Toy Story 2 (U)
Director: John Lasseter
Starring: Tom Hanks and Tim Allen
Opening date: 4th February
The original Toy Story film was the first full-length feature film, ever to be entirely animated, using computer graphics, and resulted in it winning a Special Achievement Academy Award, at the Oscars. With its all-star cast, and impressive musical score, Toy Story 2 had a lot to live up to! However, to say that it was originally only going to be released on video, it has done its predecessor proud.
Toy Story 2 returns us to Andy's room, and reintroduces the characters we met in the first film, along with some new ones, we hadn't seen before. This time it's Buzz who soars to the rescue of Woody, when he is kidnapped by a greedy toy-collector - so it is up to him, Rex, Slinky, Hamm, and Mr Potato Head to save the day!
However, the rescue operation is complicated, by Woody discovering he was once a character in a
1950's television show, called "Woody's Roundup", and is reunited with the rest of the Roundup
gang - Jessie, Stinky Pete and Bullseye.
There are other new characters, such as Emperor Zurg, who bring extra humour to the story, along with the comedic situations the toys find themselves in, whilst undertaking their rescue mission.
Another dimension is brought to the story, as Woody is torn between being preserved, and "living forever", with the rest of the gang, or returning to Andy, where he would grow old, and eventually be outgrown, with his friends in the toy room.
Toy Story 2 is every bit as good as Toy Story, and personally, I would say that it is one of the few sequels around that is better than the original. It is a film for all the family, as children will love it because of the characters, but adults will pick up on the humour a bit more, especially with its references to other films.
And, finally, keep your eyes peeled for the cameo performance from Andi Peters (here's a tip, his character has the only English accent in the film!), and from Flik and Heimlich from A Bug's Life!
by Viki Moore.