Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2 movie poster
Directed by	John Lasseter Co-Director: Lee Unkrich Ash Brannon
Written by	Story: John Lasseter Pete Docter Ash Brannon Andrew Stanton Screenplay: Andrew Stanton Rita Hsiao Doug Chamberlain Chris Webb Story Supervisor: Dan Jeup Joe Ranft
Produced by	Karen Robert Jackson Helene Plotkin Executive Producer: Sarah McArthur
Starring	Tom Hanks Tim Allen Joan Cusack Kelsey Grammer Don Rickles Wallace Shawn John Ratzenberger Wayne Knight
Music by	Randy Newman
Production company	Pixar Animation Studios
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release dates	November 19, 1999 February 12, 2010 (3-D Re-Release)
Running time	92 min.
Language	English
Budget	$90 million
Box office	Domestic: $245,852,179 Worldwide: $485,015,179

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 CGI film, the third Disney / Pixar feature film, and the sequel to Toy Story, which featured the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them. Like the first film, Toy Story 2 was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, directed by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon, and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 19, 1999, in some parts of Australia on December 2, 1999 and the United Kingdom on 11 February 2000. Toy Story 2 is set for re-release in a double feature with Toy Story in Disney Digital 3-D on October 2, 2009, and Toy Story 3, is scheduled for release on June 18, 2010, is in development.

The movie keeps most of the original characters and voices from the first movie, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, and John Ratzenberger. They are joined by new characters voiced by Jodi Benson, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Estelle Harris, and Wayne Knight.

Plot

Set a few years after Toy Story (1995), Andy accidentally tears Woody's arm while playing with him before leaving for cowboy camp (an annual trip he makes with Woody), leaving Woody on the shelf. Woody starts to have nightmares of becoming a disused toy, but wakes to find that Wheezy, a penguin toy whose squeaker is broken, is being taken by Andy's mother to be sold at a yard sale. Woody rescues Wheezy with the help of Andy's dog Buster (who was mentioned at the end of the previous film as a puppy), but he is accidentally left behind at the yard sale and subsequently stolen by a toy store owner, Al McWhiggin. Buzz Lightyear and the other toys watch in horror, and Buzz sets up a rescue party with Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Slinky Dog and Hamm to bring Woody back.

Woody is brought to Al's apartment, where he discovers that he is a toy created from Woody's Roundup, a popular children's television show from the 1950s. By acquiring him, Al now has a complete collection of the show's merchandise, which he plans to sell to a toy museum in Tokyo, Japan. Woody meets the toy versions of the show's co-stars: his sidekick Jessie, his horse Bullseye, and an old prospector named Stinky Pete formerly known as 'The Prospector' (who is still in his original box). These three are excited to be going to Japan. But knowing that he is Andy's toy, Woody has doubts and tries to escape the apartment but without success. Later, Al brings over a toy repairman, who restores Woody's arm and gives him a fresh paint job, which Woody appreciates. He slowly warms up to the idea of going to Japan, particularly after learning that Jessie was once the favorite toy of a little girl named Emily who gave her away after growing up and he realises that, if he returns to Andy, he will eventually be thrown away when he grows up, whereas if he goes to Japan, he will be remembered and treasured forever.

Meanwhile, Buzz and the others make their way to the toy store to try to locate Woody. In their escapades, Buzz gets in a fight with a newer version of himself, who imprisons him in a display box. The rest of the rescue team mistakenly takes Buzz #2 with them across the street to Al's apartment, where they now know Woody is being kept. Buzz #1 manages to escape and follows the team, inadvertently letting loose a figure of his sworn enemy, Emperor Zurg, who follows to destroy him. The team breaks into Al's apartment and attempts to take Woody home, but he refuses to leave. Buzz #1 catches up and uses Woody's words from the first movie to remind him that he is a toy, meant to be played with, and persuades him to come with them. Woody invites the other toys from Woody's Roundup to come along, but Stinky Pete (now out of his box) blocks the escape route, determined to get them to Japan, as it is the only chance he has to finally be appreciated.

As Al packs up the collection for shipping overseas, Buzz #1 and the team follow him, while Buzz #2 stays behind to keep Zurg occupied. In the baggage handling area of the airport, Woody and The Prospector face off, The Prospector reopening the old rip in Woody's arm; the team then distracts Pete long enough to stuff him into a little girl's backpack, so that he will learn what it means to be a toy. The toys free Bullseye from the crate, but too late to free Jessie, as the crate gets loaded into the plane's cargo hold. Assisted by Buzz and Bullseye, Woody slips on board and extracts her from the cargo hold just before the plane takes off.

The toys happily return home and soon learn that, due to Al's failure to sell the merchandise collection, his business and his mood have both declined sharply. When Andy comes home from camp, he is excited to see the new additions to his own collection, Jessie and Bullseye, believing that his mom got them for him while he was away. He repairs Woody's arm and marks both of the others with his name, making them feel appreciated again. Buzz shows signs of attraction to Jessie after she performs a similar stunt that Buzz did in the 1st movie (his wings inadvertently extend in astonishment). Woody and Buzz now accept the fact that Andy will eventually grow up, but even after he does, they will still be there for each other. As the movie ends, a now-fixed Wheezy sings "You've Got a Friend in Me."

Voice cast

Main article: List of Toy Story characters

• Tom Hanks as Woody
• Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear
• Joan Cusack as Jessie
• Kelsey Grammer as Stinky Pete the Prospector
• Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head
• Wallace Shawn as Rex
• Jim Varney as Slinky Dog
• John Ratzenberger as Hamm
• Wayne Knight as Al McWhiggin
• Annie Potts as Bo Peep
• Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head
• John Morris as Andy
• Joe Ranft as Wheezy
• Robert Goulet as Wheezy's singing voice
• R. Lee Ermey as Sarge
• Jodi Benson as Tour Guide Barbie
• Andrew Stanton as Emperor Zurg
• Laurie Metcalf as Andy's Mom
• Jonathan Harris as Geri
• Jeff Pidgeon as Squeeze Toy Aliens
• Andi Peters as Luggage Handler 1
• Mary Kay Bergman as Jessie (Woody's Roundup)

Crew

• Directed by John Lasseter
• Co-Directed by Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon
• Produced by Helene Plotkin and Karen Robert Jackson
• Executive Producer Sarah McArthur
• Story by Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter and Ash Brannon
• Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlain and Chris Webb
• Music by Randy Newman
• Story Supervisors Dan Jeup and Joe Ranft
• Edited by Lee Unkrich
• Sound Designer Gary Rydstrom

Production

Toy Story 2 was not originally intended for release in theaters. Disney asked Pixar to make a direct-to-video sequel for the original Toy Story with a 60 minute running time. When Disney executives saw how impressive the in-work imagery for the sequel was, they decided to create a theatrical movie, and the plot was reworked to be much more epic and cinematic in scope and the duration of the movie was extended to just over 90 minutes. Some animators got repetitive stress injuries rushing to complete the film, which taught the Pixar managers to arrange breaks between each project from then on.

Pixar and Disney had a five-film co-production deal and Pixar felt that with its change in status, Toy Story 2 should count as one of the pictures in the deal. Disney, however, felt that since the production of Toy Story 2 was negotiated outside of the five-picture deal, it should not count. This issue became a particularly sore spot for Pixar, leading to a falling out between Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and Disney CEO Michael Eisner, concluding in Pixar's 2004 announcement that it would not extend its deal with Disney and would instead seek other distribution partners. With Eisner's departure and Pixar's ultimate purchase by Disney, however, these problems have been overcome. This was one of Jim Varney's last movies before his death in 2000.

Music

See main article Toy Story 2 (soundtrack).

Randy Newman wrote two new songs for Toy Story 2 as well as the complete original score:

• "When She Loved Me" - performed by Sarah McLachlan: Used for the flashback montage in which Jessie experiences being loved, forgotten, and ultimately abandoned by her owner, Emily. The feel of the flashbacks is very similar to the scenes that take place for Woody in "Strange Things", during the first movie. This song was nominated at the Oscars in 2000 for Best Song, though the award went to Phil Collins for "You'll Be In My Heart" from Disney's Tarzan.
• "Woody's Roundup" - performed by Riders in the Sky: Theme song for the "Woody's Roundup" TV show. Also end-credit music.

The film also includes two new versions of "You've Got a Friend in Me," the theme from the first film. The first is performed by the puppet Woody (Hanks) "on guitar" as part of the "Woody's Roundup" show. The second is a Vegas-style finale production number sung by Wheezy (singing voice provided by Robert Goulet).

Release

Marketing

A video game for the PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast was released. The game featured original cast voices and clips from the movie as introductions to levels. Once earned, these clips could be viewed at the player's discretion. Another game was released for the Game Boy Color.

Box office performance

Toy Story 2 opened over Thanksgiving Day weekend at #1 to a three-day tally of $57,388,839 from 3,236 theaters averaging $17,734 per theater over three days, making $80,102,784 since its Wednesday launch, and staying at #1 for the next two weekends. It eventually made $245,852,179 domestically and $239,163,000 overseas for a total worldwide gross of $485,015,179, becoming the third highest grossing film of 1999, and far surpassing the original, and in fact, every other animated movie to that date except for The Lion King, though both were later eclipsed by another CGI movie, Shrek 2.

Reception

Prior to its preceding installment, Toy Story 2 received high critical acclaim and earned a 100% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes with an average reviewer score of 8.5/10 (based on a sample of 125 reviews). It is currently #2 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of best rated movies and the best rated animated movie.

Television

The movie was first broadcast on pay-TV in the UK on The Disney Channel on December 8, 2001 but like Toy Story, the transition of the movie from pay-TV to terrestrial TV was extremely slow and eventually first appeared on terrestrial TV on BBC One on December 25, 2005. In the US, the film premiered on ABC in 2001.

It received an 87/100 Universal Acclaim on Metacritic.

Pixar themes

Trailers

One Pixar tradition is to create trailers for their films that do not contain footage from the released film. In one trailer, released theatrically with Doug's 1st Movie, the green alien toys come up to a center with the claw coming down. First the claw was carrying down Toy Story with the aliens doing their trademark "Oooh." Second the claw brings down a "2" and with the aliens turning around and looking at the audience and saying "Twoooo." Then Woody appears (saying "Howdy howdy howdy, folks! It's good to be back.") and is swiftly disappointed when Buzz shows up as well. He expresses his annoyance that Buzz is in the sequel. Buzz replies, "Excuse me, pull-String boy, What would Toy Story 2 be without Buzz Lightyear?". "A good movie." counters Woody.

Attached short film

Main article: Luxo Jr.

Theatrical and video releases of this film include Luxo Jr, Pixar's first short film released in 1986, starring Pixar's mascot, Luxo.

References to other Pixar films

Main article: List of Pixar film references

External links

• Official website
• Toy Story 2 at IMDb
• Toy Story 2 at AllMovie
• Toy Story 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Toy Story 2 at Metacritic
• Toy Story 2 at Box Office Mojo