One of my favorites of the year

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 1999)

I was astonished at how good this was and how much I enjoyed it. Not only did I appreciate the characters of Woody and Buzz, but Jesse really got to me too. This movie has a huge amount of confidence; none of the spectacular animation effects were just to impress, yet they were just amazing. For example, the "crossing-the-street" scene where each time the "traffic cones" stop a bigger disaster happens had a rhythm and a momentum that made it impressive on its own merits, yet it wasn't just a gratuitous "show-off" sequence. And all the little things (seeing Rex in the rear-view mirror as a quote from Jurassic Park, the "I _am_ your father" sequence, the Barbies, the "angry eyes" - don't we all need a set of those?, etc.) kept my attention. Everything works. The movie turned me into a 10-year-old kid who lost all track of time watching it - and that's because the story and the writing are top-notch. I laughed, I cried.
Just a couple more points It's interesting that two of my favorite films of the year were G-rated - this and "The Straight Story". The only movie I enjoyed more to date was "The Sixth Sense". Finally, I consider this movie payback for taking my kids to see the Pokemon movie. Twice. Take that, Pikachu!