Second Look - Toy Story 2

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story 1 and 2.

Following the success of the original Toy Story film, Disney desired to capitalize on it with a sequel, developing one themselves for the direct-to-video market. When the project, Toy Story 2, was upgraded to a theatrical release, Pixar were unsatisfied with what had been made and were given permission to overhaul it themselves, but they only had nine months to do the whole thing due to Disney not wanting to budge on the 1999 release date. While I was too young to see the original Toy Story when it first came out in a theater, I was old enough to see Toy Story 2 this way, and many of its themes and contributions to Toy Story canon stuck with me well into adulthood. Looking back on it, where the original Toy Story has held up as a timeless classic, Toy Story 2 has managed to solidify itself as another classic in its own right thanks to its strong writing and well-handled themes.

Toy Story 2

Note: The following review contains spoilers for Toy Story 2.

Following the success of the original Toy Story, it seemed inevitable that Pixar would want to cash in on that with a Toy Story 2. Though a Toy Story sequel was in development during A Bug’s Life, it was initially envisioned to be a direct-to-video feature, however Disney, who had a distribution deal with Pixar at the time prior to the later buyout, later wanted it to be a theatrical release following test footage. Pixar wanted to change things, however Disney insisted on the release date they had already set, leading Pixar to rework the movie and somehow finish it within a span of nine months. Despite these circumstances, the movie that came out of it was surprisingly good.