Toy
Story Of Terror
(2014/Disney/Pixar Blu-ray)
Picture:
A Sound: B+ Extras: B Short Film: A-
New
on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack is Toy
Story of Terror from
Disney/Pixar. Now, whereas this might seem (from the title) to be a
strictly Halloween based film; it is far from as it acts more of a
spoof on the horror genre as a whole.
The
film has our normal Toy
Story crew
of Buzz (Tim Allen), Woody (Tom Hanks), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and
many other familiar faces embarking on a road trip with Bonnie and
her mom. After some road trouble Bonnie's family is forced to pull
over at a roadside motel for the night. It is at that time that Mr.
Prickle-Pants (voiced by Timothy Dalton) explains the ins and outs of
horror films to a befuddled gang of toys. Toy
Story of Terror is
essentially the Pixar crews' take on (now) horror classic Scream.
The
film runs only a short 22-minutes and leaves the audience wanting
more as it is so good it could be a feature length film. The film
retains the lighthearted humor of the previous three Toy
Story films,
while again touching on some of characters issues discussed in Toy
Story 3.
The film feels like a true horror film set in the Toy
Story
Universe, but simultaneously will have viewers in stitches over its
brilliant sense of humor.
Toy
Story of Terror is
truly great short film and a must see.
The
technical features on this TV to Blu-ray release is on par with other
Disney/Pixar ventures as it boasts of high quality throughout. The
image is presented in a 1080p, AVC encoded 1.78 X 1 high definition
widescreen image that is crystal clear, with bright colors, and
brilliant animation. The horror inspired short film spends much of
its time in the shadows, but at no point is anything obscured or
lost; the film doing a fantastic job with image delineation and
balanced black levels. The sound is a 7.1 lossless DTS-HD Master
Audio that manages to use the entire speaker range as it demonstrates
solid panning effects and directionality as well as crisp, clean,
clear dialogue. The music and atmospheric sounds project with ease
bringing the entire presentation to life.
The
Digital HD copy is a downgraded release of the stunning Blu-ray
presentation, but good for Toy
Story fans
on the go.
Whereas
the extras are not plentiful they are well presented and more than
you would expect from a TV to Blu-ray release. Extras include:
Full
Length Audio Commentary
Collection
of three (3) Toy Story Shorts
Hawaiian
Vacation [5:53]
Small
Fry [7:06]
Partysaurus
Rex [6:34]
Audio
Commentaries on all 3 Toy Story shorts
Team
of Specialists Featurette
3
Deleted scenes with animatics and audio commentary from animating
supervisor MacLane
D23
Convention Teaser Trailer
-
Michael P. Dougherty II
