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TOY STORY 2
Directed by John Lasseter
Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao
Doug Chamberlin & Chris Webb
Starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen
My advice: This one is golden
Rating:  out of
In fact, give it a zillion stars. It's worth a galaxy
The toys are back in town! And, boy oh boy, are they!
Once a year -- just once, mind you -- we take our collective brood of four to a matinee. Last year it was "Bug's
Life," and this year we chose "Toy Story 2."My oldest children loved the flick but my younger one's
were still wiggly. No surprise for children that small but there were moments of this flick that held them captivated.
That alone is a huge accomplishment for any film.
Toy Story 2 picks up in the summer after the original Toy Story ended. Andy is preparing to leave for Cowboy Camp
and Woody is all set to go with him. An unfortunate accident leave Woody damaged moments before Andy is set to
leave and Woody is "shelved" along with all of the other broken toys that lay languishing in the dust.
On the shelf with him he finds Wheezy the Penguin (voiced by Joe Ranft) who has been sitting in the dust and the
dark since his noise maker broke several months ago. This is quite a revelation to Woody. He always assumed that
Wheezy was off getting fixed. He never knew that broken toys really did not get that extra chance.
Plucked from the shelf, Wheezy is stuffed into a box of defective items to be sold at a yard sale. Woody bravely
takes action to save him and is promptly discovered by Al McWhiggin (Wayne Knight, of Seinfeld fame). An avid toy
collector, McWhiggen quickly recognizes Woody as a terribly rare doll he needs to complete a "Roundup Gang"
set which he can sell off to a Japanese toy museum for megabucks. Too bad that mom won't sell. Looks like he just
has to steal him. And he does.
It's a wild ride from here as the toys prepare a rescue attempt to return Woody to Andy's room. Chock full of all
of the characters we grew to love in the original release, we add to the motley crew a new set of toys from Woody's
original Roundup Gang. Now that Woody is together with them again, they desperately need him to stay or they'll
be shuttled back into storage.
I won't tell you more for fear of spoiling the fun but I stick to my guns and say this is the children's movie
of the year. Young or old, Toy Story 2 is a romping good time!
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