Surpasses the original

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 2000)

Some four years, I saw the original "Toy Story" and thought it was one of the best movies of 1995 with groundbreaking computer animation and a story that was just as entertaining to adult as it was to kids. But last year, when Pixar's second film, "A Bug's Life," was somewhat disappointing due to its pandering a bit too much to kids and word was out that the sequel to "Toy Story" would be a lowly direct-to-video release, I did not have much hope that this sequel would be any good - even when they announced that it would be released theatrically instead of direct-to-video. But, boy, was this movie a surprise - it expands and deepens the original and seems even more clever than anything Pixar has created so far (which, given the high quality of their output, is saying a lot). The fantastic computer animation, which almost makes the original look primitive in comparison, is really just more icing on the cake. This film, like the original, is watchable again and again (and if you're under six, again and again and again every day).