Touches You

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

An Exercise In Nonsense

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

I don't know what it is, but somehow those "Toy Story" short films really don't do much for me. I hope that if they really shoot a fourth film that this one is gonna be as good as the third movie again. This one here is a short film which runs for roughly 20 minutes and follows the before-mentioned last installment of the series again. There are some horror elements in there, but all in all it is really harmless actually. What i liked most about it was that Jessie was the star this time (great fan of her) and that the film had some interesting horror movie references such as the motel ("Psycho"). And the motel owner is an evil man here as well. Well, he isn't stabbing any toys in the shower, but he steals them from his owners, with the help of a scary lizard, and sells them online afterward. When Woody is in a paperboard box, it's Jessie's turn to save him and bring him back. To do that, she also needs to confront her fears. What we see next is a nice reference about being buried alive ("Kill Bill", "Buried"...) However, this is also pretty much everything positive I can say here. The humor was rarely as good as I am used to from the other "Toy Story" films and the new characters did not add really much either. Combat Carl was still bearable, but that strange robot near the end just served no purpose at all in my opinion apart from including some cool special effects toy. And why didn't they try to take Carl with them in the end. After all, the way he was talking about Jessie it sounded like he'd know her for ages already. Anyway, this was not the first short film by Angus McLane based on the Pixar universe, but I was disappointed here. Not recommended and I hope his next project "Finding Dory", where he is the co-director turns out much better.

Good, but not very filling. Sweet little Toy Story short story / mini- movie, made for Halloween (I guess). Very similar in concept to the annual Simpsons Halloween Special.Has the usual Toy Story characteristics: quirky plot, snappy dialogue, rollicking adventure.However, the shortness is a negative quality. There is little time to develop the plot. Just when you're getting into it, the "movie" ends.It just feels kind of "meh" afterwards. Unlike the full-length Toy Stort movies which leave you beaming from ear to ear and feeling a calm sense of innocence and delight.

Toy Story of TERROR, the TV special from Pixar, is, in short, amazing. It manages to stick to the production value of the full length films from the series and it's a more than welcome addition.As far as writing goes, I cannot complain. I mean, it's very well written and deals not only with fun and entertaining stuff but also with serious matters like personal growth. The new characters were a great addition to the film.The only problem the film has is its runtime. The pacing was way too fast and some parts felt very rushed, resulting on things like lack of depth to some of the new characters, and lack of build up to some major moments.Long story short, Toy Story of TERROR is quite a pleasure to watch, but would heavily benefit from a longer cut.

Toy Story of Terror (2013) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Made-for-TV short has Woody, Buzz and the rest of the toys staying the night at a hotel when they wonder off and are captured by the desk clerk who plans on selling them over the internet. TOY STORY OF TERROR comes three years after the third film in the series, which was without question a true masterpiece of the genre. This short doesn't come anywhere close to that but fans of the series will find plenty here to enjoy. It's great that the regular voice members are back with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack doing their usual wonderful work. There's also Don Rickles back as Mr. Potato Head and we even get Carl Weathers and Timothy Dalton for a good time. The animation is wonderful but then again you really wouldn't expect anything less from the gang at Pixar. The film contains some nice excitement as the toys go on their adventure and the finale will certainly have you cheering. Mix in all the great laughs and you're really left with a nice little gem that lives up to the features in the series. New characters like Combat Carl (Weathers) and PezCat just added to all the fun.