Toy Story Of Terror Special Review

The spooky season is now here and alot of animation studios are putting out Halloween specials this year. With at least one of those specials being based off of the hugely popular and successful Family Guy however they weren't the first ones to do a Halloween special based off of a really hugely popular and still very successful franchise and heck even the one that i'm going to review for you all today might not even be the first either but it was the one that proved that the Toy Story characters really can work in a TV special format and so then join me as I review the special that sees the Toy Story gang appear in their first ever special with the special in question being called simply just "Toy Story Of Terror" enjoy.

The plot of this special is when Bonnie and her mom are forced to stay at a roadside motel for the night alot of Bonnie's toys end up disappearing and it's up to Jessie to find them all before it's far to late. Now then a for what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that;s actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad as the plot of this special did a good job of capturing the horror vibe in it's storytelling and yet doing so in a way that's very kid friendly as well and yet at the exact same time whilst this plot isn't as grand as it really could have been given the fact that it is a TV special and those do typically have really grand plots given that it's a halloween special told through the eyes of the characters from Toy Story this is really the kind of plot that you'd expect from this franchise and to this episodes credit it does do the most that it could have possibly done with with it's plot as it does enough to make it feel like a worthy plot line for a TV special and not something that you'd expect to see from an episode of a Toy Story TV show with the plot of this special also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this special is Joan Cusack as Jessie , Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear. Also starring in this special is Timothy Dalton as Pricklepants , Wallace Shawn as Rex , Kristen Schaal as Trixie , Don Rickles as Potato Head , Emily Hahn as Bonnie , Lori Alan as Bonnie's ,  Mom , Carl Weathers as Combat Carl and Combat Carl Jr. , Stephen Tobolowsky as Ronald , Kate McKinnon as PEZ Cat , Peter Sohn as Transitron , Dawnn Lewis as The Delivery Lady , Jason Topolski as The Vampire and The Tow Truck Guy , Ken Marino as Pocketeer , Christian Roman as Old Timer , Laraine Newman as Betsy ,  this specials writer and director Angus MacLane as Officer Wilson , Josh Cooley as Officer Phillips , voice acting legend Dee Bradley Baker as Mr. Jones and voice acting legend Tara Strong as Ron's Computer.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to 8us in his very special was in all honesty really good. Which is something that for the most part really isn't all that surprising as alot of this specials actors are reprising their roles from the previous movies and would therefor know how best to portray there characters but on the flip side of that is the fact that we do get some really bad acting as well with people like Emily Hahn as Bonnie , Stephen Tobolowsky as Ronald and Kate McKinnon as PEZ Cat turning some really middle of the road performances and while Emily does have the excuse that she's just a kid and so to expect a good performance from her would be completely unreasonable the same thing cannot be said for Stephen Tobolowsky and Kate McKinnon with alot of this specials bad acting coming from the fact that this specials writer and director Angus Maclane really doesn't know how to direct his actors and get a good performance out of them something which he also proved when he directed the Toy Story spin off film Lightyear with the acting that's in this special really being helped being helped by the fact that the script for this special is just so good that all this specials actors really have to do is just the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very special.

Doing the animation for this special is the legenda and the greats that are currently over at Pixar Animation Studios.  Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / gelt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty really good which is something that's to be expected as this is still a PIXAR production with the animation in this special in all honesty being alot better then what it really had any right to be as this specials animation is close to being feature film worthy as it's just that good with all of the characters having some really nice and some really fluid movements to them and the backgrounds being really detailed with there being alot of details in the backgrounds that really didn't need to be there and yet the fact that it was there in the first place does go to show you that the makers of this special really did care about this special as they wouldn't put this amount of effort into something that was just a cash grab and even the specials animation perfectly really captures the gothic atmosphere of horror films like Dracula and Frankenstein which is something that really does add to the overall horror vibe and tone of this special.

This special does do something that I really wasn't expecting it to do and that's not only have Jessie be the main character of the special but also focus on her fear of being left alone in a box. This is such a good because out of all the characters Jessie is the one that has a genuine fear and to see that fear not only be explored in this special but also play apart in the plot of the special as well was indeed a really good  idea but at the same time it is something that is painfully obvious as once they have the toys rescue Jessie at the start of the special it's obvious that that's something that she's going to have to overcome at the end of the special and while her fear was something that was set up thanks to the events of Toy Story 2 it's not really something that we saw in all of the other Toy Story media inbetween that film and Toy Story 3 and as a result of that is the fact that us the audience would have mist likely have forgotten that she's afraid of being left alone in a box for any period of time but at the same time the fact that she's getting any focus whatsoever is a good idea and it's a good way to use these holiday themed specials as when it comes to the movies she's very rarely if ever the main character and more often then not really gets lost in the shuffle where as here she can take centre stage and because of that the special does do a really good of handling not only her character but also her fear on being left alone in a box as well.

As a halloween special this special is as kid friendly as it gets which is something that really does make alot of sense given not only what companies are making this special but also which franchise this special is from. With the special pretty much being a parody of Psycho of all things as this special has alot of the things that was done in that film even down to the creepy motel and the motel owner as well yet out of all of films to do a very loose parody of Psycho isn't really one of them as even that film doesn't really lend it self to being parodied in a kid friendly way and was most likely only chosen because of how well it is but at the same time tho it would have nice if the makers of this special chose to parody the horror genre as a whole as then they could have gotten away with doing alot more with other different horror films as by limiting yourself to just one film then your limiting the amount of things that you can make fun of as well which is something that does effect the specials horror aspect as well as if we wanted to see a bad version of the classic film Psycho then we'd just watch the remake of Psycho and yet with these characters the makers of the film could have done alot more with more different aspects of the horror as while the film does have this kind of gothic nature to it that's similar to Frankenstein the special doesn't really play with alot of the tropes that we've come to expect and some in cases even love from the horror genre. 

This special is also the one that gives Combat Carl not only a voice but also a minor role in the special as well. With him basically serving as a bad trainer for Jessie which is a funny idea and it does lead to painfully funny joke in the special as well but at the same time given this specials running time they really don't take the time that they really would have needed to fully set up his character either him basically coming across as being a G.I. Joes action figured crossed with Dutch from the first Predator movie which is something that does indeed work as he spends alot of the specials running running and hiding from the lizard that actually captures the toys for the motel manager but at the same time it would have been fun to see what he was like before he met Jessie as that is something could have led to not only some really emotional moments in the special but it also could have led to some really funny moments as well with the emotional moments working all the more because of the fact that we the audience know that at best his owner would have replaced him with another Combat Carl toy or at worst his owner would have forgotten all about him and those are things that would have worked for his character as we can tell from the really brief times that he does indeed talk about Billy his owner that he really does care about him and while those really are things that could have been including to the special having a running time they are thing that would have been if they really did include them in the special.

Now then this special has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty one minuets and thirty one seconds. Which is a solid running time for this special as the special really does have the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho the special has alot more there interms of pot to cover a longer running time and if the special did have a slightly longer running time then it could have gone into Jessie's claustrophobia and explain how that makes her feel when she is alone in a box and this is something that would make her choosing to go into a box all alone near the end of special to save Woody all the more heroic as we the audience would have had a much more better understanding of what it is that she's going through and feeling on the inside and while the makers of special couldn't obviously go into that much detail about it because of the fact that it is a kid friendly special it would have been nice if the film did indeed play up it's horror aspect just a little bit more then what it does and while it's understandable why they didn't play up there horror aspect that much given that this is a halloween there really should have been more effort put into creating something that truly scary in the first place and films like Corpse Bride , The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline have proven that you can do a kid friendly horror project and still have some really good scares in them but I really will admit that this special really does have some really good pacing in it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy special that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special and well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. With the special doing a decent enough of job of parodying Psycho with there even being a shower scene but alot of the films actual jokes are not only very few and far between but when they do tell a joke it's very hit and miss with there only being a very few good jokes in this special with the only really funny joke in this special coming when Combat Carl says Jessie remember your training but because he hasn't actually given her any kind of training all she says back to him is what training which is a funny joke and Mr. Potato Head does get a few funny lines in the very limited time that he's on screen but alot of the unfunny moments come from when there having Buzz and Woody act really dumb when thanks to the movies we know for a fact that there actually pretty smart thus alot of there stuff just isn't all that funny as it feels out of character and is there just to make Jessie look good which just really does a disservice to those two characters but when the special does tell a really good joke in this special then it is a really funny joke in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this is a decent special that does indeed shine alight on a character that really doesn't get alot of focus in the films and it is a special that alot of kids can watch and enjoy and not find anything that's to scary but give them just enough bumps in the night to get them somewhat scared as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good ans as s well as all of the bad things that are in this very special in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys an girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official PIXAR fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very review being the really great the official PIXAR fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official PIXAR fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Letting You Guys Know Some Of The Animated Films That I Love

Boys and girls you've seen me rate alot of things from bad to worst over the past couple of weeks and mostly that's because there so easy to do. For this one I couldn't really use that title and so I had to ditch the concept so instead of rating some of my favourite animated films from worst to best i'm instead going to go a little bit more personal and tell you guys what some of my favourite animated films are and like my previous animation related post i'm going to be including anime in this post.

Anime

Ghost In The Shell

There's very little actually wrong with this film and that's because it does so much right it's a true classic in every sense of the word. Without this film we wouldn't have gotten The Matrix movies for better or for worse , what honestly sells me on this film tho is how well done the mystery aspect of the story is it's so rare for me to find a genuinely good mystery and that's what this film has in my opinion.

A Silent Voice

Now depending on where your seeing this post you'll know that i've just done a review of this movie and will thus already know what I think about it. To cut a long story short I think that this movie is easily better then Your Name and it deserves alot more attention from not only anime fans but fans of animation , to me this film is far more upsetting because of the fact that anyone who's been bullied would know what the main female lead Shōko is going through and will find the film more relatable.

Cartoons

Toy Story 1,2 and 3

Now then for obvious reasons I can't include the fourth one in this so i'm only counting the first three films. In my opinion these first three movies are the perfect trilogy they tell one complete story and they have fantastic animation which only gets better with each passing film. On top of what I just said the third and second films also have great emotional moments which work because we've gotten to know the characters and because of the fact that the films are so well written , so to say that the fourth one has a lot of live up to would be a huge understatement.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

I can't believe that more people don't talk about this film since it has alot of things that make a great animated feature , it's has a great storyline , it has great characters , great animation and great jokes this film has everything that an animation fan would love. The only reason why i can see people not talking about it as much is due to the fact that it's British and films from Britain don't get talked about as much.

Early Man

Sticking with Aardman for there newest film which is also the latest film from animation legend Nick Park Early Man is a football comedy set in the stone age. Yes Americans I said football because that's it's name now that i've just insulted an entire country I best explain why I love this film I love it because of the fact it has all of the things we've come to expect from an Aardman film plus it's set in my hometown of Manchester ,  on top of all that tho it's a weird film that on paper shouldn't work but it some how does and I love it for that.

Moana

Now one of the reasons why I love this film I won't go into because it can also be said for the next film i'm going to talk about and I would thus be repeating myself. Another reason for me loving it is the fact that the animation is truly beautiful to look at , each frame is truly stunning and it's not often that I get to say that about any film. This film also made me cry alot and any film that made me do that is in my opinion a great film.

The Lion King 1994

Now i've had to label this film just to make it more clear that i'm talking about the original movie because I don't want people to think that i've somehow got my hands on a copy of the remake. This film was such a huge part of my childhood it's a movie that I loved as a kid and I still love it to this very day , heck I love this movie so much that I not only saw the musical but I bought the soundtrack and I saw it when it re-released in 3D. Like Moana this film has jaw dropping animation and it's shocking that animation this good came from the Disney B team and again like Moana this film made me cry and I cannot remember what I was going to say when I wrote the Moana segment for this post so yeah i'm ending it here.

  

Rating Most PIXAR Films From Worst To Best

PIXAR are without a doubt the best animated studio out there right now most of there films have been hits and are loved by everyone so i'm giving myself the hard task of rating most of there films from worst to best and to make things a little bit easier those that are part of a franchise e.g. Cars and Toy Story will be judged as a franchise so here we go.

Cars (Franchise)

The first one is enjoyable and nothing else it has some good characters and some really nice animation however it's sequel it's downright bad it takes a character that works best in small doses and makes him the main character but they did redeem themselves with the really good Cars 3.

The Good Dinosaur

The biggest issue that I have with this film is that it's forgettable and that's the worst thing any film can be it does have an interesting story but you know where the story is going early on in the film and that makes the film predictable.

Finding Nemo (Franchise)

I admit to not really remembering the first film that well but i did see the second film and that's why it's here because I don't feel it lives up to the legacy of the first film despite having mostly the same cast and the same crew involved but they get an A for effort.

 Brave

This film took alot of chances and I really did enjoy the film why people aren't talking about this film more I will never know plus in my eyes it helped start this new Disney Renascence I really cannot recommend this film enough and this is where this list gets even harder.

Toy Story (Franchise)

I loved these movies growing up and I still do heck the third movie was so perfect that I cried twice and while i;m glad there making a fourth movie I feel that the story has been told all of these films are funny and have great animation and they changed the animation industry since after the first film came out we got alot more CGI animated films.

Coco

The most recent PIXAR film which I did really freaking love I can't recall what score I gave it but I know it was a high score because of how good this film is and it deserves all of the awards that it won but it's second because there's a film that i think is better.

Inside Out

I freaking love this film I cannot describe how much I love this film it's that good heck it's that good that i've talked about it more then once it has great animation and the acting was rightfully praised and the story is so important and if they do a sequel they will have to come up with a freaking great story. 

My Top 5 Disney Animated Films

Walt Disney has made a ton of great animated films and a lot of them have gone on to become not only animated classics but also film classics as well and like the rest of the world i grew up with Disney films and here are my top 5 and yes i might be including Pixar films as well.

Honorable Mention

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

It's the first film that Walt Disney produced so i couldn't do this list and not feature this movie in some way because with it Walt Disney Studios wouldn't be where it is today.

5) Peter Pan

This was one of the first Disney films i watched with the other being Pinocchio when i was a kid i was way into this movie more then i was the original story but now since i'm older i'm way more into the original story but i still have a place in my heart for this film.

4) Toy Story

This film still holds up to this day it has lovable characters and the animation is truly fantastic and without this film Pixar wouldn't be around to this very day to me this film is a true classic and i truly do love this film and this series.

3) The Jungle Book

I have fond memories of watching this on VHS as a kid this film has some of the best songs heard in any Disney film and this is the last film that was produced by the legendary Walt Disney there's really nothing more i can say about this film.

2) Moana

This is the film that i will say is better then Frozen and Zootopia any day of the week to me this film changes the game for the typical Disney Princess and it helps that the artwork and the animation in this film is stunning it's enough to make anyone cry regardless of how old you are.

1) The Lion King / Inside Out

I honestly couldn't choose which of these two films should be number one because they are both so good and in the case of Inside Out it has the power to make people think about their emotions and both films for me at least are classics hell The Lion King is such a classic it's getting remade and has a smash hit Broadway musical.