I guess you could say I've reached a new chapter in my life. I've just graduated college and am currently wondering what I'm going to do with my life. It's hard. I have to accept that my childhood is over and I'm officially an adult. God, that sentence is so weird to write. "I'm an adult." Whenever I reach a new point in my life, I like to acknowledge what came before, where I came from. I think we're all like that. Human beings are naturally nostalgic and sentimental. We love our childhoods and always cherish them. We can't bear to throw out old VHS tapes, sell our ancient Walkmans that don't work or get rid of our most cherished, beloved toys. And that is the point of this post.
I can't think of a franchise that has been a bigger part of my life. I wouldn't always acknowledge it, and at different points of my life I would have totally disagreed with the idea that Toy Story meant more to me than any other work of fiction. But this series has always been there for me. I watched the first two movies until the tapes wore out, collected all of the merchandise and waited in gleeful anticipation for the third one. Each one of these movies came out an important time in my life, and the movies seemed to understand this in a weird way. Each time I watch one of them, I'm transported back to this time. And it's these memories I want to share here today. I'm going to assume whoever is reading this has seen these movies, appreciates them and knows how famous they are. If you haven't seen them, don't read this. I give a lot away and I don't want to spoil these movie for you.
The first Toy Story was made in 1995 by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Studios. It was the first feature length CGI animated movie ever made. It also has the distinction of being the first movie I ever saw in theatres. Of course, I don't remember this as I would have been 2 years old at the time. But my Mom told me of how she brought me to the theatre in my stroller and let me watch it. My real memories of it come from the years after, when it was released on VHS. My Mom used to run a home daycare centre out of our house, something she did throughout much of my childhood. After lunch there would be "quiet time," an hour or so of rest, generally us watching a movie. Toy Story was always a favourite. I remember relating so much to Andy. I would have been four or five around this time, roughly the same age as he was in the first movie. There's something about this movie that really relates to my early childhood. Just listen to the opening of Randy Newman's "You Got A Friend In Me," there's just something simple and nostalgic about it.
Toy Story symbolizes my early childhood. I remember Buzz saying "To infinity, and beyond!" I remember Woody coming to life and scaring Sid. I remember being mad Pizza Planet wasn't a real place. I used to imagine my own toys would come to life. It was around this time that I got a Woody toy and a Buzz toy of my own. As far as scale goes there were probably more or less the same size they were in the movie. As far as accuracy goes they were pretty spot on, except I remember Woody's boots did not have spurs. I no longer have Woody, but Buzz currently resides in the basement. I also had books and general merchandise from the movie. It was just a great adventure and I loved to watch it over and over and see these characters again. They felt like old friends, so relatable and real. I loved to revisit this world; and one day, Pixar decided to help me. Out of the blue, this trailer was released:
That trailer surprised me and got me hyped: not just because of the fact it promised more Toy Story, but because of how clever it is. We see the aliens and the Toy Story logo. At first you're not sure what to make of it. Is this a special edition of Toy Story? Are they re-releasing it? Then the the '2' comes out and you realize that this is a sequel. Then Woody and Buzz come out, and that's where the hype starts. "I'm sorry Woody, but what would Toy Story 2 be without Buzz Lightyear?" "A good movie." Needless to say, I was hyped. The movie came out on November 24th, 1999, shortly after my sixth birthday. As I said, Toy Story was my first movie. My Mom decided history needed to repeat itself and brought my baby brother with us; now a Toy Story movie is his first movie, also. I'll never forget it: we sat down in our seats, all hyped to watch the new Toy Story movie. The trailers finished, and the theatre began to show.... Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo. Seriously.
The movie played for a good six or seven minutes before the theatre realized they were playing the wrong film. The theatre staff came out and apologized (Of course the one movie they would play to a bunch of kids is an R rated comedy) After a little while, Toy Story 2 came on. I was a little older at this time, and pretty well hooked on action cartoons. Pokemon, Digimon, I watched them all. The audience for Toy Story had grown older. I had been super young when the first one came out, as were most of my peers. The boys were watching action cartoons and Star Wars while the girls had Barbie dolls. Toy Story 2 realized this and took full advantage of it. There was a lot more action, more science fiction and more adventure for the boys, while there were actual Barbie dolls, and a new female protagonist in Jessie for the girls. Many Pixar movies are aimed more at boys, but I would say this one if pretty open to both genders.
Toy Story 2 was such a great movie. Was it better than the first one? Possibly, but that would imply the first one had faults. I would say both of them are perfect animated films. I watch this movie and I'm six years old again, addicted to science fiction. It was a huge part of my life and this came out at the peak of that time. By the way, Zurg was cool. REALLY cool, and the payoff with him was hilarious and awesome.
I should also point out the dramatic power of this movie. At first I was wary of new characters being brought into the group of characters, seeing as I had grown quite attached to the original cast. Despite my feelings, Jessie and Bullseye added much to the story, especially Jessie in the drama department. C'mon, you know what I'm talking about.
Know what? I'm gonna let that video speak for itself. The fact that a song about a toy being forgotten can bring you to tears is the power of Pixar. When this movie came out on VHS it was great. Now I had two movies to watch all the time! They made a great duo; whenever I went to a friend's house, the Toy Story movies were favourites. But with the release of Toy Story 2, I saw a sad realization; this was the last time I would see these characters. I truly felt Toy Story 2 was going to be the last movie in the series. The movie ended with all of the characters singing and dancing in Andy's room, their problems solved. There was simply nowhere else to go. Everyone was together and everyone was happy: the end.
In the years after, I never forgot about the series. I went to see Toy Story On Ice when it came to Ottawa. It was a loose adaptation of the first movie with no mention at all of the Toy Story 2. It's been a very long time since I saw it, but I remember hating it. I did still have Pixar, and I watched them all: A Bug's Life, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, I watched them all. During this time, I heard that Disney and Pixar had grown apart, and Disney had opened a new CGI animation studio called Circle 7 Animation and they intended to make sequels to the old Pixar movies. The first of these movies was expected to be a third Toy Story movie. The story would have dealt with Buzz being recalled to Taiwan, along with all of the other Buzz Lightyear dolls, with the gang having to go and save them. I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, it would be a change of pace for Buzz to be the one who needed to be rescued, but I don't like how this story would have centred on Buzz. Toy Story was always Woody's story, and I think it would have been a mistake to change this. Soon after this, Disney bought Pixar and shut down Circle 7 before it even released a movie. And so, Disney and Pixar were back together and making movies again. Cars was a slip up, but WALL-E has become a classic and Up is nothing short of a masterpiece. While this was happening, I heard rumours that Pixar was going to make their own version of a third Toy Story movie. I didn't pay it much mind. Call it my own naievte, but I truly felt that Toy Story was finished.
I follow upcoming movies very closely. I normally know when a new movie is going into pre-production and when it's filming. Movies don't sneak up on me, I always know what is happening in Hollywood. I'm so, so glad this one movie did sneak up on me. It was brilliant: I was at the theatre watching another movie. I don't remember what it was, but then one glorious trailer came up.
Wow. Toy Story was back. I would have seen this trailer in 2009, ten years after Toy Story 2. I had grown much older since then: I was known 16 years old, and my childhood was long gone. It soon came to my attention that the first two movies were going to be re-released as a double feature in 3-D.
They even gave you a bathroom break! I went to see them with my brother, who was now 12. He had just been a baby when the last movie came out. I hadn't seen them in a while, and this was a great warm up to Toy Story 3. It was great to see them with a mature perspective, and I was thrilled to see that they still held up, and I noticed things I didn't notice before. For example, did you know Joss Whedon co-wrote the first movie? No wonder it was so good!
At long last, the day came to see it. I went with my mother and brother, and we went to the same theatre we saw Toy Story 2. It was kind of surreal to do this: it was the same three people in the same theatre. Much had changed in the eleven years since the last movie, but apparently not enough for us to go and see our old friends again.
My thoughts on Toy Story 3? It's my favourite of the series. First of all, it already had scored a bunch of brownie points with me. I didn't think I would ever see another Toy Story movie, but this movie proved me wrong and delivered. It came at such a timely point in my life, just like the last ones did. Andy was going to college and had forgotten his old toys. I was still a year away from going to college, but it was certainly on my mind. Giving up and donating old toys, moving away, the realization you must grow up, it all just hit home for me. One of the braver decisions they made was to get rid of Bo Peep.
I don't think I've mentioned Bo yet, but she was an important character in the first two movies. She was Woody's love interest and often his voice of reason, especially in the second one. Bo was not one of Andy's toys; she belonged to his sister Molly, but Andy's toys had adopted her as one of their own. There was a lot of fan speculation Bo wasn't going to be in it after she failed to appear in any trailers or advertisements for Toy Story 3. There is only passing reference to her in this movie in which Woody admits they have lost a number of friends, and he specifically mention Bo. The sadness on Woody's face when he mentions her tells the whole story. We never find out where she is or really what happened. When I first heard they were going to lose Bo, but it was very smart. When you grow up, you lose people. You drift apart, you fall out, people move away. That's life, and it was very brave for them to remove Bo. The fact they picked a beloved character was very brave and appropriate. It's life, and Toy Story has never been afraid to address this. There were a number of new characters added, many of them having small parts. The biggest addition was Ken, who was brilliantly played by Michael Keaton. Lotso Hugging Bear added to the lineup of Toy Story villains. Prospector from Toy Story 2 is still my favourite, but I prefer Lotso over Sid or Al. There were two parts in it which got me a little choked up. If you haven't seen Toy Story 3 then stop reading right now. Towards the end of the movie the toys are being sent into a burning furnace. They try to struggle and get free, but they fail. As they get closer to the furnace and their own certain death, they wordlessly join hands and accept their fate. Just the sight of these characters I loved so much accepting their own death was extremely powerful, especially in a kids movie. Now they did escape, but that doesn't change the power of this scene. The other was when Andy finally leaves the toys with Bonnie. Yes, it was the best possible outcome; either they go to an new home or they stay at Sunnyside. But it was still incredibly sad to see Andy give the toys up. Watch the first two movies again and see how much Andy loved the toys. Watch this and know in the back of your mind that Andy will eventually forget the toys, store them in a trunk and leave them with someone else. Bit sobering isn' it? At the very least we get to see Bonnie and Andy playing with the toys, allowing Andy to enjoy them one last time. And that was it. The toys had a new home, Andy was moving on and everything had come full circle. Toy Story 3 ended the series in a perfect place. This time I was at peace with this being the last one. I had already thought I would never see these characters again and I was without a new movie for 11 years. I loved the way this one ended and I was ready to move on, just like Andy.
Should there be a Toy Story 4? No, absolutely not. You'd think I would welcome another movie but I don't. The series is over, everything has come full circle. There comes a time when you need to let things go, and Toy Story needs to end. There have been rumours that Pixar is developing Toy Story 4 and I hope it's not true. A lot of times it's best to let sleeping toys lie. Best to leave me with my memories.
And so it ends. Toy Story has given me a lot over the years and it's time to move on. I know I will share these movies with my kids and I hope people from my generation do the same to let this series live on.
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