Thursday, January 20, 2011

AFI 99 - Toy Story

Disclaimer: Ben-Hur was supposed to be my first movie on this list, since it's at the bottom. But Netflix has it on a "long wait," so who knows how long that will be. And so, we begin, instead, with 99...

Toy Story
1995
Directed by John Lasseter
Netflix sleeve: Cowboy-toy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) feels threatened when overblown space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) arrives with a suitcase full of bells and whistles. But both dolls are lost when the family moves--and finding their way home is only half the adventure. Director John Lasseter won a special Academy Award for this groundbreaking, computer-animated film that also earned Oscar nods for its music and screenplay.

This one takes me back to my childhood. Okay, not really. I was 15 when it came out. So I was somewhat past childhood when I first saw this one. I do remember how great I thought it was, and I still think it's great. Having seen the stuff that Disney and Pixar have come out with in recent years, however, it's kind of amazing to see how far they've come. To say that animation has advanced in the 15 years between this one and Toy Story 3 would be an understatement. And the fact that a sequel was made so long after the original speaks to how relevant the movie is. It had been a while since I'd watched the original Toy Story, and I'd forgotten how much fun it is and how many small jokes are thrown in that make it so great. Definitely worthy of the top 100. But 99? Come on, I think we can do better than that.

2 comments:

  1. I like this movie because it's entertaining to kids and adults alike. Some of the humor was definitely meant for adults.

    Looking forward to reading the AFI posts from you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. fun fact:

    i don't like watching the toy story movies because they make me sad.

    for reals. can't stand watching them.

    when i was a kid i was positive that my toys and stuffed animals had feelings and so it hits a little too close to home.

    i mean, how can andy be so heartless?

    j "animation? more like docu-drama" h

    ReplyDelete