PIXAR @25: TOY STORY 2 Two comfort zones and a home

Courtesy of Pixar pictures

Where you truly belong only lies in where your heart is.

We had all missed Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks), and Pixar had answered our prayers with Toy Story 2 (1999, directed by John Lasseter and Ash Brannon), following a sequel to Toy Story (1995) after four years. And this time, Woody was in for one of the biggest decisions he had to make in his life.

After harshly making Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) realize who he really was, Woody now had to help the RoundUp gang--especially Jessie (Joan Cusack)--realize who they truly are for. But Pixar twisted it up a little and put our sherrif hero to a test, with a decision he had to make between two homes: his life with Andy or with the RoundUp gang he'd originally come from.

As we munched on our salty popcorn we witnessed a whole new side of Woody, as Al (Wayne Knight), the greedy toy collector stole him one day at yard sale, and finally reunited him with the gang to sell the epic collection to a Japanese client.

Now Woody had to choose: whether he would come home to Andy (John Morris) or join the gang to achieve immortality behind the glass, preserved in a museum.

It must've been one of those days of confusion, when we had felt we really belonged to this kind of life and family, and then finding out they were simply temporary havens, surrogates, strangers who adopted us and took us to live like them. But with them we truly felt we're home.

And so the tables are turned and it's time for Buzz and Andy's toys to rescue and make the sheriff realize "what a toy is all about"--to make a child happy and not to aim for eternity as a toy only to be found behind glass; and for Woody to pass it on to Jessie.

I remember Jessie's tragic story (infused in a dramatic musical narration) about being replaced and getting thrown away, as she developed severe trauma and anger towards kids. Somehow, it was also a lesson Pixar wanted to share that in life, there will always be heartbreaks, rejections and goodbyes. And we couldn't possibly outwit these forces or else we wouldn't survive this world. After all, every end always begins with a new journey.

Where is home anyway? In the end, we can only find it when we have decided where we truly belong.

TOY STORY 2 Fact Sheet

1. The Pixar artists had considered the making of Toy Story 2 as "revisiting old friends", and with the advanced technology for better speed and sophistication, the makers were able to focus more on character performances.

2. Hiemlich (Joe Ranft, also voiced Wheezy) from A Bug's Life appeared in a scene when Buzz was chopping off the bushes to access the road and find Woody. For more "inside jokes" Pixar had inserted in the movie as tribute to the past Pixar projects, click here.

3. It took two years for the technical artists to imitate the 1950's black-and-white atmosphere in the Woody's RoundUp TV series. 

Courtesy of Pixar pictures

4. Toy Story 2 became the highest grossing feature film of 1999, collecting $483M in worldwide box office receipts. It also garnered a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture for Musical or Comedy, and two Grammy Awards for Best Song and Best Musical Album for Children.