Pixar-athon #1: Toy Story

Hello, Spongey here.

So yea…..do I even NEED to introduce pixar?!

Since…forever, pixar has made great shorts, and films. Filled with good animation, characters, and story. Everyone has seen their films and loves them.

So I shall be looking at all of them. Keep in mind, this is all what I feel so, there.

I won’t go into behind the scenes detail that much. That’s what DVD’s are for...besides watching movies. I may mention some if it’s cool enough.

So, let’s begin with the film that started it all!

This, is Toy Story.

This is one those movies I’ve seen dozens of times. I don’t know when I first saw it. But I did get it on VHS and would watch it all the freaking time. I also watch it whenever it’s on TV. I did not see it when it got re-released in 3D however. I recently bought it on DVD and watched the commentary, which is really cool.

So why does the film have such good re-watch value? Let’s take a look…

Toy Story introduces us to the toys belonging to a boy named Andy. Their unofficial leader is Andy's favorite toy, Woody (Tom Hanks), an old cowboy doll with a string. Woody gets some competition when Andy gets a new toy for his birthday, Buzz lightyear (Tim Allen). Buzz is new, cool, and just as dynamic a personality as Woody, though he thinks he's really a soldier of Star Command rather than a toy. His undoubted leadership qualities (and up-to-date modernity) arouse jealousy in Woody; when Buzz is accidentally lost, the other toys think Woody masterminded the disappearance. Hijinks ensue, and Woody and Buzz have a final confrontation that forces both of them to join forces to keep the toy "family" together...

Right off the bat the film is a lot of fun. The various kinds of toys lead to many possibilities. We have Mr Potato head, who’s kind of an ass, Rex the dinosaur, who’s a wimp, and bo peep, woody’s love interesting. *Insert woody has a woody joke here*.

All these characters are really funny, and are tons of fun. And that’s not even touching on the really minor ones, like the army guys, who are also awesome. (And voice by R.Lee Ernie to boot…camp! Bad joke, sorry)

My favorite one Is Mr Potato head. (I totally have one of those btw) . he’s just a funny asshole kind of guy.

Now let’s talk about some individual bits of the film.

Funny thing about the animation: I used to think it was good, but a little outdated by pixar’s new standards. But then I saw it on DVD recently and man, it still looks great. It’s not the best, but it’s still some really good animation. The humans look iffy, but much better than in that Tin Toy short. Seriously, the baby In that thing is ugly.

Now for the villain. There’s two people who could possibly be the villain. First is Sid, the neighbor kid who tortures kids. He’s a lot fun, and he is a sick bastard. People have said that perhaps sid isn’t so evil. Everyone has done something like that to their toys before. However, Sid is freaking evil and takes pride in doing this,. I see this is a flanderization of those kind of people.

But…I think the real villain is Mr Potato head. Thinking about it: He’s an ass to woody, he makes woody feel bad by talking about how awesome buzz is, and he makes the toys go against him. Of course he learns his lesson and all that good stuff. Oh, and he gets a Mrs. Potato head..

And now for the most important part: John Ratzenburger’s role. He’s in every pixar film, and we’ll talk his role in each film. In this one, he’s Hamm the piggy bank. He’s very funny, and one of the best deadpan snarkers this side of…insert good snarker here. I like him a lot.

My favorite scene is all your favorite scenes. The gas station, the claw game, and falling with style. However, the scene I love that most people overlook comes near the end. Woody teams up with sid’s toys to scare sid once and for all so they can escape. So, they all come alive in a horror movie-like fashion, while woody uses his voice box to scare sid a bit.

Woody’s head then turns all the way around and then…

Woody:(through speaker)We toys see everything. (actually speaking) So play nice.

That scared the shit out of my as a kid. And it still scares the crap out of me….BUT IT’S SO FREAKING AWESOME! It’s extremely well animated, and it’s perfect. The animation, the voice acting, and the music are all great in this scene.

Of course I love this exchange

Buzz: And you, my friend, are responsible for delaying my rendezvous with Star Command!
(beat)
Woody: You! Are! A! TOOOOOOOY! You're not the real Buzz Lightyear, you... you're an action figure! You are a child's plaything!
(beat)
Buzz: You are a sad, strange little man. And you have my pity. Farewell.
Woody: Yeah? Well, good riddance, ya looney!

The real strength of the film is the voice acting. The acting is really good. You never get the sense this is coming from a script. Hanks and allen do fantastic jobs. Mainly tom hanks, who really brings woody to life.

Because there’s no easter eggs, (Besides A113 on andy’s car, and the debut of the pizza planet truck) imam wrap this one up.

Toy Story is still a fantastic, and funny film that hasn’t aged a bit. The first time was the charm.

Oh, and today is John Lasseter’s birthday! What an amazing coincidence…no really, I was working on this when I found this out. Freaky, huh?

So yeah, Toy story is awesome, but pixar kept on making amazing movies. I won’t grade these since they’re all A+…except for two but I’ll get to those when I do.

I’m spongey, and pixar-athon shall continue!

…I really need a catchphrase.