A masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2010)

Having recently seen the truly outstanding Toy Story 3, I really wanted to go back and watch this film again. I haven't seen it in many years, but I remembered most of the scenes if not the exact detail and execution, and of course with an older eye I have a better appreciation for what's going on.
This is just about as good of a "first computer animated film" as could be hoped for. One thing I can say is that the humor, while not sophisticated or adult, is more intelligent than I remembered. It's a movie designed for a young audience, but the writers realized that as many adults will be watching its debut for the spectacle of computer animation, and it's clever for this group in a way that would fly over their children's' heads.
The plot line is simpler than I recalled, which is to be expected. One thing that surprised me is the relative one-dimensionality of the characters, especially when compared to Toy Story 2, which has been my mental standard for the characters for many years, and Toy Story 3. Woody is jealous but devoted, Buzz is delusional, Slinky is loyal, Mr. Potato Head is suspicious, etc. These aren't characters so much as they're adjectives. However, the voice actors do an all-around great job. I may just be saying that because I've known who Woody and Buzz are long before I knew who Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were. Ultimately, the simplicity of the characters matches the concise nature of the film.
In fact, having watched this again the best way I can think of to describe this movie is that it's basically a really long short film. Which is not at all to say that its plot is artificially stretched; quite the contrary. It's lean and compact like a short film is, it just happens to not be short.
All in all, watching this film again has lead me to believe that Toy Story 2 is underrated. Toy Story's sequel is understood by many to be an action-packed film appealing almost exclusively to kids, but that film was where some of the more mature themes that would be brought to their logical conclusion in Toy Story 3 first appeared. In addition, many of the characters, particularly Buzz, aren't nearly as fleshed out until the second one. Toy Story is a cartoon, but Toy Story 2 is an animated film, and that is the difference.
That said, this movie holds up very well and I will always hold it close to my heart. There are rarely more joyous moments in film than "falling with style