What did we do before Woody and Buzz Lightyear entered our lives?
The 1995 animated feature “Toy Story” did more than introduce two lovable new friends into our lives.
It changed animation, period.
The landmark film is being released in Blu-ray for the first time this week, and the format may never have a better sales pitch than popping the film into the nearest Blu-ray player.
The animation isn’t as lush and believable as subsequent Pixar confections. But the film’s heart-breaking characters and sweet story endure.
“Toy Story” follows the plastic dinosaurs, miniature Army men and other childhood favorites who exist to keep a little named Andy entertained.
Their world is interrupted by the arrival of a new toy, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). The blustery space toy thinks he’s a living, breathing space ranger dropped off in a strange new world.
Buzz immediately annoys Woody (Tom Hanks), Andy’s favorite toy and the unofficial leader of the toy pack. But Andy likes his new Buzz action figure the best now, sending Woody into a tizzy.
What follows is sweet and consistently amusing, an experience enriched by the soulful crooning of Randy Newman. These toys get themselves enmeshed in all sorts of adventures, each told with an eye for detail and whimsy like few animated films before it.
The humans here are rendered in distracting fashion. The technology of the era prevented animators from creating believable people, and even simple elements like hair and fur are fudged rather than presented in a realistic manner.
But such nit-picking falls away as the adventures unspool.
The jokes throughout “Toy Story” are sly and robust, some too sophisticated for young minds.
The vocal casting choices are perfection, from Allen’s bravado as the deluded space ranger to Don Rickles yukking it up as Mr. Potato Head.
Pixar would go on to refine its movie making procedures, crafting more lifelike humans and tackling stories with greater emotional depth. But the fledling studio hit the ground running 15 years ago with an ageless tale of loyalty, friendship and the power of a child’s imagination.
The Blu-ray extras are almost too numerous to tally. Viewers get a peek at the upcoming “Toy Story 3,” thumbnail portraits of the artists involved in the Pixar process, charming footage of Buzz Lightyear’s first days as a Thanksgiving Day Parade float and the story of how an early cut of the film nearly brought the production to a halt.
The package also carries over DVD extras from the original disc. The best of the bunch lets directing legends like Peter Jackson and George Lucas share their favorite “Toy Story” memories.
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