Toy Story of Terror! (2013)

As a child who grew up on Toy Story, there is a special place for the toys in my heart. To this day I still consider the Toy Story trilogy some of my favorite movies. However, I stand by my original belief that there should not be another Toy Story movie mainly because I felt the movie series had the perfect ending with Toy Story 3. But who am I to turn down a nice 30-minute Halloween special with the toys especially one as good as this?In this adventure, the toys find themselves in their own little horror movie. As Bonnie and her mom are on a trip they find themselves stopping at a motel to get car repairs. Once there the toys realize that something is making them disappear, one-by-one. In the end, it is up to Jesse to figure out what must be done to save her friends before it is too late.This was definitely a nice way to see the toys again. After 18 years with the series, this TV special is a nice reminder that there are still plenty of stories for this wonderful world to tell.I especially loved the focus of the special on Jesse. She has always been one of my favorite characters and she really has a chance to shine in this TV special. We get a deeper look at her fear of enclosed spaces as well as the opportunity for her to overcome her fears. It was very nice to see.If I had any complaint it would be that it was too short. They could've very easily expanded this story into an hour long TV special and make it just right. Since it was so short, I felt a little robbed of very precious time with the toys. While a movie would be too long and feel unnecessary for this story, an hour long special would be just perfect without feeling unnecessary. If it was longer they would've been able to explore the horror themes a little bit longer as well as make the climax (as wonderful as it was) even more exciting.However, these couple of complaints pale in comparison to the wonderful reunion viewers are given with the toys. The whole point of this special is to remind you why you fell in love with the toys in the first place (and remind you Jesse is the best cowgirl toy around). It does all of this while playing around with some of the best known horror movie tropes in cinema. It is great fun.It succeeds on every level by creating a fun, beautifully animated, wonderfully written Halloween special that everybody in the family will enjoy. Toy Story might not feel right for future movies but it definitely feels right for future TV specials. Toy Story is still alive and I'm so happy for it.

The gang is back with a Halloween special. The toys are traveling with Bonnie and her mom. They stop over in a roadside motel, but the toys get toynapped by an iguana. It turns out that the motel manager is stealing the toys to sell on ebay.The main character in this one is Jessie. She's not as compelling as Buzz or Woody. And she's not funny enough to be that interesting. I'd rather go with Mr Potato Head as a side character who takes the lead. Mr. Pricklepants has some fun calling out all the horror conventions. The adventure itself isn't scary at all. It's definitely a kiddie horror story rather than a campfire horror story. They could easily add more atmosphere by placing the climax in a stormy night. All the conventions of horror are ignored for a family oriented show.

Eighteen years have passed since the release of Pixar's first full- length computer animated feature "Toy Story" (1995). Since its enormous success, it has not only originated two high-quality sequels in 1999 and 2010, but it has also originated Pixar's very first television special called "Toy Story of Terror", which premiered this past Wednesday on ABC. In this half-hour special, Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang go on a road trip with their owner Bonnie. When it becomes late, they all stop at a roadside motel to spend the night. During that night, one of the toys goes missing and the other toys must do what they can to find the missing toy before it's too late. The interesting thing that "Toy Story of Terror" does along the way is teach kids the basic plot structure of a horror movie. Mr. Pricklepants prepares the young audience for what will eventually occur in this plot. While it may sound like it's taking the scares away from any adults watching it, it actually sets up some pretty light bits of humor for everyone to enjoy. An impressive aspect about this special is that a handful of actors such as Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Wallace Shawn and Don Rickles are reprising the roles that they made famous with the previous films in the "Toy Story" franchise. Hanks is back as Woody, Allen returns as Buzz Lightyear, and so on. It was a wise decision for Pixar to make with this special since it shows another one of the special's strengths: its loyalty to the original characters.In other words, Pixar remains consistent with the personalities of these characters. They don't try something offensive or back-stabbing to the audience like making Woody not care about the fate of the other toys. They still maintain the integrity of the characters that we know and love in the first place by keeping them the way they were. With all that said, is "Toy Story of Terror" worthy of the same status as the "Toy Story" movie trilogy? Not quite, but then again, it was already at a disadvantage to the three films with only one-fourth of their running time. But within its limitations, "Toy Story of Terror" is pleasing enough for both kids and adults.

AS A HUGE FAN I MUST SAY!!! THIS IS Great addition to Toy Story Franchise. RUNNING TIME MUST BE LONGER!!! I am just kidding,great job Disney/Pixar. Carl Weathers as Combat Carl makes a great impression. Also Horror themes in the movie make you a little bit scared. Real movie for the whole family. You can watch it with kids.Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Timothy Dalton, and Kristen Schaal reprising their roles of Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Mr. Pricklepants, and Trixie well done guys... i cant wait the second TV special planned for Spring 2014. Also I must say that Toy Story is the best animated movie in the world ever and ever(Forever).