The Ultimate Toy Box 3 DVD boxed set brings together two of the greatest animated feature films of all time. The original film is the very first example of a computer animated feature film, and even after the passage of time remains an eye-popping example of what the humble computer can achieve - providing mere mortals push the right buttons. However, if we were all stupendously impressed by the original film, nothing could prepare us for its sequel. Not only is it a better-looking film, but it has a better story too if that was at all possible. All in all, these are two essential films that should be in every collection - and be used frequently to demonstrate how good the format is, as well as being really fine films to watch and enjoy repeatedly.

    One would have thought that such pivotal films as these would be deserving of a superb collection of extras on the third disc. Whilst it certainly provides the quantity of extras the films deserve, as far as I am concerned the quality is sadly lacking. An extras package should enhance the enjoyment of the films, but in this case that is lacking here. Whilst there is plenty here that is worthwhile, the endless repetition of some items really detracts enormously from the overall package. In addition, the mastering is not the best and even though I am one of the lucky ones whose player does actually play the third disc, there is still plenty to annoy. The operation of the menus is especially clunky and watching five to ten seconds of black screen as the disc moves from menu to menu is guaranteed not to please. Some of the material requires endless pushing of the forward button and frankly more thought should have been given to using automatic forwarding. It also has to be said that some of the shortish segments might well have been better handled in longer, more integrated featurettes about the topics, rather than being split between individual characters. Further, I cannot help but feel that much of this would have been better handled by loading up the individual film DVDs rather than holding the stuff back for a separate extras DVD.

    This really should have been a far more enjoyable experience overall than it was, and the lack of comparable quality and quantity with the Region 1 release is especially disappointing. The general problems that have been reported with the operation of the third disc by many people is even more worrying given that this release was delayed several times due to what was explained on various web sites as "technical difficulties". This is really one of those instances where Region 4 has well and truly been stiffed. I would suggest that if you really want the most comprehensive extras package, then look towards the Region 1 release. If you are not a die hard extras fan, give them the miss and stick with the two individual film DVDs - the Region 4 releases are identical to the film DVDs included in The Ultimate Toy Box, apart from the slick covers.

    Oh, and note that the box set comes with a rather imaginatively done slip cover, I guess for protection. The only problem is that it is a little too tight for the box and even after only four or five uses, it has already torn the box near the finger cut-outs when being slipped back over the box. It has also already started to damage the joins on the spine of the box, too. I can guarantee you that the likelihood of the slip cover surviving predatory fingers of the under-five set any more than a few nanoseconds would constitute a minor miracle of biblical proportions. Indeed, if you, like my mate, have to "suffer" the kids wanting to watch the individual films something like seven times in two days, then you are well-advised to remove the slip cover and keep it safely hidden away.
 
 

Overall Boxed Set Ratings

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Featurette - Tin Toy  Featurette - The Story Behind Toy Story
Rating
Year Released	1995
Running Time	77:20 minutes
RSDL/Flipper	Dual Layer	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Selection, then Menu
Region	4	Director	John Lasseter
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Tom Hanks  Tim Allen  Don Rickles  Wallace Shawn  John Ratzenberger  Annie Potts
Case	Transparent Amaray
RPI	Individual Title: $39.95 Boxed Set: $89.95	Music	Randy Newman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	No	English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s)  French (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s)  Arabic (Dolby Digital 2.0 , 192 Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	?Yes	Smoking	No
Subtitles	English  French	Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

   For those one or two people who have escaped the attraction of this film, the story is quite a simple little yarn. Andy's room is populated with a whole raft of toys, like any young child's, with the undisputed number one toy in the collection being Woody (Tom Hanks). Woody is smart, handsome and a winner with the ladies - well at least with Bo Peep (Annie Potts). Everything is fine in the world of Andy's toys until his birthday party. Like every year, and every Christmas, this event brings panic to the toys as they fear that they will soon be destined for the garage sale as they are replaced with a bigger and better toy. This year will be a little different, though, as a surprise present emerges and is promptly placed on the bed in said room. Big deal you say? It is, as this is the place for the favourite toy and it would appear that Woody is now out of favour. Not taking too kindly to this, Woody is determined to make the newcomer pay and petty jealousy overflows as the new toy is introduced into the fold - Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen); bells, whistles, laser, wings and everything. This is one really cool toy. What follows are the adventures of the toys as Woody lets his jealousy get the better of him, and Buzz ends up taking a trip which Woody is entirely blamed for by the rest of the toys. Woody has to make amends, but to do so he has to swallow his pride, whilst Buzz has to come to the realization that he really is not Buzz Lightyear of Space Command and that he is in fact a mere toy. Still, you are what you believe you are.

    A nice little story, although perhaps not quite as good as it used to be thanks to the quality of the aforementioned sequel. But, the quality of the film is still there for all to see and once again we can all marvel at what was achieved with this film. With some truly wonderful vocal characterizations, there is little to be quibbled about as far as this film is concerned. The painstaking care that went into its gestation is seen in every frame of the film. It won a Special Achievement Award at the 1995 Oscars, as a recognition of the stunning work done to virtually define an entire new genre of film.

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    There are no minor quibbles as far as the basic transfer is concerned. Just like its successor, this a reference quality transfer as far as sharpness and detail is concerned. This is one area where the use of a totally digital presentation excels - the more you watch the film, the more subtle detail seems to emerge from the transfer. The reflections inside Buzz's helmet, for instance, are so subtle yet so precise that they still are amazing after repeated viewings. This is a stunningly clear transfer that is matched by the other two features from the same source - there is nothing hidden at all by this transfer. The quality of the animation as far as the subtleties of shadows are stunning. There is nothing approaching grain or noise in this sucker at all.

    Once again the colours are extremely well-handled throughout the transfer, and even though this does not quite approach Toy Story 2 as far as ultimate subtlety is concerned, this is genuinely superb throughout. The vibrancy in the colours is amazing, despite the pastelly nature of the colours as opposed to a glossy look. You can forget about oversaturation or colour bleed here. Another utterly superb demonstration of how animation can redefine terms like vibrancy and subtlety.

    Being entirely in the digital realm, you can forget MPEG artefacts in the transfers - well, at least I thought you could. But at 32:10, is that an MPEG artefact I spy in that downward pan shot? It may well be, but believe me it is a very, very minor one if it is. Since this transfer is all in the digital realm, there are no film-to-video artefacts in the transfer - well, again not quite true. There is some quite definite aliasing going on in this transfer, such as in the petrol station sign at 28:27 and in the truck grill at 63:42. Again, very minor stuff indeed but it is there. There is also the vaguest hint of some moiré artefacting at 29:06 in the car seat. About the only thing that does not raise any issue here is film artefacts, for the simple reason that this is not sourced from film but rather bits on a computer disk. Just to make sure you understand where I'm coming from, I'd like to reiterate that the indicated issues are there but really are very minor ones indeed. It is just that the bar has been set very high by A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2 and Toy Story just falls short of clearing the bar.

    I did not notice any layer change at all. In the absence of finding it, I am presuming that the formatting of this DVD is Dual Layer.

    You would have thought that with the second chance afforded by the different slick for the DVD's inclusion in The Ultimate Toy Box, everything would be corrected in terms of errors. Almost but not quite. There remains an Arabic soundtrack that does not rate a mention on the packaging, and neither the English nor the French subtitle options are mentioned, and a new error is introduced in referring to an extra that is not present - the "multi-language reel" does not exist on the DVD.
 
 

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain
Film-to-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are three soundtracks on offer on this DVD, being an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, a French Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and, of all things, an Arabic Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded soundtrack: the logic for the latter on a purely Region 4 coded DVD continues to escape me. I stuck to the English soundtrack for this review, although I suggest that you give the Arabic effort a go - it really provides a whole new experience for this film.

    This is a brilliantly clear presentation of dialogue and a wonderful display of audio sync. It just continues to highlight how much better digital animation can be in terms of matching the animation to the vocal work.

    The original music for the film comes from Randy Newman, and a very good, complementary score it is too. Some nice original songs add to a score that does its job very well indeed.

    Just like Toy Story 2, we have the mildly unusual situation for a Disney family film of a full unrestrained bass channel. Buena Vista are quite renowned for restraining the full dynamics of the bass channel in their films so as not to upset the little ones. No such deal here and we get some great bass support when it is required in this soundtrack. Surround channel use is again very fine, and this soundtrack also takes every opportunity to demonstrate how good Dolby Digital can be. The front to rear sound effects are terrific and the whole soundtrack is virtually flawless. The only issue seems to be a very, very brief nanosecond of silence in the soundtrack at 63:10 which just sounds a little unnatural. I am guessing that a very, very brief dropout in the soundtrack is the culprit. Another fine effort overall.
 
 

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Featurette - Tin Toy (4:57)

Featurette - The Story Behind Toy Story (27:16)

• Audio Commentary with John Lasseter and a bunch of others
• Multi Language reel
• Interviews with Woody and Buzz
• Toy Story treats (something like 50 short skits, rated very highly by The Big Picture DVD)
• Isolated sound effects soundtrack
• Trailer - Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins
• THX certification

• Nothing

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris (have a laugh, check out the bio)
20th February, 2001.

This review is sponsored by

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Featurette - Character Featurette  Featurette - Coolest Toy  Featurette - Music  Featurette - Luxo, Jr  Outtakes
Rating
Year Released	1999
Running Time	88:30 minutes
RSDL/Flipper	RSDL (51:42)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Selection, then Menu
Region	4	Director	John Lasseter
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Tom Hanks  Tim Allen  Joan Cusack  Kelsey Grammer  Don Rickles  Wallace Shawn  John Ratzenberger  Jim Varney
Case	Transparent Amaray
RPI	Individual Disc: $39.95 Boxed Set: $89.95	Music	Randy Newman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	No	English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s)  French (Dolby Digital 5.1, 384 Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	?Yes	Smoking	No
Subtitles	English  French	Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, during credits

    One of the great problems with sequels is that they rarely live up to the original film, usually lacking the originality, the inventiveness, and the freshness of the original film. All too often the good name of the original film can be severely denigrated by the pox of the sequel, and so it is not exactly a dead certainty that the sequel will achieve what the studio aims to do. Of course, there are always the exceptions to prove the rule and in this instance we happen to have one of them. After all, we are talking about a film that is currently ranked around number 30 in the Top 250 films of all time by the voters on the Internet Movie Database.

   Toy Story 2 sees the return of all of the favourite characters out of Toy Story and adds in a few new ones. The basic story is once again the plight of our hero Woody (Tom Hanks), Andy's favourite toy, who misses out on the annual cowboy camp because he is damaged. Things look bleak for Woody and they get even worse when he sets off to save Wheezy, a squeeze penguin, from the 25c box at a yard sale. However, things don't quite go to plan and Woody ends up being toy-napped by a toy store owner by the name of Al (Wayne Knight), who recognizes Woody as the last lost puzzle from a 1950s television show called Woody's Roundup. Al has already gathered the rest of the "cast" from the show and a whole bunch of memorabilia from the show and Woody is the final piece of the collection that will see it all shipped to a toy museum in Japan for a very healthy sum of money. However, Al does not count upon the tenacity of Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr Potato Head (Don Rickles), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Slinky Dog (Tim Varney) and Rex (Wallace Shawn) as they head off to save Woody. Complicating matters is the fact that Woody may not want to be saved since he has now rediscovered who he is and is reunited with Jessie (Joan Cusack), his faithful steed Bullseye and Stinky Pete the Prospector (Kelsey Grammer). We basically follow the rather hilarious exploits of our intrepid toy friends as they search for Woody. Along the way we have yet another film that decides to take some gentle digs at Star Wars, whilst also taking a gentle poke at its predecessor!

    One of the main reasons that sequels die a death is the fact that the story simply is not up to scratch, and they usually end up regurgitating the same story in a poorer form. There are no concerns here about that. This film takes a slightly different route to the original film and the new characters add greatly to the film rather than detracting from it. Whilst the main characters still remain Woody and Buzz Lightyear (in two versions), the integration of the new and old characters is very well done and the overall result is a fine film in its own right that does not need you to have seen Toy Story. Once again the vocal performances are superb and the toys end up as really believable characters. The whole film does a fine job of trying to outdo the original film, and even A Bug's Life in most respects, and in general it does. This is superb entertainment in a medium that Pixar Animation Studios rules supreme in. The quality of the animation even outdoes the earlier films, if that is at all possible, and at times you almost believe that you are not watching animation but live action - only the toy characters really give it away.

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    This is one seriously reference quality transfer! If you ever want to talk about sharpness and detail, then talk about this transfer. It is done totally in the digital realm of course, and therefore this is about as good as it gets. The clarity is stunning throughout, there is not a hint of even the remotest indication of grain and low level noise is an insult to even be mentioned. The attention to detail in the animation is fully brought out here to savour and the subtlety at times is quite amazing for an animated film. This effort has few peers, and even those are most likely to be from the same source as this stunning effort.

    The colours are extremely well handled throughout the transfer, with some quite stunning subtlety to enjoy. If you really want to see animation at its very best, just watch the "restoration" scene where Woody is given the once over. Just watch how the subtle changes come to life as the eyes are cleaned and a minute amount of paint is brushed across the cheeks. This is the sort of subtlety that you rarely see in live action films, let alone animation. The vibrancy of the colours, even though the overall palette is quite pastel rather than gloss, is wonderful and the whole thing just reeks of quality. There is not a skerrick of a hint of oversaturation and to even think that this approaches any issue about colour bleed is to be casting serious aspersions upon the quality of work from Pixar Animation Studios.

    Being entirely in the digital realm, you can forget MPEG artefacts in the transfers - nothing even close to looking like one. Neither are there are any film-to-video artefacts in the transfer and there are certainly no film artefacts at all. In fact, the only thing you might even want to raise is just a couple of very minor hints of something that may just be an indication of shimmer that really is barely there. Don't we wish all transfers were as good as this!

    But, something has to be mentioned as a problem here, so lets talk about the layer change on this RSDL formatted disc. The change comes at 51:42 and whilst it is not too badly placed, it seemed to last just a little longer than perhaps is optimal, making it just a little noticeable in the overall flow of things. It is, after all, about the only thing I can really pick upon in the entire video transfer.

    The opportunity to reprint the cover slick in this instance allowed Disney to make an error - there is no mention on the packaging of the English and French subtitle options available.
 
 

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain
Film-to-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are two soundtracks on offer on the DVD, being an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and a French Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Not wanting to try and make my job difficult, I stuck to the English soundtrack for this review. Note that the packaging claims that this is a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX soundtrack, but this is not confirmed.

    I would seriously doubt that you could get a clearer presentation of dialogue on DVD than this and there is not much of an issue with audio sync here at all. I guess that is one of the beauties of digital animation, in that you can do a better job of getting the mouth movements more in sync with the spoken words from the vocal cast.

    The original music for the film comes from Randy Newman, just like the original film, and whilst obviously drawing a lot from that score it also forges some new directions of its own. There are a couple of new songs to enjoy here, as well as a reworked gem from the original film. A very good, complementary score that does its job very well indeed.

    Again somewhat unusually for a Disney family film, this effort is blessed with a relatively full-on bass channel. Surround channel use is excellent, and this soundtrack takes every opportunity to demonstrate how good Dolby Digital can be. The front to rear sound effects are superb and I cannot find anything to say against this soundtrack at all. The soundscape is virtually perfect, with a nice natural feel to it. If there is anything wrong with this effort, then I sure missed it. This is possibly the best soundtrack that Disney has given us since A Bug's Life.
 
 

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Featurette - Character featurette (3:55)

Featurette - Coolest Toy featurette (3:16)

Featurette - Music featurette (3:27)

Featurette - Luxo, Jr (2:19)

Outtakes (5:27)

• Audio Commentary with John Lasseter and others
• Isolated music score
• Isolated sound effects soundtrack
• Trailer - Monsters Inc
• THX certification

• Character featurette (but probably included in their third DVD)
• Coolest Toy featurette (but probably included in their third DVD)
• Music featurette

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris (have a laugh, check out the bio)
20th February, 2001.

This review is sponsored by

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General		Extras
Category	Extras	Menu Audio and Animation Featurettes - Toy Story History and Development and Test Notes - Toy Story Treatments (with Introduction) Production Notes - Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Biographies - Cast Galleries - Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Character Designs, Art Designs and Environmental Designs Storyboards - Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (with Introductions) Notes - Toy Story Editing Featurette - Toy Story Story Reel Storyboard Comparisons - Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Featurettes - Toy Story Abandoned Concepts Featurettes - Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Computer Animation Featurettes - Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Music And Sound Deleted Scenes - Toy Story (2 plus outtakes) and Toy Story 2 (2) Theatrical Trailers - Toy Story (2) and Toy Story 2 (2) Television Spots - Toy Story (4) and Toy Story 2 (4) Galleries - Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Ad Campaign Galleries - Toy Story Merchandising Featurettes - Toy Story 2 Why A Sequel? and John Lasseter Profile Featurette - Toy Story 2 Cast of Characters Music Video - Toy Story 2 Woody's Round Up Medley Gallery - Toy Story 2 Autographed Pictures Featurettes - Toy Story 2 The Toy Box
Rating
Year Released	2000
Running Time	Hours upon hours
RSDL/Flipper	Dual Layer	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Introduction, then Menu
Region	4	Director	John Lasseter
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Tom Hanks  Tim Allen  Joan Cusack  Kelsey Grammer  Don Rickles  Wallace Shawn  John Ratzenberger  Jim Varney
Case	Transparent Amaray
RPI	Boxed Set: $89.95	Music	Randy Newman

    It would seem that people can be categorized into two distinct groups: those that consider the film to be of the utmost importance with extras an optional bonus, and those that consider oodles of extras as the main importance on a DVD. Those in the former category will not be pleased by this rather bloated but ultimately unsatisfying package, whilst those in the latter category will probably be in heaven. Basically I thought the whole package boring, so you can guess which category I fall into.

    The extras package is split into two distinct sections, for Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and that is the first menu that you encounter after the rather insufferable introduction from John Lasseter (well, it is insufferable after you have watched it once). In order to save time and repetition, unless otherwise noted all extras are presented in a Full Frame format, with storyboards and excerpts of the films in an aspect ratio of generally 1.66:1, and all come with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. Those items that I did bother to check out were not 16x9 enhanced, but given that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of images to look at, I cannot guarantee that they are all not 16x9 enhanced. I admit it, this was bad enough once through without going through everything again to verify whether they were enhanced or not. Because of the wealth of material on offer here, I shall not be providing an extensive commentary on everything as it would run to a far too lengthy document to read. The narratives will be kept reasonably brief and in the order the extras appear on the DVD.

    Unless otherwise noted, the technical quality of the video transfer is fine with no major problems relating to MPEG artefacts, film-to-video artefacts and film artefacts. There is also nothing much wrong with the audio transfer unless noted otherwise.

Menu

• Toy Story
• History
• Design
• Story
• Computer Animation
• Music and Sound
• Deleted Animation
• Publicity
• Toy Story 2
• History
• Design
• Story
• Computer Animation
• Music and Sound
• Deleted Animation
• Publicity
• The Toy Box

TOY STORY:

History:

Featurette - History and Development (3:41)

An introduction to the origins of the film with contributions from John Lasseter (Director), Bonnie Arnold (Producer), Thomas Schumacher (Executive Vice President, Walt Disney Feature Animation) and Ralph Guggenheim (Producer).

Featurette - Early Test (0:35)

This is the original test animation done in June, 1992 (hence it being called The June Test) to prove that it was possible to do the computer animation.

Notes - Original Treatments

After a short introduction by John Lasseter (0:26), there are two treatments for the film presented: the first is the March 1991 treatment which runs to 59 pages of story, whilst the second is the September 1991 treatment which runs to 7 pages of story. It shows the progression of the film from early origins to something a little closer to what eventually came to be.

Production Notes

43 pages of notes about the film, including some photographs of the persons involved.

Biographies - Cast

Presenting biographies for all the major cast members, they run from very extensive for Tom Hanks (ten pages) to very brief for Erik Von Detten and John Morris (one page each). Bonus points awarded in our imaginary quiz if you know who the latter two played.

Design:

Gallery - Character Design

After an introduction comprising some 32 pages of stills, you launch into something that is far more than just mere design studies. This is as detailed a collection of images as you can imagine covering the evolution of the designs of all the main characters: Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potatohead, Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, Bo Peep, Green Army Men, Alien, Miscellaneous Toys, Andy, Sid, Scud, Hannah and Andy's Mom and sister Molly. The format in general terms is design, animation tests, and character turnaround. Obviously Woody and Buzz Lightyear get the biggest chunk of stuff here and are discussed below. Most of the rest of the characters have a few still pages of up to nine thumbnail images (clickable to enlarge) per page showing design sketches for the character, then a short video character turnaround lasting 0:20 showing the final character design modelled in a rotating fashion. All in all, excluding Woody and Buzz Lightyear, there are 44 pages of thumbnails (totalling 312 thumbnails) and five character turnarounds. Four characters have animation test videos with commentary by Glenn McQueen - Andy (0:20), Sid (0:13), Scud (0:25) and Andy's Mum (0:41).

Woody gets more extensive treatment: 12 pages of character design comprising 105 thumbnails, 1 page of the early model comprising 8 thumbnails, 1 page of the model pack comprising 9 thumbnails, and 1 page of the final maquette (finalized clay model) comprising 9 thumbnails. He also has a short early animation test video (1:00) with commentary by Glenn McQueen, the animator, a short modelling Woody video (2:50) with commentary by Bill Reeves, supervising animator, as well as the obligatory character turnaround (0:20). Buzz Lightyear gets a similar treatment: 11 pages of character design comprising 89 thumbnails, 2 pages of the model pack comprising 18 thumbnails, 3 pages of model construction comprising 27 thumbnails, 1 page of digitizing the maquette comprising 9 thumbnails, 1 page of insignia design comprising 9 thumbnails, 1 page of decals design comprising 9 thumbnails and 2 pages of merchandise design comprising 18 thumbnails. He also has a short early animation test video (0:54) with commentary by Glenn McQueen, a short video on digitizing Buzz (1:12) with commentary by Eben Ostby, Associate Technical Director, a character turnaround (0:20), an introduction by John Lasseter (0:24) which then runs straight into a short video on the modelling of the Buzz box a.k.a. his spaceship (1:25) with a commentary by Damir Frkovic, the model artist.

Rest assured by the time you get through this lot, you are well and truly fed up with seeing thumbnails of designs, animation tests and everything else. This is as far as I got after just over two solid hours of going through the package (in order), and I did not check out every thumbnail! And yes my finger was sore from pushing the forward button.

Gallery - Art Design

After a shortish (3:36) video introduction from Art Director Ralph Eggleston called Designing Toy Story, you get to check out more still pages in the same format as those for the character designs: Concept Art comprising 2 pages with 16 thumbnails, Colour Script comprising 20 pages with 174 thumbnails and Colour Keys comprising 3 pages with 23 thumbnails. All these are various aspects of creating the look of the film and also result in repetitive strain injury from pushing the forward and enter buttons.

Gallery - Environmental Design

Following a similar format of pages of thumbnails to demonstrate design evolution, then a short video location tour to show the final design, the video comes with a commentary by Art Director Ralph Eggleston. This covers Andy's Room (4 pages with 36 thumbnails and 0:53 video), Gas Station (2 pages with 18 thumbnails and 1:11 video), Pizza Planet (3 pages with 24 thumbnails and no video) and Sid's Room (3 pages with 26 thumbnails and 1:08 video).

Story:

Featurette - Storyboard Pitch

After a 1:12 video introduction from Andrew Stanton, Co-Writer, and Joe Ranft, Head of Story, we get a 4:42 video presentation of the pitch for the Green Army Men sequence in the film. This is presented picture-in-picture style, with actual video of Joe Ranft doing the pitch provided at the lower left hand of the picture and the storyboards themselves presented at the upper right hand of the picture. This is about the best item in the whole package, as it really demonstrates how the storyboard pitch is done.

Notes - Editing

8 pages of notes about the editing process on the film.

Featurette - Story Reel (4:40)

Using the scene of the introduction of Buzz Lightyear to the rest of the toys as the basis, this video presentation shows the scene constructed by the original storyboards. Interestingly, this includes audio and part of the dialogue comes from Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, even though this is not the final version of the scene.

Featurette - Storyboard Comparisons (3:20)

Another picture-in-picture style presentation, with the final version version of the film shown at the bottom of the screen and the storyboards at the top of the screen. This video presentation uses The Chase scene from the latter part of the film as the basis of the comparison. This is apt in view of the item included in the next section.

Featurettes - Abandoned Concepts

After an introduction from John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Joe Ranft lasting 1:21, we get to wander through seven abandoned concepts (or mistakes as they are called by John Lasseter), shown using the original storyboards for the sequences and prefaced by a brief explanation as to why they were dropped. The sequences are:

• Buzz Lightyear Cartoon (2:43) (subsequently reused in a modified format in Toy Story 2)
• Western Shootout (1:47)
• Woody's Nightmare (1:20)
• Eastern Gate (3:04)
• Shakes The Rattle (1:51)
• Sid's Comeuppance (2:47)
• The Chase (1:43) (an alternate version of the final version)

Computer Animation:

Featurette - Production Tour (1:52)

A short introduction to the animation process by John Lasseter.

Featurette - Layout Tricks (3:24)

A presentation about some of the tricks used in the animation process with commentary by Craig Good, Supervising Layout Artist.

Featurette - Animation Tour (1:22)

A presentation about the animators and how they go about the job with commentary by Ash Brannon, Directing Animator.

Featurette - Character Animation (4:42)

A presentation about the animating of the characters with commentary by John Lasseter.

Featurette - Shaders and Lighting

After a shortish 2:18 introduction to the process by Galyn Susman, Lighting Supervisor, there are two topics to cover: Shaders (using 18 stills to demonstrate the process) and Lighting (using 21 stills to demonstrate the process). This is an interesting, albeit far too brief, look at a process that is perhaps not really well understood in the animation process.

Featurette - Building A Shot (1:20)

A short video demonstrating the progression from storyboards all the way through to colour balancing the final product, with a commentary by Galyn Susman. Far, far too short, and this is quite grainy and shimmery.

Featurette - Production Progression

After a short 1:07 introduction by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, The Chase sequence is presented in three separate 0:59 video presentations: storyboard, layout and final scene. This demonstrates how the shot progressed from start to the final product -and you can switch between the three at will using the angle feature of your DVD player. A rare use for the least used button on your DVD remote!

Featurette - Special Effects

Split into four separate items: Motion Blur and Reflections (11 stills of how they did these), Rain Effects (an 11 still introduction then five very short video presentations showing Rain Reference Footage, Moving "Bump Map" Pattern, Rain Effects On Window, Rain Shadow Effects and the Final Scene), Particle Systems (a 1 page introduction followed by three short video presentations showing Smoke Trajectory, "Primitives" Guide and the final scene) and Rendering and Compositing (48 pages of stills). Mildly interesting but sadly let down by the lack of time encoding on the videos (yet it is used everywhere else it seems!). It all makes a lot more sense when you see the actual presentations.

Music And Sound:

Featurette - Sound Design (6:34)

A decent length look at the aims of the sound design for the film with a commentary by Gary Rydstrom, Sound Designer, finishing off with a demonstration of how the various individual sound elements of the film are combined to make the final mix. Again quite interesting but could have been so much more.

Featurette - Randy Newman Demos

After a fairly comprehensive 9 page biography of the man, we are rather disappointingly presented with the demos of six songs presented as audio playing over the menu. Serious bummer that, as it is quite boring looking at the menu (its the communications pack on Buzz's arm). The songs are Plastic Spaceman 1, Plastic Spaceman 2, Strange Things, The Fool, I Will Go Sailing No More and You've Got A Friend In Me.

Deleted Animation:

After a shortish 1:44 introduction by Lee Unkrich, Editor, we get two deleted scenes: the Torture Scene (0:47), just after Sid returns home with Woody and Buzz, and an extended version of the Rain Scene (1:22). These are not finished sequences and are a mix of completed animation and layout animation. The section is then rounded out with Render Bugs: seven thumbnails that lead to a still explaining what went wrong and then the actual animation of the sequence. Whilst all are the result of the relative complexity of the computer animation process, it is nonetheless quite funny to see what sort of goofs can be made. I especially like the one where Buzz's eyes are misplaced compared to the face!

Publicity:

Theatrical Trailers

A teaser trailer (1:35) and a theatrical trailer (3:01) actually. The former suffers a little bit from film artefacts, which are especially noticeably in view of their relative absence from the rest of the programming. The colours in both cases are decidedly off when compared to the film, being far too over-rich in tone. Detail is also a lot poorer than the film.

Television Spots

Four separate 0:32 spots that suffer a little from film artefacts - one has an especially noticeable hair across the video.

Gallery - Ad Campaign

An extensive collection of posters and print ads totalling some 64 thumbnails.

Gallery - Merchandising

An extensive collection of all sorts of stuff that was produced to tie in with the film, totalling some 63 thumbnails.

TOY STORY 2:

History:

Featurette - Why A Sequel? (2:42)

An explanation of the rationale for doing a sequel to Toy Story by John Lasseter (Director), Ash Brannon (now Co-Director) and Thomas Schumacher (now President, Walt Disney Feature Animation).

Featurette - The Continuing World Of Toy Story (4:41)

An explanation of what they were trying to achieve with the film by John Lasseter (Director), Lee Unkrich (now Co-Director) and Andrew Stanton (Screenplay Writer).

Featurette - Profile: John Lasseter (3:02)

A short video presentation wherein seemingly the entire cast and crew, and the odd head honcho from The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Studios proclaim what a great guy John Lasseter is. Presumably he is a great guy.

Production Notes

34 pages of notes about the film, including some photographs of the persons involved.

Featurette - Cast of Characters (3:29)

This is a slightly shortened version of the featurette that appears on the Toy Story 2 DVD. Pointless waste of space.

Biographies - Cast

Presenting biographies for all the major cast members, although unnecessarily duplicating those cast members also in Toy Story resulting in more menus than really necessary.

Design:

Gallery - Character Design

Provided in the same format as in the Toy Story section, this also unnecessarily duplicates the entries for the main characters from the film. All the new characters are given the treatment here: Jessie, Bullseye, The Prospector (a.k.a. Stinky Pete), Al, Zurg, Wheezy, Tour Guide Barbie and Buster. All get design thumbnails of various quantities and a character turnaround (except for Buster with the latter). Jessie (0:25), Bullseye (1:08), Al (0:19) and Zurg (0:42) all get animation tests videos as well, with a commentary by Glenn McQueen (except for Zurg). I cannot help but feel that including characters with 2 or 3 thumbnails is a bit pointless. Annoyingly, unlike those for the original film characters, the character turnarounds here do not have any time information encoded (although they again seem to be the standard 0:20).

Gallery - Art Design

After a very short (0:32) video introduction from Art Director/Production Designer Jim Pearson, you get to check out still pages in the same format as those for the character designs: Colour Script comprising 8 pages with 65 thumbnails and Lighting Guide comprising 5 pages with 43 thumbnails. All these are again various aspects of creating the look of the film.

Gallery - Environmental Design

Following a similar format of pages of thumbnails to demonstrate design evolution, then a short video location tour (all 0:32 in length) to show the final design: the video comes with a commentary by Art Director Jim Pearson. This covers Zurg's Planet (6 pages with 54 thumbnails and video), Andy's House (4 pages with 31 thumbnails and two videos - one interior and one exterior), Al's Apartment (6 pages with 49 thumbnails and two videos - one interior and one exterior), Al's Toy Barn (12 pages with 106 thumbnails and four videos - interior, Buzz aisle, Barbie aisle and Al's office) and the Airport (11 pages with 92 thumbnails and two videos - one interior and one exterior).

Story:

Featurette - Storyboard Pitch

This focuses on the Woody's Nightmare sequence and after a 0:41 video introduction from Joe Ranft and Don Jeup, Co-Heads of Story, we get a 2:12 video presentation of the pitch for the sequence in the film. This is presented picture-in-picture style, with actual video of Joe Ranft doing the pitch provided at the lower left hand of the picture and the storyboards themselves presented at the upper right hand of the picture. Using the angle function, you can also see the same sequence purely in storyboards with the audio of the story pitch accompanying it. Again one of the better items in the whole package.

Featurette - Storyboard Comparison

This focuses on the Jessie's Song sequence and after a 0:40 video introduction from Don Jeup, we get a 2:12 video presentation of the film. This is presented picture-in-picture style, with the storyboards to the top and the final film to the bottom. Using the angle function, you can also see the same sequence purely in storyboards.

Computer Animation:

Featurette - Production Tour (0:56)

A short introduction to the animation process by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon.

Featurette - Production Progression

After a shortish 2:31 introduction by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, David Ian Slater (Co-Editor) and Ash Brannon, the opening sequence is presented in four separate 2:32 video presentations: story reel, layout animation and shaders and lighting. This demonstrates how the sequence progressed from start to the final product -and you can switch between the four at will using the angle feature of your DVD player.

Featurette - Special Effects (1:38)

A shortish look at the special effects in the opening sequence with commentary by Oren Jacob, Associate Technical Director.

Music And Sound:

Featurette - The Music (3:25)

This is the same featurette that appears on the Toy Story 2 DVD. Another pointless waste of space.

Featurette - Sound Design (5:38)

A decent length look at the aims of the sound design for the film with a commentary by Gary Rydstrom, Sound Designer, finishing off with a demonstration of how the various individual sound elements of the film are combined to make the final mix, using the Crossing The Road sequence. Again quite interesting but could have been so much more.

Featurette - Mixing Demo

After a very short 0:24 introduction by Gary Rydstrom, we are given reasonably decent length looks at the three main sound elements of the Elevator Fight Scene with the audio running to the final film. The three elements are dialogue (spelt in the US fashion), Music and Effects. Quite interesting but could have been better presented in my view.

Music Video - Woody's Round Up Medley (3:10)

Riders In The Sky strutting their stuff of this medley of the main tunes in the film.

Featurette - Jessie's Song Demo

Presented in the same fashion as those for Toy Story, this is Randy Newman's demo for the song played as audio only over a still of the menu.

Deleted Animation:

After a short 0:46 introduction by Ash Brannon, we get two deleted scenes. Well, actually one deleted scene and one revised scene. The first is the original version of the Crossing The Road scene (1:55) which was changed for the final version of the film. This is a very finished piece of animation and the only change to the scene in the final film is the background setting. The second is Godzilla Rex (1:28), a rather incomplete scene (part of it is only in storyboard) which was the original setup for Woody ending up in the yard sale.

Publicity:

Theatrical Trailers

A teaser trailer (1:00) and a theatrical trailer (2:22) actually. The former is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 whilst the latter is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Excellent stuff with the teaser trailer being one of the very best around.

Television Spots

Four separate 0:32 spots with no problems at all. There is nice variety here inasmuch as the fourth spot is to advertise that outtakes are now included in the film presentation. I can see it now - don't advertise the film, advertise the outtakes!

Gallery - Ad Campaign

A rather measly collection of promotional pictures mainly totalling 18 thumbnails.

Gallery - Autographed Pictures

18 thumbnails of pictures done in the style of 1950s promotional shots signed by the characters.

The Toy Box:

Featurette - Who's The Coolest Toy? (3:17)

This is the same featurette that appears on the Toy Story 2 DVD. Another pointless waste of space.

Gallery - Hidden Jokes

17 stills showing the in-jokes included in the film (mainly references back to A Bug's Life). Since these sorts of things are usually missed, this is a nice inclusion.

Featurette - Woody's Round Up

This comprises four sections: Collectibles, a 2:50 video presentation by John Lasseter and Ash Brannon talking about the fake collectibles that were designed for the show; Design, a collection of 80 thumbnails relating to the designs thereof; TV Show, a 2:00 video presentation by Leo Hourvitz, Effects Artist, showing how they did the short episode for the show; and Music Video, a 2:15 video of Riders In The Sky doing the Woody's Round Up theme song.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris (have a laugh, check out the bio)
20th February, 2001.