Cornerstone cinema

Rating: Null/10 (20 February 2018)

In many ways Toy Story is just as big of a film as Snow White, or My Neighbor Totoro. It is the first of its kind, really. The very first feature-length computer-animated film and the founding stone of Pixar Studios. And quite like Snow White, it is still a marvelous film. With certain, minor caveats.
First the praise. The story is still incredible. It has to be for the film to have withstood the test of time so well. It is about toys coming to life when humans are away at least partly because toys were much easier to animate than real humans (the humans in this film look scary, by the way), but great storytelling is often inspired by limitations. And that certainly applies here. Through simple childhood toys we explore the concepts of growing up, learning new things, meeting new people, dealing with failed expectations, fear of loss, abandonment and betrayal, letting go of things, and most importantly, about friendship and family. And it's all told through a fetching, relatable and kid-friendly narrative.
The characters are also a lot of fun, though as a kid I never realized what a jerk Woody (Tom Hanks) really is. Sure, that's his point, but I always though that the cowboy had something of a point. Perhaps kids see these things differently. And nevertheless, the idea that Woody was in the wrong was clear even back then.
Unfortunately what hasn't aged so well is the animation. The humans look terrible, yes, but that was clear even in 1995. But the toys were phenomenal back then. Mindblowing, quite frankly. Less so today. The movement is still really smooth and the designs are interesting, but it all looks so plasticky. The movie works around that admirably - most of the characters are made of plastic, after all - but it still leaves the movie looking flat and lifeless even when it's not supposed to look like it. I've heard it said that early hand-drawn animation looks charmingly simple, whereas early computer-animation simply looks cheap. And there's some truth to that, I'm afraid to tell.
Still, Toy Story is a classic. Not my favourite Pixar film by far, but it did start something quite wonderful.