Toy Story 2: My Good, Bad, and Ugly

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2019)

The Good:
Pixar realized the need to expand on all aspects of this film, because they knew technology available improved and the end product needed to reflect that. And, as a sequel they knew there would be an expectation to raise the bar already set fairly high by the first film. To help achieve that higher goal Pixar truly doubled down on the scope of the narrative. Woody, Buzz, and company spend their time in a variety of locales and are subject to the dangers of the outside world significantly longer than in the first installment of the franchise. By leaving the bedrooms of Andy and Sid, and the arcade of Pizza Planet, Toy Story 2 ramps up the stakes by adding depth to the question "Will they or won't they succeed?"
The Bad:
A more ambitious and complex story also requires more diligent storytelling to ensure that continuity standards carry over from the initial installment to its sequels. Perhaps there's a good excuse in the narrative failings of this film in the production complications, but there are failings in the storytelling nonetheless. Most glaring of the film's misses are inconsistencies of the film's physical reality. Even as animated films typically benefit from their ability to stray from the laws of the natural world, Toy Story didn't establish these kinds of deviations for the franchise. And so, without an understanding that the Toy Story universe differs from the real world even in small extraordinary ways, when toy horse, Bullseye, can match speed with a passenger plane, or when a bowl of cheese puffs spills and covers the entire floor the thematic depth of the film takes a backseat and leaves the audience asking "How?"
The Ugly:
As with the first film of this franchise this film is likely only truly surpassed by its successor, Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010). Pixar increases the thematic depth once again from film to film showing its evolution not only in available animation technology, but with storytelling. With Toy Story Pixar presented is with a simple story of jealousy, friendship, and purpose. Those themes return in Toy Story 2, but also includes more about discovery of self, self-worth, and the pitfalls of ego. Stellar narratives are not singular to the Toy Story franchise among Pixar films, but as these films released Pixar demonstrated its ability to craft a franchise through deep emotional connections between the characters and the audience.