Merry Christmas in July! I hope you’ve enjoyed the blogathon so far. I know I have! For the finale, yours truly will close out the blogathon with a review of the Tom Hanks-led animated holiday film that turns 15 this year: The Polar Express.
Synopsis
On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas. (via IMDb)
Review
As long as there has been cinema, there have been Christmas films. Many struggle to become holiday staples. Some take a while (like Miracle on 34th Street) while others become instant classics. The Polar Express is the latter. It has the traditional holiday messages but it wraps them in an adventure unlike any other film. I’ve heard people say this movie’s animation is too far in the uncanny valley but I would disagree. While it is more realistic looking than many films around the same time, it has enough of a cartoonish feel to not go over into that territory. I really enjoy that this tells the story through a child’s eyes to really helps captures the movie’s sense of wonder. Tom Hanks plays five parts throughout the film. Despite being so prevalent, each of his characters feels different from one another, showcasing his talents. I forgot how musical this film is. Not in the Broadway musical sense, although there are some great musical numbers like “Hot Chocolate,” but how much the score complements what is going on on screen. Although I shouldn’t have been surprised once I learned the extraordinary Alan Silvestri was the composer.
I thought The Polar Express was GREAT 😀 Its sense of adventure is unlike any other Christmas film but with a message just as powerful. Accompanied by terrific animation, a great score, and Tom Hanks at his best, it’s no wonder that fifteen years later, this movie is still a holiday staple.
Trivia The Polar Express was the first “all-digital capture” film, where all acted parts were done in digital capture. The film used 3D motion capture techniques to digitally record the actors’ physical performances before “skinning” them with their animated forms. The children’s roles were acted by adults, using oversized props to get the movement right. (via IMDb)
Trailer
Cast & Crew
Robert Zemeckis – Director / Screenplay
Wiliiam Broyles, Jr. – Screenplay
Alan Silvestri – Composer
Tom Hanks – Hero Boy / Father/ Conductor / Hobo / Santa Claus
Daryl Sabara – Hero Boy (voice)
Nona Gaye – Hero Girl (voice)
Jimmy Bennett – Billy the Lonely Boy (voice)
Eddie Deezen – Know-It-All (voice)
Andre Sogliuzzo – Smokey / Steamer (voice)
As for my guest, I have chosen none other than Princess Jasmine and Kimberly Hart (aka the Pink Ranger) herself, Naomi Scott.
And that’s the final post for the sixth annual Christmas in July Blogathon! If you’ve missed any of the entries or you can’t wait to see the full guest list, the wrap-up post will be posted later today, so be sure to check that out.
Synopsis
At her first day of school, Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) creates a new toy named Forky (Tony Hale). It’s up to Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the rest of Bonnie’s toys to keep Forky safe while on a road trip.
Review
Like many, I was skeptical when a fourth Toy Story movie was announced. Toy Story 3 had wrapped the story of Andy’s toys up to that point superbly. Several shorts have been made since then (which are perfectly okay with me) but another full-length feature felt like an attempted cash grab. Going into this movie I was torn. On one hand, I love the Toy Story films and welcome the chance to play with these characters. But on the other, as I said, the story of Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the crew felt complete. Even though it doesn’t quite hit the emotional highs as previous films in the franchise, Toy Story 4 offers a good conclusion for the characters many of us have grown attached to since 1996.
Firstly, if you thought the animation of Toy Story 3 was top-notch, then you’ll be blown away from the animation of Toy Story 4. As the toys go to different environments, from Bonnie’s room, to Bonnie’s family’s RV, to a playground, to an antique store, and many places in between, each place has its own aesthetic and feels unique. Toys are not made from the same material. Toys like Buzz Lightyear are completely plastic, Woody is a mix of fabric and plastic, and Bo Peep is porcelain. Buzz has a pretty matte look, you can see the pilling on Woody’s shirt, and Bo Peep has a shine to her Buzz and Woody do not, and all the other toys have similar characteristics. Look at the character posters to see examples of what I’m talking about. It’s honestly breathtaking the amount of detail that has gone into making these characters look as realistic as possible. The bar of what of animation is capable of just keeps going up and up.
For the first three films, or “Andy Trilogy” as I’m going to start calling it, the toys mostly shared the spotlight. There was more of a focus on Woody and Buzz but characters like Rex, the Potato Heads, Jessie, and Bullseye shared the screen pretty evenly. However, this time around the focus is on Woody, who becomes the sole heart and soul of the film, with everyone else being demoted to support duties. One of my favorite parts of the previous film was seeing all the different personalities of the toys together so it was disappointing I didn’t get to see as much of that in this film.
One of my biggest, if not my biggest, concern with creating a follow-up film to the wonderful Toy Story 3 was where the writers would take the story, as Toy Story 3 added a perfectly fitting ending to the story of Woody, Buzz, and the gang. In typical Pixar fashion, they proved that there is almost always more story to tell, and they told it well. I’m not a huge fan of how they made Woody the central character like I mentioned above, mostly because of how it shifts the narrative of the whole franchise, but I won’t get into that here. However, once again, Pixar created a story that has a lot of heart.
I thought Toy Story 4 was GOOD 🙂 While I’m still not ecstatic that this movie was made in the first place, I still enjoyed it. This series serves as breadcrumbs to track how far computer animation has come, as this is one of the best looking computer animated films I’ve ever seen. Toy Story 4‘s heart is in the right place but it ultimately falls short, which isn’t too surprising given it had to follow the emotional franchise-ending of Toy Story 3.
Trailer
Cast & Crew
Josh Cooley – Director / Story
Andrew Stanton – Story / Screenplay
Stephany Folsom – Story / Screenplay
John Lasseter – Story
Valerie LaPointe – Story
Rashida Jones – Story
Will McCormack – Story
Martin Hynes – Story
Randy Newman – Composer
Tom Hanks – Woody (voice)
Tim Allen – Buzz Lightyear (voice)
Annie Potts – Bo Peep (voice)
Tony Hale – Forky (voice)
Keegan-Michael Key – Ducky (voice)
Jordan Peele – Bunny (voice)
Keanu Reeves – Duke Caboom (voice)
Ally Maki – Giggle McDimples (voice)
Christina Hendricks – Gabby Gabby (voice)
Madeleine McGraw – Bonnie (voice)
Jay Hernandez – Bonnie’s Dad (voice)
Lori Alan – Bonnie’s Mom (voice)
Bonnie Hunt – Dolly (voice)
Kristen Schaal – Trixie (voice)
Jeff Garlin – Buttercup (voice)
Wallace Shawn – Rex (voice)
John Ratzenberger – Hamm (voice)
Blake Clark – Slinky Dog (voice)
Don Rickles – Mr. Potato Head (voice)
Estelle Harris – Mrs. Potato Head (voice)
Entries for the Christmas in July 2019 Blogathon are due in two weeks! To find out more, check out the post here.
Answer to MWL 12/20/17: The Conductor (Tom Hanks (voice)) – The Polar Express
The Conductor: Years ago, on my first Christmas Eve run, I was up on the roof making my rounds when I slipped on the ice myself. I reached out for a handle but it broke off. I slid and fell. And yet, I did not fall off this train. Hero Girl: Someone saved you? The Conductor: Or something. Hero Girl: An angel. The Conductor: Maybe. Hero Boy: Wait. Wait! W-What did he look like? Did you see him? The Conductor: No, sir. But sometimes, seeing is believing. And sometimes, the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.
Thanks for everyone’s submissions and one magical sleigh bell to the following people for answering correctly:
Synopsis
Andy (John Morris (voice)) is preparing to leave for college and must choose what to do with his toys. He decides to keep Woody (Tom Hanks (voice)) and put the rest in the attic. However, the toys are mistakenly delivered to Sunnyside Daycare. Thinking that Andy was throwing them out, Buzz (Tim Allen (voice)), Jessie (Joan Cusack (voice)), and the rest of the gang choose to stay at Sunnyside where the will be played with everyday. They soon discover than Sunnyside isn’t as cheerful as they thought and try to return home.
Review
When I heard Pixar was making a third Toy Story film, I was filled with excitement. I had grown up with Woody, Buzz, Rex, Hamm, Mr. Potato Head and the rest of the gang. And Andy was about to head off to college, an experience I went through a few years earlier. Basically, I had been waiting 11 years for this moment. But the question was could Pixar deliver a third fantastic outing with these characters? You bet they can!
One thing I think is interesting about all three of the Toy Story movies is that Andy doesn’t appear much in any of the films, but he is the heart and soul of them. Everything the toys do is for Andy. Why does Woody need to get back to Andy’s house after getting lost? To be there for Andy. Why does Buzz want to rescue Woody from Al? So he’s there for Andy. Why does Buzz tell Woody going into a museum is a terrible idea? Because Andy can’t play with him behind glass. Why does Woody want the other toys back home instead of at Sunnyside Daycare? To be there for Andy when he needs them. Why doesn’t Woody want to stay with Bonnie even though Andy doesn’t play with anymore? To be there for Andy. I didn’t realize how this ran through all the movies. Like, I understood it was there, but not how prominent Andy is despite his limited presence until watching them so close together.
Another thing I noticed from watching all the films together is that each movie builds on the theme of the movie preceding it. I also mentioned this in my review of Toy Story 2. Toy Story was about building friendship, Toy Story 2 was about accepting that everything has an end and to be there for your friends while it lasts. Now, Toy Story 3 is about letting go. The message has grown up with the franchise’s audience.
Pixar single-handedly created the computer animated film with Toy Story in 1995. In the fifteen years since, it has come along way. One of the benefits of revisiting these characters and this world is it acts as a great measuring tool to see how far computer animation has come in that time. Toy Story 3 is absolutely stunningly gorgeous. The animation is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was a decade and a half earlier. Everything is so colorful and full of life. The daycare especially with all its colorful walls, paintings, and furniture. Even the dark contrasts, such as the toy’s gambling area inside the vending machine or rainy scene with Lotso, which are up there with How to Train Your Dragon. It’s breathtaking to think how far animation has come and that it still is only going to get better.
You’ve done all this reading and I haven’t even gotten into talking about the film itself yet. Sunnyside Daycare is one of the most unique places created in the Toy Story universe. There are so many toys it’s ridiculous. Lots-O-Huggins Bear, voiced by Ned Beatty, may be my favorite Toy Story villain. I think his motivations were deeper than Stinky Pete’s from the previous film. Although he did feel similar to Pete in that he hid his true self under a fun, happy visage. His inner circle were all unique, too. The popular Ken, a stretchy octopus, and a few others for muscle round out the group.
Bonnie’s toys were all enjoyable as well. I found it hilarious that Jeff Garlin voiced the unicorn Buttercup. His voice isn’t what I would expect to come out of the mouth of a unicorn, which may be why it works so well. Timothy Dalton was the perfect fit for the Shakespearean Mr. Pricklepants. Another favorite of mine was Kristen Schaal as Trixie, another dinosaur toy. She was so full of energy and spunk.
The story feels like a natural progression of Woody and Buzz’s journey. We all have been through (or will go through) a time when we have to let something, or someone, go that we dearly love. In typical Pixar fashion, this was handled with care and in a way that all audiences, young and old, could understand. For many of the kids who grew up with Toy Story and Toy Story 2, and the parents forced to watch them too, the ending was very powerful, not leaving a single eye dry. It was an organic and very fitting conclusion to the characters’ story arc.
I think the only knock I have against this film is that the ending gets very dark. I had the same problem with Up, except that was in the beginning. It just wasn’t a place I expected the movie to go and took me out of it for a little while.
Toy Story 3 perfectly closes the story of Woody and Buzz. There are a ton of fun, new characters and places. Every time I go into a Pixar movie, I expect to be torn apart emotionally. There have bee many tear jerking moments that have happened because of Pixar, but the final scene between Andy and Bonnie hit me the hardest. The Toy Story series is such an emotional journey and I’m proud to say I’ve been there very step of the way.
Synopsis
While Andy (John Morris (voice)) is away at Cowboy Camp, his mom (Laurie Metcalf (voice)) has a yard sale. While rescuing a toy from being sold, Woody (Tom Hanks (voice)) gets stolen by Al (Wayne Knight (voice)), a toy collector and owner of Al’s Toy Barn. In Al’s apartment, Woody discovers he is a rare toy and part of The Round-Up Gang, along with Jessie (Joan Cusack), Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer), and Bullseye. Meanwhile, Buzz (Tim Allen (voice)) and the rest of Andy’s toys go on a rescue mission to retrieve Woody before Andy returns home.
Review
I make no point in hiding that Toy Story is one of my all-time favorite films and was instrumental in shaping my childhood. It tells a great story, the characters are relatable, and the computer animation was groundbreaking. It’s almost impossible to think that a sequel could hit just as many emotional strings. But by George, John Lasseter and his crew at Pixar managed to do just that, creating a Toy Story sequel that is almost almost (almost) as good as its predecessor.
In 1999, Pixar was still growing, still proving themselves as fantastic, emotional storytellers. They came out strong with Toy Story in 1995then kept the momentum going in 1998 with their sophomore film, the good not great A Bug’s Life. When it came to their third outing, they returned to the characters that got them started. What I think really makes this work, like any good sequel really, is that it doesn’t retread the previous movie. Instead, it builds on it, telling a unique story that honors the first and expands the world it inhabits. We get to meet Al and explore Al’s Toy Barn, previously only seen in the Buzz Lightyear commercial. More toys are seen, like Barbie, Zerg, and the rest of the Round-Up Gang. But most importantly, it teaches a new message.
Toy Story was about friendship, getting past your differences, and understanding one another to become closer. Toy Story 2‘s message is about accepting that things change, or eventually will change, and you have to accept that and make the most out the time you have. This cleverly expands on the concept of the first movie and will be expanded even further in Toy Story 3. Not only is it a sequel in name and chronology, it is a sequel in story. Pixar you clever bastards.
Another film series I have mentioned over and over that has had a big impact on me was the original Star Wars trilogy. There are a ton of Star War references in this film. I recognized a few when I was younger but there are more than I realized after watching it more recently. That’s so cool! Mixing two of my favorite things it the best.
Another thing about the story I got a kick out of was meeting another Buzz Lightyear. This time, Buzz got to experience what the rest of Andy’s toys went through when joined the group in the previous film. I love seeing the changing of roles and Buzz needing to deal with himself.
The Toy Story films could almost be considered ensemble films. Kid don’t have only one or two toys. No, they have many. For as many characters there are that are returning, Jessie and Pete, the two biggest (speaking) new characters, get plenty of development. Jessie is my favorite of the two. She has so much spunk and energy it’s hard not to smile along with her. But underneath all that playfulness, she has a rich past that is slowly and effectively unfolds as the film moves along. Until only recently, I didn’t realize Kelsey Grammer voiced Stinky Pete. Is voice work is tremendous! I want to see him as animated villain again.
It’s hard to imagine a sequel to one of the most beloved and emotional animated films living up to its predecessor, but Toy Story 2 comes awfully close. This is a sequel that does everything right: A fun, new story that honors what has been told before while expanding on it, a great message that young and older audiences can relate to, and outstanding new additions to the cast that are well fleshed out. In terms of sequels, you can’t do much better than Toy Story 2.
Cast & Crew
John Lasseter – Director / Original Story
Ash Brannon – Co-Director / Original Story
Lee Unkrich – Co-Director
Pete Doctor – Original Story
Andrew Stanton – Original Story / Screenplay
Rita Hsiao – Screenplay
Doug Chamberlin – Screenplay
Chris Webb – Screenplay
Randy Newman – Composer
Tom Hanks – Woody (voice)
Tim Allen – Buzz Lightyear (voice)
Joan Cusack – Jessie (voice)
Kelsey Grammer – Stinky Pete (voice)
Don Rickles – Mr. Potato Head
Jim Varney – Slinky Dog (voice)
Wallace Shawn – Rex (voice)
John Ratzenberger – Hamm (voice)
Annie Potts – Bo Peep (voice)
Wayne Knight – Al (voice)
John Morris – Andy (voice)
Laurie Metcalf – Andy’s Mom (voice)
Estelle Harris – Mrs. Potato Head
R. Lee Ermey – Army Sarge (voice)
Jodi Benson – Tour Guide Barbie / Barbie on Backpack (voice)
Jonathon Harris – Geri the Cleaner
Joe Ranft – Weezy (voice)
Andrew Stanton – Evil Emperor Zerg (voice)
Jeff Pidgeon – Green Aliens (voice)
Synopsis
Drew's Movie Reviews 