Query: Toy Story 2 was released by a production company.

Relevant passages:
Pixar <=SEP=> Pixar ( -LSB- ˈpɪksɑr -RSB- ) , also referred to as Pixar Animation Studios , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville , California that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company . Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group , part of the Lucasfilm computer division , before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986 , with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs , who became the majority shareholder . Disney purchased Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $ 7.4 billion , a transaction that resulted in Jobs becoming Disney 's largest single shareholder at the time . Pixar is best known for CGI-animated feature films created with RenderMan , Pixar 's own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan image-rendering application programming interface , used to generate high-quality images .   Pixar has produced seventeen feature films , beginning with Toy Story ( 1995 ) , which was the first-ever computer-animated feature film , and its most recent being Finding Dory ( 2016 ) . All 17 of its films have debuted with CinemaScore ratings of at least an `` A − , '' indicating positive receptions with audiences . The studio has also produced several short films . , its feature films have earned approximately $ 10.8 billion at the box office worldwide , with an average worldwide gross of $ 634 million per film . Finding Dory , along with its predecessor Finding Nemo ( 2003 ) , as well as Toy Story 3 ( 2010 ) are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time , with the lattermost film being the third all-time highest-grossing animated film with a gross of $ 1.063 billion . Fourteen of Pixar 's films are also among the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time .   The studio has earned sixteen Academy Awards , seven Golden Globe Awards , and eleven Grammy Awards , among many other awards and acknowledgments . Many of Pixar 's films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature since its inauguration in 2001 , with eight winning ; this includes Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3 , along with The Incredibles ( 2004 ) , Ratatouille ( 2007 ) , WALL-E ( 2008 ) , Up ( 2009 ) , Brave ( 2012 ) , and Inside Out ( 2015 ) . Monsters , Inc. ( 2001 ) and Cars ( 2006 ) are the only two films that were nominated for the award without winning it , while Cars 2 ( 2011 ) , Monsters University ( 2013 ) , The Good Dinosaur ( 2015 ) , and Finding Dory have not been nominated . Up and Toy Story 3 were also the respective second and third animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture , the first being Walt Disney Animation Studios ' Beauty and the Beast ( 1991 ) . Luxo Jr. , a character from the studio 's 1986 short film of the same name , is the studio 's mascot .   On September 6 , 2009 , Pixar executives John Lasseter , Brad Bird , Pete Docter , Andrew Stanton , and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement by the biennial Venice Film Festival . The award was presented by Lucasfilm 's founder George Lucas .

Toy Story 2 <=SEP=> Toy Story 2 is a 1999 American computer-animated comedy adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures . Directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon , it is the sequel to the 1995 film Toy Story .   In the film , Woody is stolen by a toy collector , prompting Buzz Lightyear and his friends to vow to rescue him , but Woody is then tempted by the idea of immortality in a museum . Many of the original characters and voices from Toy Story return for this sequel , and several new characters -- including Jessie ( voiced by Joan Cusack ) , Barbie ( voiced by Jodi Benson ) , Stinky Pete ( voiced by Kelsey Grammer ) and Mrs. Potato Head ( voiced by Estelle Harris ) -- are introduced . It was the last Toy Story film that starred Jim Varney as Slinky Dog before his death in 2000 .   Disney initially envisioned the film as a direct-to-video sequel . Toy Story 2 began production in a building separated from Pixar , on a small scale , as most of the main Pixar staff were busy working on A Bug 's Life ( 1998 ) . When story reels proved promising , Disney upgraded the film to theatrical release , but Pixar was unhappy with the film 's quality . Lasseter and the story team redeveloped the entire plot in one weekend . Although most Pixar features take years to develop , the established release date could not be moved and the production schedule for Toy Story 2 was compressed into nine months .   Despite production struggles , Toy Story 2 opened in November 1999 to wildly successful box office numbers , eventually grossing over $ 497 million , and received universal acclaim from critics . Toy Story 2 has been considered by critics to be one of few sequel films to outshine the original , and it continues to be featured frequently on lists of the greatest animated films ever made . The film has seen multiple home media releases and a theatrical 3-D re-release in 2009 , 10 years after its initial release . Toy Story 3 was released in 2010 , which was also critically and commercially successful .