“We really had a lot to live up to. We knew how much the characters meant to people,” said Toy Story 2’s producer, Helene Plotkin, in 1999, just before the sequel opened.
Since debuting in November of 1995, audiences, especially young audiences, have fallen in love with the characters in Toy Story. By 1998, Toy Story had also grossed $373 million worldwide, was the twenty-first highest-grossing film of all time, and sold $5.1 million in its first week of release on VHS.
As Plotkin said, a lot was riding on a sequel. But initially, the sequel wouldn’t debut in movie theaters.
Disney had a surprise hit in 1994, with the direct-to-video sequel to 1992’s Aladdin, The Return of Jafar. This success began a trend at Disney, and the studio saw Toy Story as another opportunity for a direct-to-video sequel.
A 1997 work-in-progress screening for direct-to-video Toy Story 2 received such a strong, positive reaction that the decision was made to release the sequel theatrically, as Disney’s big Thanksgiving weekend release for 1999.
“We were handed a lot of restrictions, initially,” recalled Jim Pearson, art director for Toy Story 2, in ‘99. “Despite that, we always thought of this as something that was as good as a full-blown theatrical release. We never thought of it as just direct-to-video. We said, ‘This is a movie.’”
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Toy Story 2, which was released on November 24, 1999, expanded the world of its characters while providing them with depth in a story filled with humor, creativity, and emotion.
It turns out that Woody, the pull-string cowboy doll (Tom Hanks), is not only Andy’s favorite toy but also a highly sought-after collectible. When he is stolen from a garage sale by Al McWhiggen (Wayne Knight), a crafty collector and owner of the big box Al’s Toy Barn, the other toys go off on an adventure to rescue Woody.
Meanwhile, at Al’s apartment, Woody learns that he was once the star of the Howdy Doody-like kid’s TV Show, Woody’s Round-Up, and he meets other toys who were co-stars on the show, Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (Joan Cusack), Stinky Pete the prospector (Kelsey Grammer) and Bullseye the horse.
Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Hamm the Piggy Bank (John Ratzenberger), Rex (Wallace Shawn), and Slinky Dog (Jim Varney) all come to their rescue. On the way, they all encounter Barbie (Jodi Benson) at Al’s Toy Barn. Ironically, the filmmakers wanted Barbie to appear in the original Toy Story. Mattel said no but changed their mind about the sequel.
The screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin, and Chris Webb drew its inspiration from some of the most famous sequels in movie history. In a 1999 interview, Ash Brannon, who co-directed Toy Story 2 with John Lasseter and Lee Unkrich, said, “We actually looked at Godfather II as the inspiration for the story. There you have a sequel that’s really a movie unto itself. We felt that the characters could really continue to grow.”
One of the stunning technical advancements in Toy Story 2 was the ability to make Woody’s Round-Up look like found footage of an actual children’s show from the 1950s. “We looked at old Kinescopes of Howdy Doody and Andy’s Gang,” said art director Pearson in ‘99, adding, “The way that the film looks is largely the work of one of our technical directors, Oren Jacob. There’s this ‘bloom’ that you get on anything that is lit on the old Kinescopes. Oren nailed that. Then, we added scratches and skips. It’s a beautiful job. It looks completely convincing.”
Toy Story 2 was also released several years after the debut of eBay, which still allows so many the opportunity to “re-purchase” their childhood by bidding high on lost toys, comic books, and other pieces of nostalgia.
“One thing that came up during production was the fact that when we were growing up, none of us knew that there was any value to our toys,” said the film’s producer, Karen Robert Jackson, at the time. “The only value was that you played with it.” She added, “To think that kids are looking at toys for value is kind of distressing. We’re not trying to tell people what’s right or wrong in the film. But it is an interesting dilemma that has been created around something that used to be very simple.”
More than technology and riding the wave of the decade’s collectible craze, Toy Story 2 was a major hit and has continued to connect with audiences thanks to its extremely human and relatable story, which could be seen in the character arc of Woody.
“He has his mid-life crisis in this film,” added Jackson. “He has to decide whether to live life as a toy if that means that eventually a boy might actually discard you, or he can have the fountain of youth and live forever on a shelf in mint condition, which means that you can’t play with a boy anymore. He has to choose between bringing joy to millions or bringing joy to one child.”
Like all great movies, and all great sequels, this keeps Toy Story 2 at the top of so many favorite lists. Twenty-five years later, the cast of characters continues to endear themselves to multiple generations. As Woody says at the end of Toy Story 2: “…I’ll have ol’ Buzz Lightyear to keep me company – for infinity and beyond.”
