The most entertaining animated movie ever - Toy Story Reviews

"Toy Story" may not be the greatest animated achievement ever; that either goes to "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs" or "Fantasia." What it is, however, is more entertaining than both those films combined; in fact, it is among the most entertaining films ever made. The story is one that never fails to touch our hearts: a child loses a treasured toy. We've all seen this before from no less than the genius minds of Jim Henson and Frank Oz (not to mention Fred Rogers, those creative geniuses over at Cartoon Network, and that Ksupo company that does Nickelodeon's "Rugrats"); yet never has a movie so brilliantly encapsulated what it's like to be a ten-year-old boy. So many issues are touched-on in "Toy Story" as well. For the kids, it can help them deal with jealousy, friendship, compassion, and depression; for the adults, there's enough wit and wisdom to go around, but such hot-button issues as workplace competition are surprisingly resonant here. Obviously, "Toy Story" is important for its contribution to the now-gazillion-dollar industry that is computer-animated movies. But what it has that no other computer-animated movie has yet (besides the glorious "Monsters, Inc.") is a winning heart. Woody, magificently voiced by Tom Hanks, and Buzz Lightyear, who boasts the voice of a surprisingly brilliant Tim Allen, encapsulate every diametric opposition imaginable: Woody is old-school, while Buzz represents the new, improved mechanical toys; Woody is the established "king" of young Andy's toybox, while Buzz is the young upstart toy; Woody has accepted and is happy with his status as a toy, while Buzz is under the seeming delusion that he's some sort of "space ranger." Hanks and Allen give life to the best on-screen buddy-duo in history, a veritable odd couple right out of a Neil Simon play--except that Woody hates Buzz with every ounce of his being. There are jokes in this movie too numerous to count, but Woody has most of the best one-liners, including the oft-missed "Okay, Mr. LightBeer, prove it." Hanks has always been at his best when using his vocal talents more than his acting ability (I maintain that he's more impressive in "Big" and "Forrest Gump" than in "Saving Private Ryan" or "Philadelphia"), and his reactions to the situations inside toy-land are irrepresively funny (witness Woody's reaction to a hive of identical squeezy-toy aliens in a claw machine who essentially worship the claw like a golden calf). There were numerous talented writers on this film (including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon, "Simpsons" writer Joel Cohen, John "Finding Nemo" Lasseter, and "Monsters, Inc." director Peter Docter to name a few), and while the styles are decidedly distinct, it never feels like any one style prevails over any of the others. Without a doubt, some jokes seem wholly Simpsonian (see that claw machine gag), while much of the dialogue could have come right out of a "Buffy" episode, but the different styles mesh so well that eventually you forget you're watching an animated kids' movie and just enjoy the ride. Everything about "Toy Story" is perfect; only the overly trite ending shot of Buzz and Woody grinning ironically at each other keeps this film from being the greatest of all time.