Toy Story 2 (1999)

Next lets look at the second movie in the franchise, Toy Story 2.

The Movie:

Toy Story 2 is the 3rd movie from Pixar.  During the 1990s, while Disney was producing many highly received theatrical films, they were also producing many direct to video sequels to those and other earlier films.  Following the success of Toy Story, Disney began to do so with that movie, since their agreement with Pixar gave them the rights to the characters.  During production, Disney felt the movie could be strong enough to get a theatrical release, but Pixar was unhappy with the direction of the movie, and they took over the project.  Upon release, Toy Story 2 was as well received as the first movie.  It was also the only Pixar movie to win the Golden Globe for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy before animated films became ineligible upon being given their own category.

Toy Story 2 starts off shortly after the first movie, with Andy's toys still enjoying a fun life of play.  Woody is supposed to go with Woody to cowboy camp, but his arm begins to rip, and he is left at home.  Woody then rescues a fellow toy from a garage sale, but is discovered by Al, a toy store owner and collector.  Even though Andy's mom tells him Woody is not for sale, Al steals Woody, completing the set of toys from Woody's Round-Up, an old television show.  Woody and his fellow collectables, Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete, are being sold to a museum and Tokyo.  Buzz and the gang set off to rescue Woody before it is too late.

Though the setting gets larger in Toy Story 2, the movie retains the heart of the first.  The new characters bring an interesting perspective, once again exploring what it means to be a toy.  The movie also provides a larger background for the fictional universes of both Woody and Buzz Lightyear, with the latter's antagonist, Emperor Zurg, actually appearing, after getting a name drop in the first movie.  This would setup the animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

Though this movie once again uses "You've Got a Friend in Me," the most memorable scene comes with the song "When She Loved Me," written by Randy Newman and performed by Sarah McLachlan, which plays over the flashback of when Jessie was given away by her owner Emily.  The scene is one of the earliest examples of Pixar's signature tear-jerkers.

Notably, this movie has several shout outs to other movies, including a wonderful one to my all-time favorite movie, Jurassic Park.

Presence in the Parks:

I held off talking about the Buzz Lightyear rides because they related more to this movie, especially with the introduction of the Buzz Lightyear mythos and Emperor Zurg.

The Buzz Lightyear attractions are currently found in five Disney parks (Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, Tokyo, Paris, Shanghai) and formerly at another (Hong Kong), with the ride having a different name in each park.  The first opened in the Magic Kingdom in 1998 (a year before Zurg was actually seen on the screen).  The ride utilized the Omnimover system that was preexisting when the space was home to If You Had Wings and Delta Dreamflight.  This established the ride system for the later versions of the ride as well.

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (on the left), May 2015

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, as it is known in the Magic Kingdom, is an interactive ride in which each rider controls a laser gun and shoots at targets over the course of the line, racking up as many points as possible.

Score Display, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, May 2015