MovieRob’s Birthday Bash of Favorites 2020 (#45 of 47) – Toy Story (1995) – Encore Review 2

January is my birthday month, so I decided that I would try and do something quite unique and special for this milestone in my life. I will be turning 46, so I decided to watch 47 (46+1 for good luck) of my all time favorite movies in a random order over the course of this month. I have reviewed every one of these films already, but I will now give new perspectives on them all. Every one of these films received a 10/10 scoring from me. Some of these reviews will contain spoilers so if you have never seen them before, I recommend that you read some of my previous reviews of the film that were spoiler free before reading on…

Hope you enjoy!

This is film #45 of the 47.

Let’s continue with… Toy Story (1995)

Initial Viewing Memories – Saw this film on opening night in the theater due to all of the hype for PIXAR’s maiden film and wasn’t disappointed in the least because it was done so well in creating a very realistic story comprised of characters who were childhood toys of my generation.

“I’ve set my laser from stun to kill.” – Buzz

“Oh, great. If anyone attacks we can blink em’ to death.” – Woody

Number of Times Seen – Too many times to count (Theater in ’95, video, DVD, 8 Aug 2013, 28 Dec 2014 and 27 Jan 2020)

Link to original review – Here and Here

Brief Synopsis – A group of toys at a kids house must deal with the fact that he gets a new toy for his birthday and somewhat neglects all of his previous toys.

My Take on it – This is in my top 3 films by PIXAR and that largely has to do with the fact that the images and toys are so nostalgic for me to watch.

The characters of Woody and Buzz are both developed really well here and their arguments and eventual friendship is build up so well.

The film was made by children of the 70’s and 80’s and it shows throughout.

Many of the characters are based on toys that kids of my generation grew up with and that adds an even greater layer of a connection to the characters and story.

That isn’t to say that this film is solely for those generations because the way that they are able to anthropomorphize these characters and give them life changes the way that people will forever look at their toys and the toys of their children and grandchildren.

The animation is wondrous to look at and despite it not being as innovative as the animation of today, they were able to really bring a unique look to animated character 25 years ago that was so novel and different from what was done up until that point in time.

Tom hanks and Tim Allen are both amazing as the voices of Woody and Buzz.

They are helped along with some other great voice actors like Jim Varney, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey and Wallace Shawn who also create iconic characters from this film.

The music by Randy Newman is amazing and helps add so much to the look and feel of the friendship between these characters.

This is the kind of movie that can help transport anyone back to the days of their childhood and it tells a very universal tale that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults alike.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – This was the first animated film in Oscar history to be nominated for a Best Screenplay Academy Award – Adapted or Original. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (10/10) (no change from original review)