Toy Story 2



Toy Story 2 is a 1999 CGI family film, the third Disney/Pixar feature film, and the sequel to Toy Story, which features the adventures of a group of toys that come to life when humans are not around to see them. Like the first film, Toy Story 2 was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, Directed by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon, and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 19, 1999,[2] in some parts of Australia on December 2, 1999 and the United Kingdom on 11 February 2000. Toy Story 2 was re-released in a double feature with Toy Story in Disney Digital 3-D on October 2, 2009.

The movie keeps most of the original characters and voices from the first movie, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, John Morris, and Laurie Metcalf. They are joined by new characters voiced by Jodi Benson, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Estelle Harris, and Wayne Knight. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide]*1 Plot
 * 2 Voice cast
 * 3 Crew
 * 4 Production
 * 4.1 Music
 * 5 Release
 * 5.1 Marketing
 * 5.2 Box office performance
 * 5.3 Reception
 * 5.4 3-D re-release
 * 5.5 Home Video
 * 6 Pixar themes
 * 6.1 Trailers
 * 6.2 Attached short film
 * 6.3 References to other Pixar films
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links
 * }

[edit] Plot
Woody prepares to go to summer camp with Andy for the weekend, but Andy accidentally rips his arm while playing with his toys before leaving, forcing him to be placed on a shelf and stay behind. There Woody discovers that Andy's mother is having a yard sale, where she takes an old rubber penguin named Wheezy from the shelf to be sold. Woody sneaks down to the yard sale and saves Wheezy with the help of Andy's pet dog Buster, but is accidentally left outside and found by an enthusiastic toy collector, who ends up stealing him when Andy's mother refuses to sell him. The thief is recognized by Buzz and the other toys as Al McWhiggin, the owner and chicken suit-wearing mascot of Al's Toy Barn. Buzz recruits Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex, and Hamm to go out and save Woody before Andy returns.

In Al's apartment, Woody discovers that he is a valuable collectible based on Woody's Roundup, a popular children's TV show from the 1950s, and meets three other toys from the franchise: Jessie, his yodeling cowgirl sidekick; Bullseye, his trusted horse companion; and Stinky Pete the Prospector, who is in mint condition inside his unopened box. With Woody's inclusion and his collection complete, Al plans to sell his Woody's Roundup merchandise to a toy museum in Tokyo, Japan. The three other toys are excited about the trip, but Woody, still being Andy's toy, wishes to return home, which puts himself at odds with Jessie, who fears going back into storage. After his arm is fixed by a repairman, Woody plans to escape and return to Andy, but Stinky Pete convinces him to talk with Jessie before he does. Jessie reveals that she too was owned and loved by a child, a girl named Emily, until she was forgotten and given away as Emily grew up. Realizing he cannot stop Andy from one day doing the same to him, Woody warms up to the idea of going to the museum and decides to stay.

Meanwhile, Buzz and the other toys reach the Al's Toy Barn store across the street from Al's apartment. Shortly after splitting up with the other toys, Buzz encounters a newer Buzz Lightyear action figure who believes himself to be a real space ranger, much like Buzz had before. The two Buzzes fight, but the new Buzz overpowers Andy's Buzz and ends up being mistaken for Andy's Buzz by the others in their search for Woody. The real Buzz chases after the team, inadvertently letting loose an action figure of Emperor Zurg, Buzz's arch-nemesis, who sets out to destroy him. Buzz catches up with the others as they find Woody and attempt to take him back home, but Woody refuses to go. Buzz vehemently reminds him that he is a toy meant to be played with by children. Woody soon returns to his senses and convinces Jessie and Bullseye to come with him to become Andy's toys, but Stinky Pete, seeing the museum trip as his only chance to be remembered since he was never sold, breaks out of his box and separates Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye from the others.

Al packs up Woody with the rest of the merchandise and drives off to the airport to ship them. While trying to catch up to Woody and Al, Buzz and the team encounter Emperor Zurg, who fights with the newer Buzz, but ends up being unintentionally defeated by Rex. Buzz and the team then carjack a Pizza Planet delivery truck and chase Al to the airport while the newer Buzz remains behind to play catch with Zurg, having been told that he is Buzz's father. In the baggage-handling area of the airport, Stinky Pete fights Buzz and Woody, ripping Woody's arm again, but is defeated and stuffed in the backpack of a girl who draws on the faces of her toys. Jessie ends up being boarded on the airplane for Japan, but Woody, Buzz, and Bullseye manage to save her just before the plane lifts off.

The toys return home just before Andy comes back from camp and await his return. Andy takes in Jessie and Bullseye as his new toys and fixes Woody's arm with extra stuffing the following morning. The toys also learn that Al's business and mood have sharply declined due to his failure to sell and deliver the merchandise to the museum. As the new toys become accustomed to having a new owner, Woody tells Buzz that he's not worried about Andy growing up, because when he does, Woody will still have Buzz to keep him company "for infinity and beyond."

[edit] Voice cast
Main article: List of Toy Story characters*Tom Hanks as Woody
 * Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear and New Buzz
 * Joan Cusack as Jessie
 * Kelsey Grammer as Stinky Pete
 * Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head
 * Jim Varney as Slinky Dog
 * Wallace Shawn as Rex
 * John Ratzenberger as Hamm
 * Annie Potts as Bo Peep
 * Wayne Knight as Al McWhiggin
 * Eli Marienthal as Bullseye
 * John Morris as Andy
 * Laurie Metcalf as Andy's Mom
 * Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head
 * R. Lee Ermey as Sarge
 * Jodi Benson as Barbie
 * Jonathan Harris as Geri
 * Joe Ranft as Wheezy
 * Andrew Stanton as Emperor Zurg
 * Jeff Pidgeon as Squeeze Toy Aliens
 * Andi Peters as Luggage Handler and Male Baggage Handler 2

[edit] Crew

 * Directed by John Lasseter
 * Co-Directed by Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon
 * Produced by Helene Plotkin and Karen Robert Jackson
 * Executive Producer Sarah McArthur
 * Story by Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter and Ash Brannon
 * Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlain and Chris Webb
 * Music by Randy Newman
 * Story Supervisors Dan Jeup and Joe Ranft
 * Edited by Lee Unkrich, Edie Bleiman and David Ian Salter
 * Sound Designer Gary Rydstrom

[edit] Production
Toy Story 2 was not originally intended for release in theaters. Disney asked Pixar to make a direct-to-video sequel for the original Toy Story with a 60 minute running time. The task was turned over to a secondary production team at Pixar, while the primary team focused on the production of A Bug's Life. When Disney executives saw how impressive the in-work imagery for the sequel was, they decided to convert Toy Story 2 into a theatrical movie.

However, many of the creative staff at Pixar were not happy with how the sequel was turning out. John Lasseter, upon returning from European promotion of A Bug's Life, watched the development reels, and agreed that it wasn't working. Pixar met with Disney, telling them that the film would have to be redone. Disney, however, disagreed, and noted that Pixar didn't have enough time to remake the film before its established release date. Pixar decided that they simply could not allow the film to be released in its existing state, and asked Lasseter to take over the production. Lasseter agreed, and recruited the creative team behind the first film to redevelop the story. Over the course of a weekend, the script was completely rewritten. To meet Disney's deadline, Pixar had to complete the entire film in nine months.[3] Some animators got repetitive stress injuries rushing to complete the film, which taught the Pixar managers to arrange breaks between each project from then on.[4]

Pixar and Disney had a five-film co-production deal and Pixar felt that with its change in status, Toy Story 2 should count as one of the pictures in the deal. Disney felt that since the production of Toy Story 2 was negotiated outside of the five-picture deal, it should not count. This issue became a particularly sore spot for Pixar, leading to a falling out between Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and Disney CEO Michael Eisner, concluding in Pixar's 2004 announcement that it would not extend its deal with Disney and would instead seek other distribution partners. The problems were eventually resolved following Eisner's departure from Disney, with new CEO Bob Iger negotiating Disney's purchase of Pixar in 2006.

[edit] Music
Main article: Toy Story 2 (soundtrack)Randy Newman wrote two new songs for Toy Story 2 as well as the complete original score: The film also includes two new versions of "You've Got a Friend in Me," the theme from the first film. The first is performed by the puppet Woody (Tom Hanks) "on guitar" as part of the "Woody's Roundup" show. The second is a Vegas-style finale production number sung by Wheezy (singing voice provided by Robert Goulet).
 * "When She Loved Me" - performed by Sarah McLachlan: Used for the flashback montage in which Jessie experiences being loved, forgotten, and ultimately abandoned by her owner, Emily. This song was nominated at the Oscars in 2000 for Best Song, though the award went to Phil Collins for "You'll Be in My Heart" from another Disney animated film Tarzan.
 * "Woody's Roundup" - performed by Riders in the Sky: Theme song for the "Woody's Roundup" TV show. Also end-credit music.

[edit] Marketing
A video game for the PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast was released. The game featured original cast voices and clips from the movie as introductions to levels. Once earned, these clips could be viewed at the player's discretion. Another game was released for the Game Boy Color.

[edit] Box office performance
Toy Story 2 opened over the Thanksgiving Day weekend at #1 to a three-day tally of $57,388,839 from 3,236 theaters averaging $17,734 per theater over three days, making $80,102,784 since its Wednesday launch, and staying at #1 for the next two weekends. It eventually made $245,852,179 domestically and $239,163,000 overseas for a total worldwide gross of $485,015,179, becoming the third highest grossing film of 1999, and far surpassing the original, and in fact, every other animated movie to that date except for The Lion King, even though both were later eclipsed by 2 CGI movies, Shrek 2 and Finding Nemo.

[edit] Reception
Toy Story 2 was a huge critical and commercial success, earning a rare 100% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes (one of the only animated films to do so, along with the original), with an average reviewer score of 8.6/10 (based on a sample of 144 reviews). Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 are all Pixar's highest-rated films to date. It is currently #1 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of best rated movies. It currently holds a 100% approval from critics, and 92% from the community, while the original holds a 96% community rating[5] and the best rated animated movie.[6] The film also holds an 88 out of 100 on Metacritic[7]. It joins the rare number of sequels judged to be "as good as or better than the original." Toy Story 2 won the Golden Globe for Best Picture Comedy or Musical at the 2000 ceremony. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a half stars out of four and said in his print review "I forgot something about toys a long time ago, and Toy Story 2 reminded me." Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times said "Toy Story 2 may not have the most original title, but everything else about it is, well, mint in the box." Entertainment Weekly said "It's a great, IQ-flattering entertainment both wonderful and wise."

On June 12, 2010, in its broadcast on Disney Channel, the film received 7.479 million viewers, making the number one show or movie of the week[8]

[edit] 3-D re-release
Poster for 3-D re-release.On October 2, 2009, the film was re-released in Disney Digital 3-D.[9] The film was released with Toy Story as a double feature for a two-week run[10] which was extended due to its success.[11] [12] In addition, the film's sequel, Toy Story 3, will also be released in the 3-D format.[9] Lasseter commented on the new 3-D re-release: "The Toy Story films and characters will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we're so excited to be bringing this landmark film back for audiences to enjoy in a whole new way thanks to the latest in 3-D technology. With Toy Story 3 shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy's room, we thought it would be great to let audiences experience the first two films all over again and in a brand new way."[13]

Translating the movies into 3-D involved revisiting the original computer data and virtually placing a second camera into each scene, creating left-eye and right-eye views needed to achieve the perception of depth. Unique to computer animation, Lasseter referred to this process as “digital archaeology.” The lead stereographer Bob Whitehill oversaw this process and sought to achieve an effect that impacted the emotional storytelling of the film.[14]

Unlike other countries, the UK and Argentina received the films in 3-D as separate releases. Toy Story 2 was instead released January 22, 2010 in the UK, and February 18, 2010 in Argentina.[15]

[edit] Home Video
Toy Story 2 was released as a two-pack with Toy Story on October 17, 2000. That same day an "Ultimate Toy Box" set was released containing both films and a third disc of bonus materials. On September 6, 2005 it was again re-released as a "2-Disc Special Edition" alongside the 10th Anniversary Edition of the first film. Both editions returned to the vault in January 31, 2009.

The film was available on Blu-ray for the first time in a Special Edition Combo Pack that was released on March 23, 2010, along with the original film.[16] There was a DVD-only re-release on May 11, 2010.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16">[17]

[edit] Trailers
One Pixar tradition is to create trailers for their films that do not contain footage from the released film.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from September 2009">[citation needed] In one trailer for Toy Story 2 (released theatrically with Tarzan), the green squeeze toy aliens watch the metal claw they worship coming down. The claw first brings down the words Toy Story, and the aliens react with their trademark "Oooooh." The claw next brings down the number '2'; in reaction, the aliens turn to face the camera and parody themselves with a 'Twoooo.' Then Woody appears, saying "Hey howdy hey, folks! It's good to be back." He is swiftly disappointed when Buzz shows up as well, and expresses his annoyance that the Space Ranger is also in the sequel. Buzz retorts, "Excuse me, Pullstring Boy, what would Toy Story 2 be without Buzz Lightyear?" "A good movie," counters Woody.

[edit] Attached short film
Main article: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxo_Jr. Luxo Jr.]The initial theatrical and video releases of this film include Luxo Jr, Pixar's first short film released in 1986, starring Pixar's titular mascot,. Before "Luxo Jr.", a message states: "In 1986 Pixar Animation Studios produced their first film. This is why we have a hopping lamp in our logo".