Toy Story - 10th Anniversary Edition 1995 Buena Vista   Buy It Now

I am one of the few people who never saw Toy Story when it released, or in the ten years that has passed since that time. Something about it just never raised my interest. Odd, that, because I am a big fan of animation and technology, and I do like to watch Disney flicks. I suppose I always meant to get around to it, but never made the time.

Thus it was that I went into my viewing of the UMD release of the Tenth Anniversary Edition of the film “cold”, as it were- I knew that it was supposed to be great, by reputation, but I am the sort who makes up me own mind, thank you. I’ll be the judge of what is good.

The first thing I noticed about the UMD version was that it had actual Special Features. I have not viewed every UMD released, but none of the others I have seen had any Special Features, beyond perhaps some splash images for other films, or a trailer here and there. I assumed it was due to storage limitations on the UMD media, but seeing that there were indeed extras on the Toy Story disk impressed me.

The first thing you get when playing the disk is a sneak peak at Disney – Pixar’s upcoming – and probably last – animated film, Cars. A battered old tow truck and a high power hot rod watch a NASCAR-style race at a drive in theater. The tow truck is voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, the hot rod by Owen Wilson. Other famous voices to be featured in the film will include Paul Newman and Cheech Marin, and NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Darrel Waltrip, among others. Even in the short teaser, you can see that the detail in the film’s animation is beyond what we have seen before. The teaser did its job well- I will be checking out Cars when it hits theaters this November.

After the teaser, the main menu screen features a bunch of little green men staring at a TV. Turning the TV dial brings up options such as setup, scene selection, and special features. Choosing one elicits ohhs and ahhs from the little green men. I chose to play the movie, and was delighted by the story of a cowboy doll, Woody, who is threatened by the arrival of a new toy in the house- Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger. Buzz, of course, does not realize that he is a toy- he thinks he is actually the real Buzz Lightyear. It’s a story of jealousy, self discovery, action, romance, and humor. Certainly not what I was expecting and I enjoyed the movie far more than I thought I would.

One thing I have come to expect from UMD movies is a clear, beautiful picture, and Toy Story does not disappoint. Beyond the fact that the animation itself is excellent, and still holds up well after ten years, the picture quality on the PSP screen is superb. The audio is great as well, although bass heavy sounds do flutter the PSP earbuds a bit, but that is the fault of the earbuds, not the movie. Get a suitable set of headphones and the audio is outstanding.

After viewing the film, I went on to the special features. The “Filmmakers Reflect” featurette has four of the filmmakers sitting around discussing various topics, about the making of the film, their influences, and just tidbits about life. This was not an overly deep, self important, we-are-such-geniuses kind of thing, but rather just four guys sitting around telling funny stories and having a good time. I found myself laughing along with the guys, and it was a good thing to have included on the disk.
“The Legacy of Toy Story” bit was more serious, including interviews with the likes of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, the filmmakers, and even George Lucas. More informative than fun, the folks talked about how filmmaking in general, and animation in particular, has changed since Toy Story was released. Even still, there were a few yucks here and there, and the bit never fell in to the self adoration that is typical of so many influential filmmakers. It was enlightening without being boring, and could serve as a good template for others who want to put similar bits.
There were also three deleted scenes included on the disk, or rather, they were extended versions of scenes ion the movie. Interesting, but none added much to the film, and were rightly left out. Not terribly interesting, but good for the true Toy Story, at least.

Overall, I was impressed by the movie itself, and by its presentation on UMD. However, there were a few problems. I found that the movie did not want to load on a number of occasions- choosing to play the UMD from the PSP menu would often result in a blank screen, from which I would have to reboot the system. Also, selecting menu items could be a hit or miss proposition. That is, I often found the controls sluggish and unresponsive. This was at its worst in the scene selection menu. Most times it would take several seconds to scroll through the various scenes, while other times, I could scroll up and down at my leisure. Finally, and this is the biggie- during the movie, scene 13, “Pizza Planet”, the movie would quit playing altogether. Always at the same point in the film, always unrecoverable, I would have to reboot the system. Fast forwarding past this spot was impossible, as was trying to rewind back to a point just after it. The only option was to choose the next scene and continue on from there, and I encountered no other playback problems beyond that point. I do not know if it is just my disk that has these problems, or if it is a mastering flaw that needs to be addressed. Either way, points off for having to restart the movie and skip a bit to see it all.

So, there you have Toy Story on UMD. Great for fans of the film, and the kids will eat up being able to watch Woody and the gang wherever they go. It’s certainly worth the price and a recommended purchase, but be sure to keep the receipt until you’ve made sure the disk will playback with no hassles.

-Ed-