Movie Thoughts: Toy Story (1995)

• Released: November 19, 1995
  
• Directed by: John Lasseter
  
• Running time: 1 h 21 min
• Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis

A boy's favorite toy cowboy feels replaced by the new spaceman toy in the room. The two end up separated from their kid and now have to sort out their differences to find a way to get back home.

My Thoughts

I did have a real fondness for Toy Story growing up. Even if it I didn't watch it a lot per se, it is one of the only Pixar movies we had on DVD back when. I did see a lot of their others, too, but usually through renting them, TV broadcasts or watching them at the houses of acquaintances or friends. So while I definitely do have that fond Pixar nostalgia a lot of others also have, it was never quite as prevalent with me because I didn't watch their films a whole lot all things considered. I grew up much more with Disney's animated canon, and to a lesser extent Dreamworks. All this to say: I liked Pixar's movies I did see growing up and do have nostalgia for them to an extent, but I don't have a super special connection to their old movies like a lot of people seem to have. 

And Toy Story is...still pretty darn good. I used to give this one a 4/5 rating a lot, but with my more recent viewings it has dropped down to a 3.5, which is still really good, by the way. This used to be my favorite in the franchise, but nowadays I consider some of the later Toy Story movies to be somewhat superior. Not that this one is bad, obviously! It's still really good, but it's not perfect either.

I still consider it to be a pretty ingenious story and concept; simple but it's very effective with a ticking clock for Buzz and Woody to get back home to boot, while they're stuck in a precarious situation. It's also really clever to have the movie center around toys, because the textures and models look very good on them (on the humans and animals...not so much) and work really well. Of course, I can't fault the movie for its dated visuals, and it really isn't always pretty to look at, but despite that it's still good.

Woody is a bit of an unlikable asshole at first, but honestly I'm really glad that they didn't push him too far in this direction. Obviously his actions near the start of the movie were very bad, but we do really get to see him grow as a person especially once he manages to befriend Buzz. Buzz is also a fun hero, with his arc of realizing he's a toy and not a true Space Ranger. Overall it's just neat to see these two come together especially when standing up against Sid. 

Heck, even Sid is kind of fun because I wouldn't consider him a real villain, more of an antagonist. He's a kid who likes to blow up toys, but he sure as hell doesn't know that the toys he's messing up are alive. He's just a kid who is playing in his own way, which happens to be quite destructive. He's still definitely a bully if you look at how he treats others like his sister, but he's also just a kid.

I overall don't consider this movie to be super funny anymore like I thought as a kid, but the humor does still get some laughs, which is a nice bonus. I guess there is the slight plot hole of how Buzz knows to freeze up and act as a normal toy when by all logic he should think he's still a real Space Ranger at all times before figuring out he's really a toy, but honestly that just feels nitpick-y to me. Yes, it technically is a plothole, but at the same time I really just don't care. It's still an effective movie nonetheless and this is not something I'm going to obsess over. It doesn't take away from the film for me at all.

Overall a fun film, nothing perfect and I don't think it's one of my favorite Pixar films anymore like I did when I was a kid, but it's still very solid and neat.