as a meek dinosaur. As entertaining as it is innovative, it kicked off Pixar's unprecedented run of quality pictures, reinvigorating animated film in the process.