Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

In the interest of holding fans over until the inevitable release of Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix has released HD Remix compilations of already existing games in the series on PS3. Both of these Remixes, HD 1.5 and HD 2.5, collect two full games and a cutscene version of a third. Recently, in the interest of hyping up the end of the Dark Seeker Saga, they have released a third compilation, this time released on PS4, known as HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. Unlike the other compilations, this one features an HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance, previously only playable on the Nintendo 3DS, as well as an original short game and an original CG movie which covers the events of an otherwise nonessential smartphone game. Essentially, this particular collection is meant to fully prepare players for the events of Kingdom Hearts III.

The first item in the collection is Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD. While it may seem a challenge to port a game from a system with two screens to a system which only allows for one, the team definitely pulled it off. Immediately noticeable is the increased graphical capability, which better takes advantage of the screen size and allows every detail to be seen with better clarity. Beyond this are a number of gameplay tweaks to make the game more controller-friendly, mainly by assigning Dream Eater functions from the second screen to a sub-menu menu system not unlike Kingdom Hearts II. To explain, there is a sub-menu menu for activating special Dream Eater attacks and another for switching out an active Dream Eater with the one in reserve, though these can also thankfully be accessed like a shortcut menu from previous games.

There are a number of additional changes made to the HD version of Dream Drop Distance, including, but not limited to, extended Drop times, three Command Deck commands instead of two, gameplay in 60 FPS and the ability to view a map of the area by pressing the DualShock 4’s touchpad. There are also three exclusive Dream Eaters, Catanuki, Tubguin Ace and Beatalike, for players to create and bond with. While the Dream Eater mini-games have been reworked pretty well to fit with a DualShock 4 layout, the only complaint I have is that a mini-game where you pop balloons involves precision control with the touchpad, which feels awkward at first and takes a while to get used to, since you otherwise have no frame of reference for where your finger is in relation to the position of the balloons on the screen.

Weighing both the good and bad, Dream Drop Distance HD seems like the ideal way to play such an important game in the story. Its improvements are enough to feel right at home on PS4 and provide an ultimately smoother experience.

Next up is an original short game under the, rather lengthy, name Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-. This game tells the story of Aqua’s journey through the Realm of Darkness after the events of the Secret Episode from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix. Since the story can be completed in about three hours or less, the story isn’t very deep. However, what we see from Aqua’s point of view does give her some semblance of closure and fairly neatly ties together the points from when we see her at the end of Birth by Sleep to when we see her in subsequent appearances. In addition, the framing device for the story, Yen Sid explaining Aqua’s past to Sora and Riku, serves nicely as both an epilogue to Birth by Sleep and the prologue of Kingdom Hearts III. In other words, this alone makes the game a must-play.

Apart from filling in previously-unseen details of Aqua’s backstory, 0.2 Birth by Sleep is also more or less a demo of the kind of graphics and gameplay players can expect from Kingdom Hearts III. In terms of graphics, it’s a major step up from previous games due to being rendered in Unreal Engine 4 with the new Kingdom Shader applied. While the lighting and environments are impressive, the character models, though well-detailed, end up with a texture resembling plastic, as they are a little too smooth. On the upside, it helps the series finally resemble the pre-rendered FMV sequences seen in previous installments.

Keyblade Master Aqua about to face off against a
Demon Tower enemy made of Shadow Heartless.

As for the gameplay, it feels like a number of gameplay elements from previous games have coalesced into a new whole. The game does away with the Command Deck, instead returning back to the classic Menu system as a base, along with the introduction of a second “page” for the shortcut menu to separate Magic from Items. On top of this base, the gameplay uses the MP system from Kingdom Hearts II, Shotlocks and the Focus gauge from Birth by Sleep and the presence of Flowmotion from Dream Drop Distance, though in a more limited form here. Additionally, the game introduces the ability to teleport between Save Points, Objectives which unlock clothing and color options for Aqua and Situation Commands, which operate as a more upgraded form of Reaction Commands. Magic now also leaves an effect on the environment, allowing for some new effects and interactions in combat.

Controlling all of the gameplay elements during combat felt very smooth and responsive, especially since everything was incorporated in a surprisingly effective way. Knowing that Kingdom Hearts III will introduce more mechanics on top of this, including the return of Summons and Drive Forms, it’s good overall that the developers decided to provide such a glimpse into what’s in store for the future of the franchise. While 0.2 Birth by Sleep is essential to play in more ways than one, it also manages to provide a pretty satisfying experience that may leave long-time fans wanting more.

The last item in HD 2.8 is an 80-minute original feature with the title Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover (read as Kingdom Hearts Chi Back Cover). This film tells the story of a group known as the Foretellers, six apprentices who have been given important tasks to complete in the event that their master, the Master of Masters, disappears. Though it is meant more as a companion to the Kingdom Hearts χ game and its Unchained χ version, it feels like a potential substitute, as it is essentially the events of χ told from a different point of view. Its place as a distant prequel to the rest of the series allows it to explore certain story elements discussed in other entries, mainly the Great Keyblade War, and gives a new context to the Gazing Eye, a blue eye last seen in Xehanort’s Keyblade.

The mysterious Master of Masters.

As much as the feature sheds new light on the events of the series, it unfortunately doesn’t reach a solid conclusion, instead allowing its events to tie into the events of 0.2 Birth by Sleep and, presumably, Kingdom Hearts III. In addition, the narrative is driven by a single question, “Who is the traitor?” On the upside, the rendering is very impressive, as it also uses Unreal Engine 4 and the Kingdom Shader. Though the plastic feeling doesn’t completely go away, the fact that the important characters are all wearing clothing covering their features seems to make the aesthetic more visually appealing. While χ Back Cover isn’t a perfect movie, series fans are pretty much obligated to watch it, if only to feel like they’re staying in the loop.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is an interesting and worthwhile collection. The inclusion of an essential piece of the long-running puzzle and two pieces of original content are more than enough to make this a must-have for Kingdom Hearts fans. Fortunately, the quality of the contents help it to feel less like a mere obligation and the presence of original content in an HD collection for the series also helps justify the price tag. If nothing else, this entry confirms that it is indeed the final stop before the events of Kingdom Hearts III. Now all we have to do is wait just a little bit longer.

The LEGO Batman Movie

After the success of The LEGO Movie in 2014, an inevitable sequel was announced, and with it a pair of spin-offs based on Batman (as depicted in the movie) and LEGO’s popular Ninjago theme. Upon hearing about The LEGO Batman Movie, given Batman’s humorous portrayal in The LEGO Movie, I did have some reservations at first on whether his shtick would be able to carry an entire movie. A trailer paired with the disastrous Batman v Superman gave me a glimpse as to what such a movie would be like, and further trailers towards the actual release helped to assuage any doubts I may have had. In the end, I can say I enjoyed the movie much more than I thought I would initially.

After foiling a plan by The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) to blow up Gotham City, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Will Arnett) goes home to his large and empty mansion, eating microwaved lobster thermidor and watching movies alone in his theater. As Batman looks at an old family photo, his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) suggests to him that he not only fears having a family of his own, he should also consider the possibility of raising a child. At an event commemorating Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) as the new Commissioner of Gotham, this comes to a head when Bruce Wayne unknowingly adopts Richard “Dick” Grayson (Michael Cera), an orphan. Meanwhile, The Joker is upset about Batman not paying him any attention despite being a major villain, and so concocts a new scheme to earn that attention after watching a TV interview with Superman (Channing Tatum) involving the Phantom Zone.

The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) just wants some attention from Batman (Will Arnett).

Though this movie is a spin-off of The LEGO Movie, it generally presented itself as a stand-alone story, the only major connections being the existence of a swirling abyss at the edge of reality and Batman’s abilities as a Master Builder (allowing him to construct whatever he wants using LEGO bricks from the environment). Aside from that, the story was actually rather easy to follow and had some solid writing amidst a slew of largely-clever humor (among them a number of Michael Jackson references). In general, the movie can be viewed as both a celebration and parody of Batman as a whole, since there are a number of references/jokes to previous Batman media (up to Batman v Superman at the time of the movie’s release), many of them to the 1966 Adam West series. The movie also notably features the film debut of a great number of Batman villains (including Z-list characters such as Clock King, Polka-Dot Man, Calendar Man and Condiment King), as well as the first time the entirety of the Justice League has been seen on-screen together (beating out the upcoming Justice League movie by nine months at the time of this writing).

Yes, Condiment King is a real Batman villain.
(Pictured: His appearance as he debuted in
Batman: The Animated Series.)

As with The LEGO Movie, the animation is very well-done, mimicking the stop-motion style rather well. I did notice, however, that more liberties seemed to be taken in regards to character animation, such as minifigure arms and legs, while retaining static positions, moving more free-form around the body to achieve certain poses, as well as there being more ambiguity as to whether the minifigure characters have a static “neck.” Batman’s cowl is also noticeably more animated compared to it remaining static in The LEGO Movie, however the end result maintains the stop-motion illusion by appearing as though multiple cowl molds were swapped out between frames. There is also some minor cheating in that some realistic smoke and water effects are used at times rather than having said elements be made of LEGO bricks, as in The LEGO Movie, though the animators still did a good job overall in maintaining the illusion of being a high-budget stop-motion production.

The voice acting is actually pretty good, with Will Arnett returning to voice his version of Batman and being able to run with it while still delivering a good range of emotion when needed. I honestly did not recognize Michael Cera playing Dick Grayson/Robin, mainly because I’m used to seeing him perform characters along the lines of Scott Pilgrim, which to me proved that he actually has some range as an actor and makes me wonder if he will ever get an opportunity like that again in any future role he is given. Zach Galifianakis delivers a rather interesting take on The Joker, who is portrayed here as being a serious villain while at the same time edging on being one of the sillier Jokers, as he goes out of his way just to get Batman to recognize him as a threat in a way comparable to unrequited love. While Galifianakis is not Mark Hamill, he certainly makes his Joker memorable, which is unfortunately more than I can say about Jared Leto’s Joker as seen in last year’s Suicide Squad. The other voice actors in the movie do a good job in playing the roles in which they are cast, a number of which seem to be played for laughs, such as editor Matt Villa delivering a higher-pitched voice in a brief moment of Killer Croc speaking and The Big Bang Theory’s Kate Micucci voicing Clayface.

The main score is provided by Lorne Balfe, whose resume includes the main entries in the Skylanders video game franchise among other things, in collaboration with drummer Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers. While his score might not be as memorable as Mark Mothersbaugh’s score in The LEGO Movie, he does a good job in giving The LEGO Batman Movie its own identity separate from its predecessor. A well-composed lounge music cover of the song “Everything Is Awesome” is performed by Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine, however its use is more subtle here than in The LEGO Movie.

The LEGO Batman Movie is a movie for fans of all things LEGO, Batman, and LEGO Batman. While not as good as The LEGO Movie, it keeps the same spirit of its predecessor while having its own identity as a fun action-comedy. It’s especially fun if you are a Batman fan, since, as I said earlier, the movie is essentially a simultaneous celebration and parody of the caped crusader’s 75+ years of history, many of it stemming from the Dark Knight Trilogy and the Adam West series from the 1960s. Attached to the main feature is a trailer for The LEGO Ninjago Movie; while I am not well-versed in the Ninjago theme, I remain cautiously optimistic that the movie will convince me to go see it in a similar fashion to how The LEGO Batman Movie managed to convince me.

Stubs - Beauty and The Beast

Beauty and The Beast (1991) Starring the voices of Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury. Directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise. Screenplay by Linda Wolverton. Based on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Produced by Don Hahn. Music by Alan Menken. Run Time: 83 minutes. U.S. Color, Animated, Musical, Fantasy

Beauty and the Beast came out following the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), but it was originally considered to be a follow-up to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Disney made attempts to develop the story into a movie in the 1930’s and 1950’s before giving up on the idea. What didn’t help matters was a film version by French director, Jean Cocteau, La Belle et la Bête (1946).

The idea would get resurrected in 1987 during the production of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). For the first time, a Disney film was developed first as a screenplay rather than through the story-boarding process which had been utilized for all Disney animated films up to that point. As is true in many films, the original script was scrapped and the process started all over again. There was a change in directors and production, which had been originally planned for London, was moved to Glendale, California.

Produced on a compressed timeline, two years instead of the usual four, Beauty and the Beast was only the second feature after The Rescuers Down Under (1990) to employ a computer animation process called CAPS (Computer Animation Production System), a digital system of software and hardware developed for Disney by Pixar (yes, that Pixar).

The film is also known for its use of computer animation in a particular scene, the success of which would encourage studio executives to invest in the new technology. We’ll discuss that again when we get to the scene in question.

The story we're told at the beginning of the film tells a story related to the one we're about to see.

We’re told in an opening narration that a young, handsome prince is cursed when he refuses lodging for an enchantress, disguised as an old beggar. The rose she had offered in payment is now part of the curse. As a result of his actions, the prince is transformed into a beast. The rose will bloom until his 21^st birthday and he has until the last of the rose’s petals has fallen to learn love and be loved in return in order to break the spell. If he fails, he will remain a beast forever. (Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the deal Ariel makes with Ursula in The Little Mermaid, which also involved transformations and oddly specific deadlines?) The Beast is also left with a magic mirror that allows him the capability of viewing the world outside his castle (this will become important later). In addition to the prince’s punishment, his servants, for no fault of their own, are turned into household items and his castle into a dark fortress.

Gaston (Richard White) has his sights on marrying Belle (Paige O'Hara).

Years later, but not too many if the prince was already lord of the manor and not quite 21, a beautiful young woman named Belle (voiced by Paige O’Hara) lives in a nearby French village with her father Maurice (Rex Everheart), an inventor. Belle is a bookworm, who borrows, rather than buys, her books from the village bookstore. She longs for a life beyond the provincial village. Her beauty attracts the attention of the other villagers, who don’t think she fits in. But Belle is pretty and is pursued by the, as arrogant as he is muscle-bound, Gaston (Richard White). Despite the women who swoon over him, Gaston has his sights on marrying Belle. But despite Gaston’s resume and the envy of other men, Belle is uninterested.

Belle's father, Maurice (Rex Everheart), is an inventor.

Maurice gets a wood-chopping machine to work and heads off with his Clydesdale-sized horse Phillipe to a fair to showcase his new invention. But along the way, Maurice gets lost and takes a shortcut through the dark forest, despite Phillipe’s protests. Abandoned by his horse, chased by a pack of wolves, Maurice stumbles upon a dark castle and takes refuge inside. The household servants Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), a candelabra; Cogsworrh (David Ogden Stiers), a clock; Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), a teapot; and her son Chip (Bradley Michael Pierce), a chipped teacup, welcome him in.

Some of the Beast's household servants include Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), Cogsworth (David Ogden Stiers),
 Mrs. Potts (Angele Lansbury) and her son, Chip (Bradley Michael Pierce).

But when the ferocious Beast (Robby Benson) finds out, he imprisons Maurice, throwing him into a dungeon cell. Phillipe, who had actually never been to the castle, leads Belle to it. She confronts the Beast and offers to take her father′s place, who doesn’t look well. Over her father’s protests, the Beast accepts her offer. The Beast moves her from the dungeon into a bedroom and gives her the run of the castle. The only stipulation is that she stays out of the West Wing.

The Beast (Robby Benson) imprisons Maurice for trespassing on his property.

Gaston sulks in the local tavern over his failed proposal while Lefou (Jesse Corti), Gaston’s minion, tries to cheer him up. Maurice arrives, seeking help to rescue her from the Beast. No one takes him seriously, so he sets out alone. 

Lefou (Jesse Corti) is Gaston's sidekick/minion and comic relief.

Belle angers the Beast when she refuses to dine with him that night. But Lumière disobeys his order not to let her eat. While Cogsworth and Lumière give Belle a tour of the castle, she wanders into the forbidden West Wing. There she finds the enchanted rose and the Beast angrily chases her away. Belle then attempts to flee the castle with Phillipe, but they are attacked by a pack of wolves, the same ones who no doubt attacked her father. The Beast comes to her aid and is injured when he fights off the wolves.

Lumiere and Cogsworth take Belle on a tour of the castle.

Back at the castle, Belle nurses his wounds, and he begins to develop feelings for her. She thanks him for saving her life and he impresses her by giving her the castle's vast library. The more time they spend together, the closer Belle and the Beast become. Back in the village, Gaston pays Monsieur d'Arque, the warden of the town's insane asylum, to have Maurice committed if Belle does not accept Gaston's marriage proposal.

The ballroom sequence mixes CGI (the chandelier) with hand-drawn dancing characters.

Belle and the Beast share a romantic evening together, dancing in the great Ballroom together, a sequence notable for its use of computer animation of the ballroom and chandelier. The hand-drawn dancing characters are then composited against it using CAPS. The household goods encourage the Beast to tell Belle how he feels about her, but the moment is never right. Instead, Belle tells the Beast she misses her father, and he lets her use the magic mirror to see him. What Belle sees is her father dying in the woods after a botched attempt to rescue her. The Beast allows her to leave so she can save him. He even gives her the mirror to remember him by.

Belle finds her father and takes him home where she nurses him back to health. Gaston tries once more to marry Belle and when she turns him down, Monsieur d'Arque arrives to put Maurice in the insane asylum because of his insistence on the existence of a Beast. But Belle proves Maurice's sanity by showing the gathered crowd the Beast with the magic mirror. Realizing that Belle has feelings for the Beast, Gaston warns the townspeople that the Beast is a child-eating monster that must be killed, and leads them to the castle. (You have to give the townspeople credit for being able to turn on a dime.)

Gaston convinces the village that the Beast is a child-eating monster.

Gaston locks Belle and her father in their basement to prevent them from warning the Beast. But Chip, who had hidden in Belle's baggage, releases them using Maurice's wood-chopping machine.

The Beast's household goods/servants defeat the townspeople in a pitched battle. Meanwhile, Gaston sneaks away to confront the Beast, who is initially too depressed to fight back. But when he sees Belle returning to the castle, he regains his will and fights back. The Beast wins a heated battle on the castle's rooftops and spares Gaston, who pleads for his life. The Beast frees him on the condition that he leaves. The Beast is about to be reunited with Belle when Gaston stabs him from behind. But in the attack, Gaston loses his balance and falls to his presumed death.

Belle has until the last rose petal falls to confess her love of the Beast.

While the Beast lies dying, Belle professes her love for him just as the rose's last petal falls off. With the spell broken, the Beast comes back to life and transforms back into his handsome prince form. His servants likewise change back into their old forms. The film ends with Belle and the prince, now married, dancing in the ballroom with her father and the servants happily looking on.

The Beast is transformed into a handsome prince by Belle's love.

Beauty and the Beast tells a very familiar story, but in a new and different way. Visually, the film looks very good, especially considering it is mostly hand drawn, something you don’t see that much of anymore. But when computer animation is used, it is quite obvious. And while the use of songs is nothing new in animated films and is still used in modern CGI features, there are almost too many songs, about half of the film’s run time is spent in song.

After watching the film, one wonders if which idea came first: the idea to make an animated stage musical or the idea to make a stage musical from an animated film. It wasn’t too terribly long after the film that the stage musical opened on Broadway and Broadway musicals, despite what we saw on Smash, are oftentimes years in the making.

Further, the film employs some very talented Broadway performers in supporting roles. including Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury. While Orbach might be best remembered as Detective Lennie Briscoe on 274 episodes of TV’s Law & Order or as Jennifer Grey’s father in Dirty Dancing (1987), he was an accomplished Broadway performer, starring in a 1965 revival of Guys and Dolls and the original stage production of Promises, Promises in 1969 (a musical based on the film The Apartment). For the latter, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Jerry Orbach was a seasoned Broadway professional with a Tony to prove it.

Angela Lansbury, if anything, was more successful than Orbach. She had her own long-running series, Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996), but prior to that, she was nominated three times as Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). She also won four Tony Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1973) and Sweeney Todd (1979). She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Play for her role in Deuce (2007) and won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Blithe Spirit (2009).

Angela Lansbury plays Mrs. Potts.

The leads, on the other hand, were either unknowns or surprise choices. Paige O’Hara made her Broadway debut in 1983 and her film debut with Beauty and the Beast. Since then she’s mostly reprised her role as Belle in direct-to-videos, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) and Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World (1998). Additionally, she released a series of paintings entitled Belles by Belle.

Paige O'Hara plays Beauty and Robby Benson plays the Beast.

While not an unknown, Robby Benson seemed to be an odd choice for the lead in a musical. Benson was mostly known for his work in TV Movies in the 1970’s prior to his starring role in Beauty and the Beast. Like most voice actors who get caught up in the Disney universe, he’s reprised the Beast role in subsequent related direct-to-video titles: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, Belle's Magical World, Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001); TV series: House of Mouse; and Video Games: Kingdom Hearts (2002), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (2007) and Kinect Disneyland Adventures (2011).

The film at the time of its release received very positive reviews and earned about $425 million worldwide from an initial budget of $25 million. Three years later, a musical based on the movie, with seven additional songs, debuted in Houston, Texas. Later that year, the musical would have its Broadway opening, playing 5,461 performances until 2007. Just as Beauty and the Beast would pave the way for such animated musical features like Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994) and Tarzan (1999), the success of the Beauty and the Beast stage musical would lead to other such movie to stage adaptations, including: The Lion King (1997), Tarzan (2006), The Little Mermaid (2008) and Aladdin: The New Musical came to Broadway in 2014. A live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame, will be opening in March 2017.

But back to the animated film, which is the point of this review. I would definitely recommend Beauty and the Beast, especially if you have small children. This is a really good example of family entertainment. Unlike many films and TV series aimed at children, the movie doesn’t play down to them. While not my favorite Disney animated feature, this is a very well made and, for the most, part enjoyable film.

Stubs - Toy Story

Toy Story (1995) Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts. Directed by John Lasseter. Screenplay by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow. Produced by Bonnie Arnold, Ralph Guggenheim. Run Time: 81 minutes. U.S.A. Color. Animated, Adventure

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a toy? Well, you need to look no further than Tin Toy (1988), a CGI short directed by John Lasseter to show off the Pixar Image Computer's capabilities. Despite why the film was originally made, it would go on to win the 1988 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

The short Tin Toy (1988) was the precursor to Toy Story.

Tin Toy got the attention of the Walt Disney company, known for its traditional hand-drawn animated classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Alice in Wonderland. Under the regime led by Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg tried to seduce Lasseter, a former mouse house animator, back into the fold. But Lasseter felt loyal to Steve Jobs, then owner of Pixar, and decided to stay and make history with Pixar.

Undeterred, Katzenberg set in motion plans for a production deal with Pixar. Disney had made all their films in-house up until Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). But negotiations were not easy between the two companies. Disney had a bad reputation for how they treated their animators, something those at Pixar already knew, some like Lasseter knew that first hand. The other problem was Katzenberg himself, who had a well-established reputation as a micro-managing tyrant, something he himself copped to in a meeting between the studios. But things between the two studios worked out.

Originally conceived as a Christmas TV Special, A Tin Toy Christmas, as a way to gain experience before making a feature film, that gave way, in 1991 to a Tin Toy movie with the working title Toy Story. Disney would own the property with an option to do Pixar’s next two films and to make sequels with or without Pixar involvement using the characters in the film. Pixar would receive 12.5 percent of the ticket revenues in return.

It was in the writing of the film that the story began to take shape. Originally, under Katzenberg’s supervision, the character of Woody was the main villain and Tinny, the musical toy from Tin Story, was paired with a ventriloquist dummy and the two set out on an Odyssey together. When Disney relinquished creative control to Pixar, the story began to more resemble what we know now.

Tinny, which Lasseter felt was not antiquated, went through a transformation ultimately becoming a space ranger named Lunar Larry on his way to becoming Buzz Lightyear. Woody also went through his own makeover as it were, starting out as a ventriloquist dummy and ending up as a pull-string toy. The name Woody was supposedly in homage to Woody Strode, a black football player turned actor who appeared in several John Ford westerns, including Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

Woody (Tom Hanks) holds court with the other toys, advising them to get a buddy for the pending move.

Inside six-year-old Andy Davis’(John Morris) room, his toys live in a world of their own when he’s not around. Their leader, and Andy’s favorite toy, is Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks), an old-fashioned pull-string Cowboy doll. Woody, as he’s called, organizes the other toys, including Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles); Slinky Dog (Jim Varney); Rex (Wallace Shawn), a cowardly dinosaur; Hamm (John Ratzenberger), a piggy bank; and Bo Peep (Annie Potts), a porcelain doll who is in love with Woody.

The toys paying attention to Woody's announcement include Rex (Wallace Shawn), Mr. Potato
Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog  (Jim Varney), Hamm (John Ratzenberger) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts).

Andy’s family, which includes his single mom (Laurie Metcalf) and a younger sister, are getting ready to move and Woody wants all the toys to find a moving buddy. During the session, Woody also announces that today is Andy’s birthday party, which causes anxiety amongst the toys. With the exception of Woody, they are all worried about being replaced. In order to keep an eye on the gifts,

The Army soldiers under Sarge's (R. Lee Ermey) command deploy to eavesdrop on Andy's Birthday party.

Woody sends a platoon of green Army men, led by Sarge (R. Lee Ermey), downstairs. Using a baby monitor, Sarge reports back to the other toys the presents as Andy opens them. When there is nothing to worry about, Sarge signs off, but quickly tries to get back online when Andy’s mom brings out a surprise gift. Again, the toys are anxious, causing Rex to knock the baby monitor to the floor, causing the batteries to fall out. While they are struggling to get them back in, Andy and his friends come running upstairs to his room. The toys become inanimate and fall to the floor; Woody takes his place on top of Andy’s bed.

Woody tries to figure out what to do after Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) lands on Andy's bed.

In the commotion, Woody slips off the bed as when the new present lands on the bed. When the boys run out of the room for cake and ice cream, the toys come back to life and wonder who has replaced Woody. It turns out to be an unaware Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), who doesn’t know that he’s only a toy. He thinks he’s on a space mission and is trying to make friends with the indigenous species while he attempts to make repairs to his spaceship, the box he came in.

Buzz "proves" to the other toys that he can really fly.

The other toys are impressed by all of Buzz’s features and even think that he can fly once he demonstrates his prowess. Woody is unimpressed, saying that Buzz is merely "falling with style!" Andy is also impressed and begins to favor him over Woody. Even though the family is days away from moving, we see Andy’s room transform into a shrine to Buzz with new sheets on the bed.

Woody can’t help but notice his diminished role in Andy’s life. When the family is planning a trip to Pizza Planet, Woody tries to trap Buzz behind the desk, to keep him from being picked, but he accidentally knocks Buzz out the window. The other toys gang up against Woody, accusing him of killing Buzz out of jealousy. But before they can punish Woody, Andy takes him as a second choice.

Woody convinces Buzz that the Pizza Planet delivery truck is taking them to a spaceport.

Down in the car, Woody finds that Buzz has also found his way into the car. When they’re left alone, when the mother stops for gas, the two get into a fight and fall out and find themselves left behind when the mother drives away without them. Seeing a delivery truck for Pizza Planet, Woody convinces Buzz that it is a spaceship that will take them to Andy. When Woody climbs into the back, Buzz carefully takes his place in the front seat with seat belts on.

Once they get to Pizza Planet they sneak in as trash. Woody starts looking for Andy’s family, but Buzz starts to look for a rocket ship, thinking Pizza Planet is a spaceport. At about the time Woody spies the family, Buzz has discovered a rocket-shaped crane game and crawls in. The game is populated, these are sentient toys after all, by little green squeeze alien toys (Jeff Pidgeon and Debi Derryberry), who treat the game as a sort of purgatory. Being pulled up by the crane is the same as salvation.

Woody becomes the hero to the little green squeeze toys (Jeff Pidgeon and
 Debi Derryberry) who are waiting inside the crane game.

Woody climbs into the game hoping to pull Buzz out, but they both get trapped when Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten), a ten-year-old bully and Andy’s next door neighbor, grabs Buzz with the crane and starts to pull him out. In his attempt to pull Buzz free, Woody gets caught up and Sid thinks he’s hit the jackpot. But Sid isn’t like Andy, he doesn’t play nice with his toys.

Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten) doesn't play nicely with his toys.

When Woody and Buzz are left alone, they discover that Sid’s room is occupied by a bizarre group of mutant toys created by combining parts from unlike toys together. Woody is shocked and scared by what he sees. He is surprised to see them help repair Buzz rather than consume him like toy cannibals.

Sid's toys are mutant creations.

Sid’s plan is to strap Buzz on a rocket that has just arrived in the mail. But the launch is delayed by a thunderstorm. Woody tries to make an escape, but they get separated and Buzz ends up in a room with a TV blaring a commercial, narrated by Penn Jillette, about the toy Buzz Lightyear and all the wonderful things it can do. Hearing that, Buzz for the first time realizes that he, too, is a toy. This news sort of bums him out. He tries to escape by flying, but he can’t and falls to the floor, where he is found by Sid’s sister Hannah (Sarah Freeman), who takes him as compensation for the myriad of toys her brother has ruined of hers.

Despondent, Buzz, who had one of his arms pop out in the fall, is dressed up as a member of her tea party. Woody, who had been hiding in a closet to get away from the Phillips’ family dog rescues Buzz from the tea party. Back in Sid’s room, Woody finally convinces Buzz that as a toy, he can make Andy happy. The mutant toys fix Buzz and then help Woody work out an elaborate scheme to rescue Buzz when Sid straps him to the rocket and takes him outside to launch him. Before Sid can light the rocket that he’s strapped to Buzz’s back, Woody and the other toys come to life in front of Sid, scaring him into no longer abusing toys and allowing Buzz and Woody to make their escape.

Before he's stopped, Sid plans to light the rocket strapped to Buzz's back.

But they just miss the family car, because Buzz has gotten caught up in the fence. Buzz and Woody chase after the moving truck, but Sid’s dog, Scud, gives chase, capturing Buzz. Woody tries to save him using Andy’s remote controlled car, RC, but the other toys turn on him. Still believing he has eliminated Buzz, the others, led by Mr. Potato Head, throw Woody off the end, but not before Woody has grabbed RC.

Buzz and Woody are "falling with style," but together.

They succeed in rescuing Buzz and while the other toys see them together, there is nothing they can do as RC’s batteries begin to run out. Woody tries to use the match that Sid didn’t to light the rocket, but the wind from a passing car blows it out.  Using Buzz's helmet shield as a magnifying glass, Woody ignites the rocket with the sun's rays and the three of them take flight. They manage to throw RC, now missing his remote, into the back of the truck as they soar by. Then Buzz uses his wings to free himself from the rocket just before it explodes. Buzz and Woody then glide and drop through the open sunroof into the mother’s car and land in a box right next to an excited Andy.

In the end, Andy (John Morris) gets Buzz and Woody back.

Flash forward to Christmas Day and Sarge and his men are on another reconnaissance mission while the toys in his room listen keenly for what presents Andy receives. Just as Woody is joking with Buzz that there is nothing Andy could receive that would be worse than Buzz, they hear over the intercom that Andy’s new gift is a puppy.

Released after dual premieres by Disney in LA and Pixar in San Francisco, the film was released on November 22, 1995, and would go on to gross $350 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million. Toy Story would also go on to be nominated for three Academy Awards Best Music—Original Song, for "You've Got a Friend in Me", and Best Music—Original Musical or Comedy Score both for Randy Newman and Best Original Screenplay for Joel Cohen, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton and Joss Whedon, the first animated film to be so nominated.

Unlike say a DreamWorks Animation film, there are no hip cultural references that will quickly age the film. The writing is solid, managing to engage both young and old without speaking down to kids or up to adults. A buddy film with toys had never been done before and really hasn’t been done better, despite the sequels.

While CGI pioneered by Pixar has come a long way in the twenty-plus years since its release, the film for the most part still holds up. What was bad about the film then was its depiction of humans. While Pixar excelled at everything else, human characters appeared to elude them. They have gotten much better over the years with that, as well as other innovations that have made Pixar the premiere animation house, even though it is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney. What was once cutting-edge animation now looks a little below the standards Pixar keeps setting.

Besides the Easter eggs that first appear in this film, like the ball with the star on it, there are other things that this film demonstrates Pixar does very well. One of them is to get the most out of their voice actors. While Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were both new to voice work, it is not really amazing that they were good at their parts. What is surprising is that Pixar could take someone like Jim Varney, who I would normally move across the street to avoid, into a likable character actor. They would do the same thing in such films like Cars and Cars 2, where they made Larry the Cable Guy a mainstream star.

In fact, Pixar has excelled over the years with ensembles made up of actors from a variety of backgrounds including film actors, TV actors and stand-up comics; accomplished and unaccomplished alike. Somehow they have always managed to make them work. Some of the selections like Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head and Wallace Shawn as Rex are perfect.

The film was also the debut of John Ratzenberger in a Pixar film. Best known for his portrayal of the annoying Cliff Clavin on the long-running TV series Cheers, Ratzenberger would go on to appear in all of Pixar’s films to date. With him as a good luck charm, Pixar would have a very successful run of hit films, marred by only a few misfires.

Toy Story made Randy Newman, best known for his politically charged and satirical songs, into a more mainstream songwriter. While no stranger to writing film scores, his first was Ragtime (1981), it was songs like “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” that seemed to be a different offering for the accomplished songwriter. I don’t think he had many children fans before this film was released. Now the singer who was once known for such songs as “Short People” and “I Love L.A.” is also remembered for his song about friendship.

There is much to like about Toy Story. For a production company new to feature films, there is a certain feeling of magic surrounding their initial offering. The studio would certainly prove that it was no fluke with their next film, A Bug’s Life (1998).

Innovative, Toy Story is an interesting blend of talents from the producing, the writing, the voice acting and of course the animation and rendering. It was the first of its kind and the heralding in a change of animation from hand-drawn, which had been the tradition since film animation was first done. It also passed the baton, as it were, from Disney to Pixar as the premier animation house.

Toy Story is fun for children; it does not speak down to them. At the same time, the film is fun for adults as well and might even be a little nostalgic for some. Who didn’t have a favorite toy growing up that, at least when you were around, interacted with you like a real person? This film takes that a step further and tells they not only interacted with you, but with each other when you weren’t around. This is a film you can see several times, I have, and never grow tired of.