this is one of the most funny and entertaining comedies of the year
and it just happens to be animated .
there are some great voice over commentaries from hollywood 's most famous celebrities , some fabulous animation and a compelling story .
this is the best we 've seen from disney since " beauty and the beast " ( 1996 ) .
this film begins an unspecified time following the happily - ever - after conclusion to toy story .
in the aftermath of their earlier adventures , buzz ( voice of tim allen ) and woody ( voice of tom hanks ) are now fast friends and all the toys live in perfect harmony , content with their " lives " .
one day , andy broke woody 's arm off , while playing with him .
woody is now officially discarged and worthless , left with his nightmares , where he lies in a trash can with the other discards .
later andy 's mother decides to have a yard sale , and she collects a few old toys from her son 's room .
since one of these discards is a member of the moving toy gang , woody goes to the rescue , leaving the safety of the house for the uncertainty of the front lawn in order to bring the toy back .
although his mission is successful , he is placed in a serious predicament when a toy collector named al ( voice of wayne knight ) spies woody while hunting through the wares available at the sale .
the cowboy toy represents the final collectible needed to complete his collection of merchandise from the old tv series , " woody 's roundup .
" if he can acquire woody , al can ship everything to a toy museum in japan for a huge profit .
so , after andy 's mother refuses to sell the wooden cowboy
, al steals him , and it 's up to the other toys , led by buzz , to go into the city to save their friend .
and so , buzz , rex ( voice of wallace shawn ) , hamm ( voice of john ratzenberger ) , mr .
potatohead ( voice of don rickles ) , and slinky ( voice of jim varney ) , go out on a dangerous journey to rescue their friend , they find themselves confronting things like busy streets and other buzz lightyear toys .
there are car chases , gun fights and finally the confrontation between buzz and his nemesis ( who , by the way , resembles darth vader ) .
meanwhile , woody learns that he was once a tv celebrity and has a family - a cowgirl named jessie ( voice of joan cusack ) , a horse named bullseye , and a father figure called the prospector ( voice of kelsey grammar ) .
they offer him another life , as a celebrity -- a toy in a museum in japan .
he is now forced to choose between being loved intensively by andy for a little while ( before he grows up ) and be forgotten , or be admired by children for generations .
the problem is , if woody escapes from al 's clutches and returns home , they will end up back in the lonely darkness of storage .
a real effort is made in the technical department .
the animation is rich and colorful , with lots of wonderful details .
the
" cinematography " is also extremely improved since toy story ; there are a lot of complicated swings , turns and close - ups that really make an impression .
lighting and filters are used to create a mood ( as in a surprisingly emotional moment - jessie 's remembrance of her days when she was a beloved toy ) the film contains a lot of in - side jokes ( such as the one about videogames ) , and entertaining parodies on " jurassic park " and " star wars " .
the film ends with the " failed takes " , the kind of scenes that we are used to see after comedy shows on tv .
these outtakes are some of the funniest scenes in the film . but what in the end makes " toy story 2 " a memorable experience is not the jokes , its multiple parodies or marvelous animation .
it is its heart and emotions -- the story about the meaning of friendship , love and even life itself .
it is not difficult to predict that " toy story 2 " would be a huge economical success , but its artistic achievement was unexpected .
unexpected because the first film was n't much more than a demonstration of special effects .
but mostly it was unexpected because disney has n't produced anything spectacular in years and is constantly surpassed by companies such as dreamworks and warner brs .
but here the director has changed the atmosphere of the film , making it more accessible and interesting for persons older that 9 years .
this is a big step - away from the ancient laws of disney - animation .
off course , this is not " antz " , it is not as intelligent ; this is not a landmark and no masterpiece , but i promise that you 'll find it as funny and enjoyable as i have .
whether this is the best animated film of the year , i dare not say .
my choice would probably be " the iron giant " , but ( along side with " american pie " ) this is the comedy of the year .
i almost lost my hopes for disney , but " toy story 2
" proves that disney has n't lost their ability to entertain .
Output: P