Toy
Story – 10th Anniversary Edition
Picture: B
Sound: B+ Extras: B Animated Feature: B
Back in 1938, Walt Disney himself proved a feature-length
animated film could work with Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, which
is still one of the largest box office ticket champs ever. When computer animation was in its early
Model-T stage, a Disney in need of a hit rolled the dice on the huge, ambitious
70mm production Tron in 1982. It
was not a big hit then, but has certainly appreciated in value since and proved
to be more ahead of its time than anyone (particularly the critics) would have
imagined then. Over a decade later, a
rejuvenated Disney teamed up with Pixar (which was spun off from LucasFilm) and
they created Toy Story (1995), the first-ever computer graphic (CG)
animated feature film. It was a huge
hit and began a long run of megahits all the studios have been racing to
produce since. On its 10th
Anniversary, it remains one of the best, is one of only two to have a finished
sequel (the other being Shrek) and has been given outstanding DVD
re-release treatment from Disney on DVD.
The film stars the voice of Tom Hanks (in one of his best
roles to date, ironically) as Woody The Cowboy, who has a grip on what reality
is, but not necessarily its situations.
He is among a group of toys that come to life when humans, especially
young child Andy is gone. Andy has a
huge amount of toys, including a new one, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). The rest of the toys are not necessarily
happy about the arrival of this futuristic figure, fearing a sense of being
obsolete and unwanted, but they could not be more wrong. With the toy-torturing neighborhood bully
Sid and Lightyear being light-years away from understanding that he is just a
toy and not the character he has been manufactured to be, the adventure no one
expected is about to begin.
A love of toys old and new is all over the place,
reflected in the 1960s/1970s childhoods of the creators, which melds well with
the newer sensibilities and idea that what is newer is not necessarily
better. There is true wit in the
dialogue, more unusual here than in many such productions (including hand-drawn
animation and live-action fiascos) before and since. Additionally, we get a world like nothing never seen in cinema
history before and that remains unique in the face of technological
advances. Then there are the other
voice actors who add further dimension to the production, including a great
turn by Don Rickles, as well as Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger,
Annie Potts, Laurie Metcalf and R. Lee Ermey.
Everything just seems to work in its short-but-effective 81
minutes. If you have not seen it for a
while, catch it again.
The anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image looks
good for its age, especially considering it originated in the digital realm ten
years ago. Color is consistent and the
animation has not dated badly, on top of which, it has great character to
it. Technically, the transfer has
hardly any visual glitches, meaning Pixar took care of the master materials and
this down trade from the early digital High Definition is very pleasant to sit
through. That outdoes the previous DVD
and 12’ LaserDisc renderings. The film
was originally a Dolby Digital theatrical release, but despite the fact that
the disc boasts that this DVD offers “Disney/Pixar’s First Ever DTS 5.1 Audio
Track”, this is actually here in Dolby Digital 6.1 EX and DTS 6.1 ES, so that
undersells the sound quality.
Furthermore, as older home theater fans know, Toy Story
was issued in an amazing 12” DTS LaserDisc that became one of the most
popular software demos in that format’s history and for good reason. The sound design here is exceptional,
artful, clever, encompassing and even amusing.
Unlike most multi-channel mixes that are just loud and gimmicky, this is
one of the best examples still to this day that forwards the narrative, even
for a commercial animated feature. In
this, it has not dated very much, holding up as few early digital sound films
do. It is up there with Independence
Day (DTS import reviewed elsewhere on this site), Terminator 2, Crimson
Tide, Goldeneye, Ronin and Titanic as highlights of
great digital multi-channel sound from the mid-1990s. The Laser’s sound was criticized for being a bit boosted versus
the Dolby, but it was not adding sound that was not there and this DVD proves
that. Now as it was then, this is one
of the great sound demos on DVD thanks to the DTS option.
Extras are also solid, with some gag Easter Eggs with more
funny scenes with the characters where you can highlight stars in the menus, Legacy
featurette, sneak previews and fine full-length audio commentary on DVD 1, plus
deleted scenes, “Claw” game, behind the scenes featurette, filmmakers
reflections, Designing Toy Story featurette, designs, script,
production, music and sound, sound demos sung by singer/songwriter Randy
Newman, the layers of construction to bring the characters to 3-dimensional
life, and the publicity campaign. Some
of these are more interactive and it is very thorough for fans, animation and
filmmakers alike. Appropriately, there
is a preview for the next Disney/Pixar feature Cars, which looks
terrific. Toy Story – 10th
Anniversary Edition is reason to celebrate and anyone serious about picture
and especially sound performance for their home theater system needs to regard
this set as a must-have.
- Nicholas Sheffo
