Just in time for Christmas, Disney are releasing the wildly successful Toy Story trilogy on 3D Blu-ray, joining the other Disney re-releases Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. There’s still some debate over how effective 3D Blu-rays are but make no mistake, if you were going to give it a go, there’s no better trilogy to try it out with.
Just in time for
Christmas, Disney are releasing the wildly successful Toy Story trilogy on 3D
Blu-ray, joining the other Disney re-releases Beauty and the Beast and The Lion
King. There’s still some debate
over how effective 3D Blu-rays are but make no mistake, if you were going to
give it a go, there’s no better trilogy to try it out with.
Being the very first Pixar movie,
it’s hard to believe Toy Story could be so unbelievably close to perfect but
you’d be hard-pressed to find a fault with this fantastic film. Audience members will definitely have a
fondness for the 1995 design style of the film that’s almost nostalgic but with
the Blu-ray quality, it looks as good as most animated features today do.
Woody (Tom Hanks) is living in
the prime years of Andy’s childhood where there is no other toy more special to
him than his cowboy. But when Andy
receives the popular Buzz Lightyear action figure as a gift, Woody’s jealousy
gets the best of him. Buzz (Tim Allen) is charismatic, brave and
truly believes he is a space ranger whose ship has crash landed in Andy’s room,
infuriating Woody who plans to get rid of the usurper.
When the rest of the toys discover that Woody ‘accidentally’ knocked Buzz
out of the window, they banish him leaving the unlikely friends lost in the
outside world, trying to get back home.
With a story like that, what’s not to love? There’s nothing this film doesn’t have, including a touch of
horror as the sadistic neighbour Sid gets his hands on Woody and Buzz, planning
on adding them to his collection of mangled misfit toys.
The screenplay is sublime and it’s not hard to see why it was nominated for
three Oscars. The supporting
players like Mr. Potato Head (Don
Rickles) and Hamm (John Ratzenberger)
are never left to just chime in with exposition or the odd one-liner; they’re
fully functional characters who are as much-loved as Woody and Buzz. Our heroes go from being stranded at a
gas station, to being stuck at Pizza Planet (still the coolest movie restaurant
ever) to Sid’s lair of mutilation – it’s action and adventure all the way. There’s no dip in interest, no scene
that should have been cut and no performance that isn’t amazing.
Viewers may still question the worth of 3D Blu-rays but in this case the 3D
enhances the CGI environments and really gives life to the plastic
characters. The climactic car chases,
the futuristic wonder of the Pizza Planet and the warmth and safety of Andy’s
room all benefit from the immersive effect of 3D. This is no cheap-looking transfer; there are no head-ache
inducing effects or no fuzzy lines, just pure animated perfection. Toy Story is as good as it ever was if
not better and is a perfect Christmas gift this year.