20 years later, it still rocks!

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2015)

What more can be said? 20 years ago, Pixar released "Toy Story," and the rest is animation history. Computer animation has since become the dominant form of animation. Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, and Universal (and maybe some other companies I have forgotten) have created their own computer animation studios to rival Pixar. Pixar themselves would continue to push just how far animation could go, both in animation quality and in storytelling ambition.
So one may wonder, 20 years after this all got started, is the one that started it all still excellent by today's standards? The answer is an emphatic YES.
The story is fairly well known by now, but I'll repeat it anyway for those who are unfamiliar. This "Toy Story" centers around the toy cowboy Woody (wonderfully voiced by Tom Hanks). Woody is the favorite toy of the young boy Andy (John Morris), who has several other toys, including Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (the late Jim Varney), and Hamm the Piggy Bank (John Ratzenberg, whose consistent appearances in Pixar films has become a running gag of sorts - and was acknowledged as such in "Cars"). The film starts on Andy's birthday party, a time when all of his toys get nervous, because Andy might get a toy that he likes more than the others. Sure enough, he's received the latest "cool" toy, spaceman Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen, an inspired choice). This results in Woody being demoted to "second best," something he doesn't take well at all. Woody attempts to push Buzz out of the way so he can get back to being Andy's favorite toy, but through a series of mistakes (and misadventures), he winds up making both he and Buzz separated from their owner Andy. Worse, they end up in the possession of their neighbor, Sid (Erik von Detten), who prefers to blow up his toys instead of play with them. Now Woody and Buzz have to make peace and work together if they are to return to Andy (oh, and did I mention that Andy is moving away soon?).
The premise is simple enough, but it's in the execution where things get very inspired. Take, for example, how the toys attempt to learn what presents Andy is receiving. They send several Army Men Toy Soldiers down for a "Code Red" mission, and how these soldiers pull this off always puts a smile on my face. I still remember being inspired by watching the soldiers move that radio into that small leafy plant on the bottom floor (I was seven when I first saw this). I was so inspired, in fact, that a year later, I was "teaching" my toys how to hide in the Christmas tree during Christmas. Director John Lasseter and the Pixar team have deeply considered how a world of toys would work. How would a toy feel about getting relegated to "second best" when a new toy comes around? And it's pretty fun to see how the toys have to consistently make sure the "human world" never knows about their awareness.
And the strength of this script goes beyond its consideration of a world of toys. Its tight and to the point. There are no wasted moments in the film's (short) 81-minute runtime. Pixar is not satisfied with simply showing what computer animation can do. They are interested in guiding along through a story that provides laughs, thrills, an occasional scare, and something valuable to learn at the end.
Obviously, the quality of computer animation has improved greatly since this film first came out (watch how they animate a dog here, and compare it to how Pixar would animate Sullivan's fur in "Monster's Inc.", for example). But let's remember, at the time, this was considered to be massively advanced animation. Many adult critics wondered if kids would realize just how big of a breakthrough this was in the history of animation, but I can reassure them, I may have been only 7 years old, but even I realized an entirely computer animated film was a very big deal indeed! Looking back now, I do think we should consider some of the things the animators did in this film that further emphasized what computer animation should be going for. Gene Siskel pointed out that you could see a reflection off of Buzz's helmet (and even stated, as a compliment, "They didn't have to do that!"). The toys, the settings, everything was beautifully rendered and still looks good today. Even if one just reduced this picture to its visual qualities (inadvisable), they would still come out quite satisfied.
Today officially marks the 20 year anniversary of when I saw this film (December 22nd, 1995), and it's high time I got to writing a review of it. "Toy Story" absolutely changed movies, and that is not a hyperbole. It's popularity made others realize the financial potential in computer animation. It's quality made everyone realize just what computer animation could (and should) pull off, both in visuals and storytelling. Pixar themselves would start a very long winning streak of highly acclaimed pictures, with many seemingly getting even more glowing reviews then the picture before it (heck we've gotten two great "Toy Story" sequels to boot). That this film still holds up even though many envelope pushing animated pictures have been released since is impressive indeed.
20 years later, "Toy Story" still rocks!