Toy Story - 10th Anniversary Edition
Walt Disney Home Entertainment   -   1995   -   81 minutes

Reviewed by Thor van Lingen

Review Date: October 10, 2005

FOR STARTERS

PHOTO GALLERY The Staff Meeting

To infinity and beyond! Has it really been ten years since Toy Story was in the theaters? Well, it�s either that or the folks at Disney/Pixar are jumping the gun on this 10th anniversary edition. The first of several ridiculously successful collaborations between Disney and Pixar (more recent offerings include Finding Nemo and The Incredibles), Toy Story is the movie that set the standard for modern children�s entertainment. The first fully computer animated movie, other studios scrambled to catch up as they saw the dollars pour in. Loaded with great voice talents (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Don Rickles to name a few), filled with visual spectacle, and sporting subtle adult humor, Toy Story isn�t just for kids--another important part of the new �kids movie� equation.

As the title implies, the movie centers around the world of toys--in this case young Andy�s toys. Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) has been Andy�s favorite toy for some time. He gets to take all the good trips with Andy, gets the best sleeping location (Andy�s bed), and never gets left behind or forgotten. The family is moving soon, and is throwing Andy�s birthday party before they move. Birthdays mean new toys, and all of Andy�s room is abuzz with the possibility of new toys meaning the trash heap for some of them. As it turns out, Woody seems to have been displaced as favorite toy number one by some intergalactic competition: Buzz Light Year (voiced by Tim Allen).

This �changing of the guard� leaves Woody feeling jealous. He has an apparent case of �laser envy�, starting with him calling Buzz �Mr. Light Beer�, and ending with knocking him out the window with a remote control car. From there, the real adventure begins. Buzz hitches a ride on the undercarriage of the car as Andy, mom, and Woody head to the local pizza parlor. While at the parlor, our two protagonists end up getting snagged by Sid (the neighborhood bully), who is known for abusing, dismantling, and otherwise torturing his toys. His plans for Buzz include strapping him to a toy rocket and launching him to an explosive end. Woody has to overcome his jealously and work with the other toys to save Buzz from this destruction and get back in the good graces of Andy�s other toys, since they know he was behind Buzz�s disappearance.

Once the toys at Sid�s band together to scare the living daylights out of this no good toy torturer, Buzz and Woody are able to make their escape. The bad news at this point is that the moving truck has already pulled away, and our boys are left with only a radio controlled car to catch up. What to do? Let�s strap a dangerous toy rocket with flammable propellants to the top of the car and get crackin�. So after some high speed antics, our cowboy and his space companion are safely aboard the moving truck and off to their new home.

VIDEO

Direct from the digital master with no bits spared, this 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation of Toy Story looks great. As the first all-CGI feature length film, it doesn�t have some of the high-powered ultra-fine details of some of the newer films from the Disney/Pixar collection or those of other studios, but it looks great nonetheless. Shafts of light, lurking shadows, and complex reflections all are displayed well. Colors like the green army men in the house foliage and the brilliant pinks in Hannah�s room are just a few of the visual treats in store for you when you put in this DVD. Lines are impeccably clean, and virtually every shot looks just as good as it did in theaters.

AUDIO

With a remastered 5.1 DTS ES score, Toy Story and Randy Newman�s original music and songs sound better than they ever have before. There is great right-left separation, with sounds like whizzing toys jetting from speaker to speaker. There is also good audio perspective with effects like off-screen voices at Andy�s birthday party having you looking over your shoulder. If you pay attention, you�ll also hear some Lion King soundtrack tidbits in the background. The center is predominantly used for Tom Hanks and Tim Allen�s vocal deliveries, which are crisp and clear. As with most if not all DTS tracks, there is plenty of subwoofer play, in this case with slamming doors, a few animal noises, and the M-80 explosions courtesy of that pesky Sid.

SUPPLEMENTS

OK. There are only so many supplements that one person can go through in an afternoon. Toy Story: 10th Anniversary Edition will breach that limit for all but the most fanatic of fans. Disc one has the best of what you would expect from a top shelf feature: Set Up, Scene Selection, a featurette (�The Legacy� (11:42)), and commentary (with John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Doctor, Ralph Eggleston, Bill Reeves, Ralph Guggenheim, and Bonnie Arnold). The commentary is a little busy, but it has a lot of good information. Disc two is just sheer DVD lunacy. There are two different featurettes, deleted scenes, behind the scenes, �The Claw!� Game, and a few Easter eggs. If you have any doubts as to the depth of the extras on this one, just peruse the �Behind the Scenes� section. Each subdivision (Design, Story, Production, Music & Sound, and Publicity) has its own subsection. Check out design first to see what I mean. They thought of pretty much everything.

BOTTOM LINE

Top-shelf theatrical releases beg for top-shelf DVD treatment. Toy Story: 10th Anniversary Edition gets the full treatment. Digitally remastered DTS audio, direct from digital video, and an industry leading host of supplements make this DVD release one that not only should be on your shelf, but one that is reference material by which to judge other releases.