#99: Toy Story (1995)

What a fun watch! I should start this blog post by saying that I have, in fact, seen Toy Story before yesterday. However, it’s probably been at least 15 years since my last viewing of it. Oh, and SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen this movie yet, go watch it and come back. It’s only 81 minutes long, so it’s a much faster watch than Ben-Hur.

Toy Story was never a Disney staple for me as a kid. I was always more of a The Little Mermaid/ The Lion King/ Beauty and the Beast/ Peter Pan/ Cinderella kind of girl. But now that I’ve seen Toy Story through an adult lens, I am not sure why it wasn’t a go-to in my childhood. This movie starts as any Pixar film does- with that creepy lamp that squishes the “I” in in the word “Pixar” and haunts my dreams to this day. I actually own a black lamp that looks a lot like the Pixar lamp, and I have an irrational fear that one day it’s going to look at me. But I digress…

I found it interesting that the first toy we actually see isn’t Woody- it’s Mr. Potato Head. I fully expected Woody to be front and center from the opening seconds of the film, but I was mistaken. The next thing that really caught my attention was the fact that Joss Whedon actually has a screenplay credit. My mind was officially blown- like when I realized that Matthew McConaughey was in Angels in the Outfield. For those of you who don’t know, Joss Whedon is a fairly big name in the writing and directing world, but is probably most know for creating the character of Buffy Summers, the titular character in both the movie and tv series entitled Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As someone who used to set an alarm for 6 am in elementary school to watch Buffy reruns before school, I was super excited to see Joss Whedon’s name pop up.

Once I got past the opening credits, it was quite an emotional roller coaster of an experience. You’re having fun with the toys one minute and then feeling sad for Woody the next and then you’re worried for Buzz then next as he tumbles out of the window. This movie also moves incredibly fast, so you never really have time to be bored. I suppose that’s one advantage of having a short run time. I wasn’t really ready for it to be over when it ended (unlike Ben-Hur, which overstayed its welcome by about an hour and a half).

I also feel that it would be wrong to call this a kids’ movie. This is a prime example of a family movie. The creators of this film made a film that was colorful and exciting enough to appeal to children without ever talking down to children. They included humor for the adults as well as the children. They also included a very simple and classic moral – jealousy will get you nowhere – but in a way that was very entertaining to watch. I am sure children don’t even notice that they’re being taught how to treat one another with kindness when they watch this film, but it’s all there.

I suppose a good critic has to find flaws in the subject of their critique, but I could only find one. Why doesn’t Buzz know that he’s a toy?? Every other toy knows they’re a toy! And it’s not like the manufacturer could’ve somehow built this into Buzz because the humans don’t seem to know that the toys are sentient. This will probably bother me until I die, but I think a film with one flaw in it is doing pretty good for itself.

All in all, this is a fabulous film! I am so glad I rewatched it. I plan to rewatch its sequels sometime in the near future as well. Now to answer my five questions:

• Did I like the movie? Absolutely!
• Did I appreciate the movie? Heck yeah!
• Would I recommend this movie to a friend? You’re darn tootin’
• Do I plan to see this movie again? You got that right!
• Am I glad I have now watched this movie? Technically, I’d already seen it. But yes!

Next week is Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)!