Toy Story (1995)

Growing up, I always had a lot of freedom. I was always given the option of making my own decisions and rarely had anything forced upon me. Like anything else, this has its own good and bad points. The good are obvious and so are the bad. One thing I noticed, though, was that I was never made to watch Disney films when I was young. I had the option, but was never really too interested, and never had them forced upon me. Only in the last few years, in my growing cineaste-ism (is that a word?), have I fallen in love with Disney. Maybe it's better this way, as I'm older and can really appreciate the beauty in Uncle Walt's masterworks.

I remember I saw Toy Story at someone's house, helping them look after kids, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I don't remember much, as my recent viewing has shown.

It's nearly impossible to watch Toy Story and not have a permanent smile etched across your face. It all fits so perfectly, the animation, the voices, the light music, the family-friendly yet still hilarious jokes and gags, the story, the themes. I think it's because all Pixar Films, especially Toy Story touch on a lot of universal themes. Growing up, who didn't play with toys? And, who didn't wonder what your toys did while you were asleep or at school? Toy Story takes the idea and runs with it.

Not only that, but there's the universal theme of friendship and camaraderie. Respect and humility earned through experience and understanding. Yes, Woody is a huge jerk early on, but slowly, realizes the error of his ways and completely redeems himself in the eyes of his fellow toys and of the audience. Buzz realizes that he's just a toy (just a kid, just a desk worker, just an old man...universal themes coming in yet?) and then realizes, "Hey, there's a whole lot this toy can do!" as the music surges and he overcomes his own inadequacies.

Normally, this is the kind of stuff that kids eat up and adults roll their eyes at. Yet, everyone loves Toy Story, everyone identifies with the characters and the situations, and everyone is moved by the film. Toy Story, like the rest of Pixar's later work, succeeds because it beautifully and easily illustrates such intrinsic truths.