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Why is this a play-in? Both of these movies deserve to be in the regular contest. I picked Toy Story 2 over the original as my two kids love it just a little more than 1. Honestly there should be a whole bracket of animated films for this. Come on, Adam and Sam!
I was happy to get past the petty animosity between Woody and Buzz in the first movie, and in the second film there was a better context for all the characters to grow and for them to work as a group. The new characters fit right in and although some consider it too spot on, Jessie's song still stirs my soul to this day.
There are very view things that I still maintain my childhood nostalgia for these days. Star Wars? It's good, but no particular attachment. Jurassic Park? That first movie is incredible, but still not something I geek out over. Toy Story though? That is my s&@$. I was at just the right age to have my first theater experience seeing the first film, and old enough to obsess over the second film when it was released. I had exactly infinity Buzz and Woody toys, action figures, bedsheets, birthday parties, everything. I still love both of these films, though it's been years since I've seen either of them, I have every frame seared onto my brain.
When it comes down to deciding between the two, it's not as tough as you would think. Toy Story 2 is perhaps one of the best sequels ever made in my mind (the superior sequel to TS3 in my opinion; controversial for my generation), perfectly mixing in existentialist themes while expanding on the ideas presented in the first film. However, I have to go with that first film as my pick, both for nostalgia reasons, history reasons, and just the fact that its an incredible film. I'd go even so far as to say that in the years since its release, PIXAR has come ever so close to topping it, but has yet to actually do so.
Toy Story holds up as an interesting exploration of identity and belonging with endless quotability, memorable music, and unique protagonists and side characters. Sid is also a brilliant villain as one friend that everyone had that liked to set things on fire cut off Barbie doll hair, who through the eyes of a toy is absolutely horrifying. Compare this to Toy Story 2, which adds better humor, wonderful new characters, and an interesting theme of utility vs. preservation; Pixar's first sequel proved the studio's staying power but has weaker villains and was not nearly as groundbreaking as its predecessor. I was born the year before Toy Story came out, so I didn't have the opportunity to see it in the theaters, but it's hard to understate the enormous risk of a fully computer generated movie in 1995, and its impact on animated kids movies, transforming the industry norm for animation in under a decade. Both movies deserve a place on this list, but I must go with the original.
Reading Erin Teachman's comments, I'm convinced.
Is it too late to change my vote?
I appreciate why Josh feels like Toy Story 2 is a repeat of the emotional beats of Toy Story and casts his vote for the original. For me though, that is a reason to vote for Toy Story 2. It is not a groundbreaking original film, to be sure, that is 100% Toy Story's honor, but for me it is a significant refinement of the ideas presented in Toy Story, with several added wrinkles, especially adding the poignancy of Jessie's story and the terror of what life with the Collector means as opposed to life with Andy. The pop culture fun of the second one adds a level of meta that is also extra pleasing to this student of postmodernity (you know, like the, uh, Jurassic Park reference). Toy Story 2 broke new ground and it isn't totally complete without knowledge of the first film, but it's an improvement on something great and that's why it gets my vote here.
Man, this one cuts me to the bone. The quarter came up tails, so TS2 gets my vote. And TS1 is now the most I've ever lost in a coin toss.
At least there wasn't a Will Smith play in between ID4 and MIB, I may have passed out from the stress. (Don't mock me, I was born in '85 and these all hit me at that golden time when every movie I saw was great.)
Easy one, "Toy Story" disappointed this die hard Disney fan, "Toy Story 2", glorious, vastly improved in every area.
Very close call, but I had to go with Toy Story 2 for one simple reason- When She Loved Me. That song and that scene prove that Pixar could reach adult emotional heights. It is the precursor to the beginning of Up, which perfected it.
I love Toy Story 2. It is every bit as good as the original Toy Story (11th, Josh? Really? 11th?)
But when it came time to vote, I went with the first Toy Story.
There's just something to be said about being first, carving new creative and technical territory.
And as much as I enjoy Toy Story 2, it doesn't work without Toy Story. You take away the original, and 2 loses its emotional impact and the depth of it character development.
11th?