Intro Here's my preliminary ranking of the best animated series and greatest film quadrilogy of all time. 4) Toy Story 2 3) Toy Story 4 2) Toy Story & 1) Toy Story 3 Well, it's actually a toss-up between whether I like Toy Story or Toy Story 3 more. I bounce back and forth you see. Okay now on to the reviews we go! Toy Story 'Twas the dawn of midnight on January's twelfth day when I rewatched Toy Story for this review. It was only then when I finally realized how wonderfully witty and amazingly adult its themes are. The film which brought me near tears during a couple sequences like never before used to rank near the bottom of my Pixar film ranking (though I've ever objectively admired it) but now it's upon one of the upper tiers. Toy Story 2 Toy Story 2 is refreshingly one of the rare first born sequels whose existence isn't recycled from the main purpose, narrative links, and character arcs of its predecessor. The first film presented an analysis of dreams which shatter, depression being born of a sense of dematerializing purpose, as well as transforming jealousy, catalyzed by a self-esteem left to tumble, into affection via empathy. Toy Story 2's themes include the selfish side of a self-esteem gone too high, some individuals' fear of loved ones leaving them eternally behind, and the temptation to be timelessly praised rather than loved as one spends a mortal time with some souls which are interlaced with theirs. While the sequel's messages are conducted as masterfully as those in the predecessor, the comedy in Toy Story 2 isn't nigh in quality as the first's. Where the humour in Toy Story is delightfully witty with a depth for adults, as well as being impossibly original throughout, that which is in Toy Story 2 is not as eloquent in its composition (though the patriotic Buzz moment and the literal interpretation of using one's head are exemplary) and it is touched by a parody already turned trope (I'm talking about the reveal of Emperor Zurg's relation to Buzz Lightyear). Even with my assessments of the sequel's comic relief, I do believe that Toy Story 2 is a wonderful film and it is one which I immensely enjoyed. ★★★ Stray Thoughts: ★ The opening of Toy Story 2 is brilliant as it takes first time viewers aback by seemingly featuring Buzz on an actual space mission. ★ When She Loved Me, otherwise known as Jessie's Song, is paired with the film's most soul aching segment and that montage goes along well with the I Will Go Sailing No More segment of Toy Story when Buzz tries to fly in that film's most heartrending sequence. ★ I appreciated that there was a scene where Woody's friends believed that he was being tortured. It was a nice homage to the first film's theme of the cost of forming judgements about people without learning the context of situations. Toy Story 3 Melancholy flows beneath the moon-kissed tides of this film though the winds of some passing storms churn it to the surface while the thunderclouds' tears fall to meet it. Toy Story 3 is more somber than its predecessors though it still provides a cackling fire of Humour and a snug blanket of Hope as chilly rain lashes upon one's drafty beach side home. Yet the cloudless morning which arrives upon the current of this film's finale is all the more beautiful because of what preceded it. Perhaps you may wonder if the film truly is as tragic as my assessment deems yet if Time has carried you past the border of childhood (and especially if you've been brought into the domain of adulthood) then you know that it is intrinsically so. Though the theme of [some] loved ones leaving one another as Life guides individuals upon different journeys isn't as sophisticated as the previous films' themes, it is more expertly executed than them by remaining steady even amidst jocularity; Likewise, the firecracker cadence of Toy Story's clever dialogue wasn't attained though Wit gloriously returned from her retirement during Toy Story 2 to inform the hilarity for this sequel. ★★★ Stray thoughts: 1) The songs for the series are beautiful (while "You've Got a Friend in Me" is timeless) though this film is where the instrumentals transcend from sufficent to soul aching opuses. 2) That incinerator scene where the main friends hold hands as they accept their [seemingly] imminent death is masterful. So too is the home video montage which homages the opening of the first film until the screen cuts to black as the joyous music vanishes. 3) This film has an effective horror streak. My favorite manifestation of this is when Big Baby just stares up into the moon as Woody and his friends sneak by. 4) It's heartbreaking when Andy hesitates to donate Woody to Bonnie. Him then playing with her, Woody, and the gang with a flair of slow motion is a magnificent mirror to how he played with his toys at a young age, as well as serving to be the perfect illustration of growing up. Toy Story 4
★★Light Spoilers Ahead★★ The enrapturing prelude to this main symphony is beautifully abnormal to the series' prior intros of excellence. The mood wrought by it is merely the overture to this art's first chapter and Somberness nods at the memory of Toy Story 3's as tidal waves of it thunder upon latent glass. Yet the typhoon of melancholy (which is highlighted by the slightly desaturated cinematography), that knocks upon the four corners of one's home blows over when Act II receives the baton. The flourishes of horror from the prior film are dialed up to 11 here and thereafter though the moments are sprinters as they last ever so briefly, unlike the long distance runners of Toy Story 3 who powered those fearsome occasions. The genre which forms the crux of this film's middle Act is adventure. Comic sidekicks are the butter to adventure films' thrill and the middle chapter of Toy Story 4 provides two. I am grateful that most people are fans of Ducky and Bunny because most of their childlike jokes were greeted by singing crickets when they met my soul. Their inclusion was a surreal experience since I've never failed to be amused by the previous films' humour. However, the sequences where the plush toys discus how to steal a pair of keys (and the one where they crashed through the carnival) are delightfully delirious. Fortunately, those characters are sparingly featured and the rest of Act II's components are pleasantly sufficient. The conductor coaxes Melancholy to return as Act III beats her wings. Somberness drizzles through the proceedings as Woody's self sacrificial behavior is explicitly exemplified for the first time by giving away a part of himself. The accompanying theme of unconditionally loving others and having a positive recognition of one's own existence but without rooting one's self-worth in anyone besides one's self is beautifully executed. The finale where Woody and Buzz hold one another is a wonderful moment that shows the richness of these former enemies' friendship. Though the last sequences don't reach the heights of Toy Story 3's heartache, they do surpass them in terms of catharsis. ★★★ Stray thoughts: ★I love the existential crisis theme that's exemplified by Forky though I wish more time was spent on it. It would've been perfect if it had been expanded upon in place of Ducky and Bunny's inclusion. ★ This film's wit level is comparable to Toy Story 3's. ★ I'm enthusiastic on the filmmakers' decision to make Bo Peep an even more winsome character. ★ I'm a fan of the creators' decision to make Gabby Gabby the most sympathetic of the series' villains.
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