voices. tim allen, tom hanks, wayne knight, joan cusack, kelsey grammar
walt disney pictures/pixar animation studios
Let s face some facts. If you make a film in Hollywood, whether for the major studios or for some indie sub-set, you make some compromises. The Kubrick final cut pipe dream is a long way off yet kiddo. Why do so many great scripts never get made? Because compromise is a dirty word. Even after you're done with the art, there s still the marketing and interviews to get through. It's all product, whether it's Fight Club or The Bone Collector. You're never going to blow up a building in Hollywood. The most you re going to do is light a match which burns brightly for a moment before fizzling out. Plant seeds of rebellion. Leave a legacy for future generations. And so on. How are we going to end this year of years folks? In a Pitt-sanctioned orgy of half-serious mayhem. Oh it's almost dangerous, but it only sounds really crucial when some kids blame their Springeresque exploits on the big bad moo-vie. Alexander Walker, great grey haired doyen of the film world, condemns Fight Club. It's news, and it prompts reaction. Everyone defends it. Some more news. Rebellion in the plain sunlight, a theory half explicated and ready for some pain, like a frog. It dies when dissected. And something about what reviews have to offer the general consumer. And then onwards... Toy Story 2.
I'm not going to pretend that Toy Story 2 has some serious subtext to explain why I liked it so much. It's just great entertainment, beautifully made, lovingly detailed and animated with great skill and wonder. Sure, there are bones thrown to the adults to keep them amused, but let's not pretend that this is a philosophical rumination on lost childhood or the role of memory in the adult consciousness. It's just funny, exciting, charming. It's your favourite pop album of the moment, the one you play five times a day for a week. It's a smile across your face for 90 minutes. Describing the jokes is like trying to act out a funny Simpsons routine, resulting in a lot of huffing and puffing for minimal payback. As 70s supergroup Boston ordered you on the back of their debut album: Listen to the record!
I'm sad to see this has become my motto lately, just another lazy excuse, but hey, there's a lot more art, style, grace and sex appeal (yes my dear) in Toy Story 2 than in this humble bit o soundbite phi-los-o-phi-sing. All this and the best Star Wars parody in recent memory. Five Stars.
Adam Rivett
comments? email the authorRead david bull's account of Toy Story 2