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(About Our Ads) "TOY STORY 2" (1999) (voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen) (G) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons None Minor Moderate *Moderate Minor Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Minor None Moderate None None Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence None None None Mild Mild QUICK TAKE: Children's/Animated Comedy: After a toy collector nabs Woody, a toy cowboy, to complete his vintage collection from a TV western, space ranger Buzz Lightyear and various other toys set out to rescue their friend. PLOT: In a world where toys are sentient beings and live and interact in their own universe whenever their owners or other humans aren't around, the ones in Andy's (voice of JOHN MORRIS) home are an eclectic and amusing bunch. There's Woody (voice of TOM HANKS), the friendly but somewhat neurotic cowboy doll and Buzz Lightyear (voice of TIM ALLEN), a toy who's finally become comfortable with the fact that he's just that and not an actual space ranger. When Woody accidentally ends up in a yard sale and is then stolen by a greedy and unscrupulous toy collector, Al McWhiggin (voice of WAYNE KNIGHT), Buzz and his fellow toys, Mr. Potato Head (voice of DON RICKLES), Slinky Dog (voice of JIM VARNEY), Rex the Tyrannosaurus (voice of WALLACE SHAWN) and Hamm the piggy bank (voice of JOHN RATZENGERGER) set out to rescue him. It seems that McWhiggin, who runs Al's Toy Barn, has been looking for the evidently rare Woody toy to complete his highly valued collectible set from the 1950's TV show, "Woody's Roundup." Once in Al's high rise apartment, Woody meets the other toys from his show, Jessie the cowgirl (voice of JOAN CUSACK), Stinky Pete the prospector (voice of KELSEY GRAMMAR), and his faithful horse, Bullseye. Learning that he's to be sent off with his "old acquaintances" to a toy museum in Japan, Woody wants to get out of Dodge and back to the safety of Andy's room. Yet when he sees all of the memorabilia from his old TV show and then learns that Jessie and Pete desperately don't want to be put back in storage if he leaves them, Woody finds himself torn about what he should do. As Buzz and his pals make their way from Andy's room to Al's Toy Barn and then to the high rise apartment, they must contend with various obstacles including Buzz's archenemy, Emperor Zug (voice of ANDREW STANTON), while Woody must decide what world he wants to live in. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Yes, especially if they liked the original "Toy Story." WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G For not containing material to warrant a higher rating. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: Although it's debatable whether kids see computer animated characters as role models, here's a quick look at the major characters. WOODY is the friendly and easygoing, if somewhat neurotic cowboy toy who must choose whether to return with his friends and current human owner or help his old TV pals from being put back in storage. BUZZ LIGHTYEAR is the space ranger toy who bravely attempts to rescue his friend from the clutches of a toy collector. JESSIE is Woody's former cowgirl sidekick on his show who desperately doesn't want to be put back in storage. STINKY PETE is her friend, an old prospector toy who will do anything not to be put back in storage. REX plays a nervous Nelly of a tyrannosaurus rex toy who helps Buzz rescue Woody. AL McWHIGGIN plays the greedy and unscrupulous toy store owner and collector who steals Woody so that he can make money from selling his now complete Woody's Roundup set to an overseas museum. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this G-rated, computer animated feature. Some cartoon, toy-related violence is present in the form of some toys struggling/fighting with each other and another destroying some aliens in what turns out to be a video game. Some of those scenes as well as other more adventurous ones may be suspenseful or unsettling to the youngest of kids, but most of the material is rather tame. Beyond that and the villains' bad attitudes, the rest of the film's categories are void of any major objectionable content. Nonetheless, should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for anyone in your home, you may want to take a closer look at the content that we've listed. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE None. BLOOD/GORE We hear the sound of a burp forming in McWhiggin's sleeping body and Woody then reacts to the resulting smell. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE McWhiggin steals Woody after Andy's mom tells him the toy isn't for sale. Looking out for his own interests, Stinky Pete tries to prevent Woody from leaving with his old friends. The Emperor Zurg toy tries to defeat Buzz. FRIGHTENING SCENES As with most G-rated films aimed at kids, there's always the possibility that some scenes listed here might be somewhat suspenseful or unsettling to the youngest of them. As always, however, that will greatly depend on a child's age, level of maturity and tolerance for such material. The film opens with Buzz on another planet where he has several encounters with strange beings and then finds himself racing down a hallway/tunnel where a big wall of spikes is coming at him. He then has an encounter with Zurg that ends with Buzz's torso being zapped away (but all of this turns out to be just a video game the other toys are playing). Andy accidentally rips Woody's arm partially from his body (since Woody appears as a real character, this may be unsettling to some kids, although it's certainly not gory in any way) and later loses the arm altogether (although it is put back on). Woody has a nightmare (we don't know this until the end of the scene) where a creature made of toy arms grabs and then pulls him back down into a trash can (with weird, echoing music) and Woody then falls into what seems like an endless void. A scene where Woody goes to rescue another toy from a yard sale might be a tiny bit suspenseful to the youngest of kids. The same holds true for a scene where Woody tries to get his severed arm back from McWhiggin's pocket as the human sleeps, and another where the toys try to cross a busy street while hiding under red construction cones and a tractor trailer jackknifes and a gargantuan concrete pipe nearly rolls over Mr. Potato Head who barely gets out of the way in time. Several toys nearly fall down an elevator shaft and they later confront Zurg in the same location. Woody barely holds on to the edge of a baggage truck at an airport and later he and Jessie must lower themselves from a plane's landing gear as it's preparing to take off (and at one point she holds onto him as he hangs from the opening as his arm starts to rip more). GUNS/WEAPONS Various toy weapons are present in the form of Buzz's "weaponry" on his suit, plastic guns that the army men carry, something Zurg uses to fire projectiles/power beams at Buzz, Stinky Pete with his lit TNT on an old marionette TV show and later his pick ax, and Jessie has a toy gun with a suction cup plunger as its "bullet." IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Moron," "Idiots," and "Oh, nuts." JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of adventurously suspenseful music plays at times during the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY None. SEX/NUDITY None. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES None. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Woody having to choose whether to stay with Andy and risk eventually being thrown away (or at least forgotten) or being put on display forever in a museum. Children and their toys. VIOLENCE Buzz uses his "weaponry" to blow up some strange beings on another planet and then does the same to a probe that comes out of a wall. Buzz's nemesis, Zurg, then shows up and fires objects at Buzz who deflects them, but doesn't a shot that zaps away Buzz's torso (in what turns out to be a video game that the other toys are playing). Some slapstick material is present including Woody falling and hitting several drawers on his way down and characters being flung off a rapidly spinning album. Andy accidentally rips Woody's arm. To divert attention from him stealing Woody, McWhiggin kicks a skateboard out of the shot where we hear it break something. Jesse jumps on Woody and holds his arm behind him trying to get him to take something back. As the toys try to cross a busy street while hiding under red construction cones, several vehicles crash into each other and a tractor trailer jackknifes. A display unit Buzz Lightyear pushes our Buzz back against some plastic. He then jumps on him and the two struggle until the display unit has subdued our Buzz and strapped him into an empty toy box container. A boxer toy punches his counterpart in the ring. Zurg fires his "ion blaster" at the other toys and Buzz throws what look like washers back at his enemy. Zurg then picks up Buzz and smashes him back against a "wall" and then throws him to the elevator top. Zurg is then knocked down the elevator shaft. Stinky Pete punches Buzz and Woody then struggles with him, with the Prospector kicking Woody backwards and then tears Woody's arm with his pick ax and nearly hits him again with it. Reviewed November 9, 1999 / Posted November 24, 1999