MOVIE: Toy Story (1995)

Toy Story
Year: 1995
Rating: G
Length: 81 minutes / 1.35 hours

One benefit of having children is revisiting movies from my youth. I saw Toy Story (1995) in theaters and was immediately struck by how amazing it was that they made the entire film with computers. While this is no longer something that causes awe, there is something about the first movie to make this leap. Almost 30 years later, Toy Story shows its age in some of its visual aspects. However, the cinematography and storytelling here are top-notch and often made me ignore the CGI which is comparatively less polished than today’s effects.

To Pixar’s credit, they did the best they could by focusing on slightly easier-to-animate characters than humans or animals. The people and pets in Toy Story look horrific (sometimes on purpose) but there has to be grace for the limitations of the time. Still, with the immense flexibility of the digital camera, some shots in Toy Story that would have been impossible in a live-action context are played for maximum effect here to make the world of toys seem absolutely massive. Underlying all of this is some fantastic cinematography that does not skimp on the fundamentals of visual storytelling.

While Toy Story is not the first movie geared toward kids to appeal occasionally to adult humor (look no further than Genie’s references in Aladdin (1992)), I still laughed at new visual gags decades later that I finally understood as an adult. There’s a wide range of emotions that I still feel watching this film. From the unease of Sid’s bedroom to the soaring victory of Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) arriving back in Andy’s care, this film hits a lot of emotional beats despite its “kid movie” status. Is it a perfect movie? Not quite, but it certainly pushed the door wide open for CGI-animated films for decades to come.

An impressive (for its time) visual treat with surprisingly strong fundamentals, I give Toy Story 4.5 stars out of 5.

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