Toy Story Movie

Toy Story was the first feature-length film animated entirely by computer. If this seems to be a sterile, mechanical means of moviemaking, be assured that the film is as chock-full of heart and warmth as any Disney cartoon feature. The star of the proceedings is Woody, a pull-string cowboy toy belonging to a wide-eyed youngster named Andy. Whenever Andy's out of the room, Woody revels in his status as the boy's number one toy. His supremacy is challenged by a high-tech, space-ranger action figure named Buzz Lightyear, who, unlike Woody and his pals, believes that he is real and not merely a plaything. The rivalry between Woody and Buzz hilariously intensifies during the first half of the film, but when the well-being of Andy's toys is threatened by a nasty next-door neighbor kid named Sid -- whose idea of fun is feeding stuffed dolls to his snarling dog and reconstructing his own toys into hideous mutants -- Woody and Buzz join forces to save the day. Superb though the computer animation may be, what really heightens Toy Story are the voice-over performances by such celebrities as Tom Hanks (as Woody), Tim Allen (as Buzz), and Don Rickles (as an appropriately acerbic Mr. Potato Head). Director John Lasseter earned a special achievement Academy Award, while Randy Newman landed an Oscar nomination for his evocative musical score.

Toy Story is the rare film that viewers will remember for years afterward simply for the wordless wonder it inspired in them. The first of its kind, Toy Story arrived as a fully mature organism, as flawlessly animated as it is brilliantly scripted and energetically voiced. It's the kind of singular experience that prompted many amazed viewers to return for a second screening in the theater. While the animation was not yet sophisticated enough to render truly realistic human characters, the digital medium perfectly captured the essential plasticity of the cornucopia of playthings that populate any young boy's bedroom. The notion that toys have a life separate from their owner's play world is a masterstroke, leading to one eye-popping scene after another. The most memorable is a reconnaissance mission by a platoon of small green army figures, who slide down a jump rope and stake out a spot in a potted fern to spy on Andy opening his birthday presents. This early scene gives a preview of the imagination to follow: the soldiers gallop along on the plots of land attached to their feet, and the "camera," as it were, captures them from all angles, like a seasoned auteur. When one of the figures gets injured, accidentally stepped on by Andy's mother, it becomes clear just how quickly director John Lasseter has given these tiny beings a soul that the viewer cares about intensely. To enumerate the screenplay's many clever triumphs would be impossible, but they brim with the limitless possibilities of this medium and these characters. It's also a very funny film, and Tom Hanks and Tim Allen set the standard for a wonderful vocal cast, throwing themselves into the roles with contagious gusto. Toy Story is as sure a guarantee of enjoyment for all ages as anything previously committed to film.