this is one of the most funny and entertaining comedies of the year and it just happens to be animated . there are some great voice over commentaries from hollywood's most famous celebrities , some fabulous animation and a compelling story . this is the best we've seen from disney since " beauty and the beast " ( 1996 ) . this film begins an unspecified time following the happily-ever-after conclusion to toy story . in the aftermath of their earlier adventures , buzz ( voice of tim allen ) and woody ( voice of tom hanks ) are now fast friends and all the toys live in perfect harmony , content with their " lives " . one day , andy broke woody's arm off , while playing with him . woody is now officially discarged and worthless , left with his nightmares , where he lies in a trash can with the other discards . later andy's mother decides to have a yard sale , and she collects a few old toys from her son's room . since one of these discards is a member of the moving toy gang , woody goes to the rescue , leaving the safety of the house for the uncertainty of the front lawn in order to bring the toy back . although his mission is successful , he is placed in a serious predicament when a toy collector named al ( voice of wayne knight ) spies woody while hunting through the wares available at the sale . the cowboy toy represents the final collectible needed to complete his collection of merchandise from the old tv series , " woody's roundup . " if he can acquire woody , al can ship everything to a toy museum in japan for a huge profit . so , after andy's mother refuses to sell the wooden cowboy , al steals him , and it's up to the other toys , led by buzz , to go into the city to save their friend . and so , buzz , rex ( voice of wallace shawn ) , hamm ( voice of john ratzenberger ) , mr . potatohead ( voice of don rickles ) , and slinky ( voice of jim varney ) , go out on a dangerous journey to rescue their friend , they find themselves confronting things like busy streets and other buzz lightyear toys . there are car chases , gun fights and finally the confrontation between buzz and his nemesis ( who , by the way , resembles darth vader ) . meanwhile , woody learns that he was once a tv celebrity and has a family - a cowgirl named jessie ( voice of joan cusack ) , a horse named bullseye , and a father figure called the prospector ( voice of kelsey grammar ) . they offer him another life , as a celebrity -- a toy in a museum in japan . he is now forced to choose between being loved intensively by andy for a little while ( before he grows up ) and be forgotten , or be admired by children for generations . the problem is , if woody escapes from al's clutches and returns home , they will end up back in the lonely darkness of storage . a real effort is made in the technical department . the animation is rich and colorful , with lots of wonderful details . the " cinematography " is also extremely improved since toy story ; there are a lot of complicated swings , turns and close-ups that really make an impression . lighting and filters are used to create a mood ( as in a surprisingly emotional moment - jessie's remembrance of her days when she was a beloved toy ) the film contains a lot of in-side jokes ( such as the one about videogames ) , and entertaining parodies on " jurassic park " and " star wars " . the film ends with the " failed takes " , the kind of scenes that we are used to see after comedy shows on tv . these outtakes are some of the funniest scenes in the film . but what in the end makes " toy story 2 " a memorable experience is not the jokes , its multiple parodies or marvelous animation . it is its heart and emotions -- the story about the meaning of friendship , love and even life itself . it is not difficult to predict that " toy story 2 " would be a huge economical success , but its artistic achievement was unexpected . unexpected because the first film wasn't much more than a demonstration of special effects . but mostly it was unexpected because disney hasn't produced anything spectacular in years and is constantly surpassed by companies such as dreamworks and warner brs . but here the director has changed the atmosphere of the film , making it more accessible and interesting for persons older that 9 years . this is a big step-away from the ancient laws of disney-animation . off course , this is not " antz " , it is not as intelligent ; this is not a landmark and no masterpiece , but i promise that you'll find it as funny and enjoyable as i have . whether this is the best animated film of the year , i dare not say . my choice would probably be " the iron giant " , but ( along side with " american pie " ) this is the comedy of the year . i almost lost my hopes for disney , but " toy story 2 " proves that disney hasn't lost their ability to entertain .
