Toy Story 2 (Special Edition) (Blu-ray / DVD)

I caught the tail-end of Toy Story one Christmas time, a couple of years ago, and the next thing I knew, I was in Blockbusters, renting it. Browsing through the 'cartoon' section, I caught sight of "Toy Story 2", and thought 'oh, another trite Disney sequel', and dismissed it.

Well, six months later, I was in Blockbusters again, with a couple of friends, and one of them started waxing lyrical about it, insisting that we rent it, and, to my shock, everyone else backed her up. I couldn't really say no, could I? So I bought popcorn, and resigned myself to a torturous night of cringes and bad jokes.

It was amazing. A really wonderful movie - more than that, a really wonderful story, a story with jokes that make you laugh, characters you believe in, and a moral that doesn't slap you round the face and shout "Look at me! I'm here!".

The scene with Jessica, talking to Woody about 'her human', Emily, is particularly moving. I'm sure I'm not the only kid in the world who gave some of my older, less loved toys a dust-down and a bit of a hug after watching this film.

If you don't want to buy it, at least rent it, or borrow it off someone who has it. It's rare that a cartoon can simultaneously be forward thinking and an immediate classic, but these one does it with ease; it's so very much worth watching.

This being an older Pixar release, I was a bit unsure about whether to order it. I feared it may be a DVD upscale or some other rehash - or that the source material simply wouldn't look as good over 10 years (and many other excellent Pixar films) later.

All these fears were unfounded. The transfer is quite simply excellent. There are one or two moments with a little digital noise (in bright areas) and some anti-aliasing issues but they really are very, very minor indeed. The textures are more plain in design and colour than later Pixar efforts but everything is rendered absolutely pin-sharp. The colours, though plain as I say, are very rich indeed. Some scenes show breathtaking detail and the whole feel is really appealing and very suited to the 'toy' setting and characters.

The sound is a Master Audio track. It's very powerful indeed, so much so that I lost the dialogue in some places. However this could have been because I was listening quietly. Overall the sound treatment is excellent. (Edit: The dialogue remains clear and intelligible throughout, it's just the sound effects are mixed quite high in places, it seems, so I had to turn it down for comfort reasons only.)

There are a few extras on the Blu-ray (I haven't checked the bundled DVD yet; it appears to duplicate the Blu-ray but with a bit less content). They are mainly short, funny - and rather odd - 'cartoons' about the production of Toy Story 2. They are charming enough. There doesn't appear to be a Pixar short in the package though, from my first quick glance at all the extras. There is an audio commentary though.

To sum up, if you like the film, don't be put off by the lack of reviews. I was initially but there was nothing to worry about. The transfer is great, the film doesn't show its age and does stand up very well even against recent Pixar masterpieces like the Up and WALL-E Blu-rays.

Very highly recommended!

(It also seems like it's a region-free Blu-ray too, judging by the A-B-C playable regions printed on the disc, though this is untested and unconfirmed.)

There is a rumour that this was planned as a straight to video (DVD) release and it only secured a cinematic release when Pixar realised how good it was. It certainly was good enough.

A great story following the gang attempting to rescue Woody after a toy collector has kidnapped him (technically I guess he is stolen but it feels like a kidnapping). As in the first film the story works on a number of different levels successfully appealing to children and adults.

Once again the animation is fantastic and the vocal talents superb: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Kelsey and Joan Cusack are all excellent.

Simply wonderful