 1) Toy Story (1995-2010)
The Movies: Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010)
Toy Story (1995)
As an entity of three pictures, the Toy Story franchise stands as Pixar’s defining work – and its overall best. The first movie in the trilogy also happened to double as the first feature-length animated film ever made, but the genius of Toy Story is in its serious characterisation, a feature which Pixar wisely chose not to water down. Though the animation was surely a marvel to behold at the time of release, each and every character in Toy Story is gifted with a personality that seems real and developed, assuring audiences that these were individuals they’d want to spend more than one motion picture with. A great movie with a genuine heart, Toy Story‘s success arises from its decision not to focus on its gimmick over that of proper story. (5.0/5)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Though Toy Story has all the unmistakable traits of a franchise series, the creative folk over at Pixar have never allowed the movies to feel as though audiences are just sitting down to one big toy commercial (which is surely what Disney see it as). For the follow-up to the original gem – a movie that in theory seems impossible to beat – the emotional aspects established in Toy Story are laid out bare on the table. As well as functioning as a story of ownership, identity and obsession, Toy Story 2 doesn’t shy away from dark and serious themes that we can all relate to. In its telling of Jesse’s story, the movie makes a shift into territory unlikely suited for an animated feature, only for it to pay off in droves. (5.0/5)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
The sheer genius associated with the third (and hopefully final) Toy Story movie is in its decision to grow up with its audience. Most people who loved the original Toy Story were children when they first fell in love with it, so Pixar designed the next chapter to mainly appeal to those exact people as adults. The story, then, doubles as one about Woody and company saying farewell to their owner as he departs for college, whilst simultaneously placing Toy Story fans in the shoes of Andy. As Andy bids farewell to his own childhood, so do we. That, in effect, gives this hugely admirable and brilliantly-realised conclusion to the world’s best ever motion picture trilogy the rightly resonant and emotion finale it deserves. A sublime achievement, perfect in every frame, Toy Story 3 is Pixar’s masterpiece and a crowing achievement in franchise movie-making. (5.0/5)
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