Toy Story : Hors du Temps

It's just after Christmas. Bonnie has a play date with Mason. She brings along Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Trixie the triceratops, Rex, and Angel Kitty. Mason got a new video game and he has't play with his other new toy, the Battlesaurs. Bonnie's toys meet Reptillus Maximus who is taken with Trixie. The Cleric has set up a gladiatorial world where the other toys are smashed by the Battlesaurs. Trixie explains the joys of play to Reptillus Maximus.

The central message is to play more with imagination and toys, less with the video games. Trixie is the lead in this half hour special. She's alright to lead a special and the message is passable. There are a couple of fun scenes especially when Woody and Buzz are in it. Angel Kitty speaks with a child's voice which caught me off guard. She could be funnier. The show looks good, has some good moments but isn't anything particularly special. It's a reasonable showcase for Trixie.

Sometimes I'm so impressed with how much creative geniuses like the folks down at Pixar can do with such a limited running time, in this case 22 minutes. This time, they chose to focus on different characters and I appreciate that, with so many characters in the Toy Story saga, and new additions as well. It's a nice and warm story, the pace is comfortable, it wraps up in a good manner: Trixie teaching the dino toys (especially Reptilus Maximus) the delightfulness of play; a moral of how these toys need to know their actual place in this story, and not let themselves be misguided by a third party.

In my opinion, Trixie worked as the lead, for this short special at least, and I strongly favour the message of not spoiling your fun only with videogames, there's other things out there, in this case: toys and imagination. Oh and I know this was supposed to be a Christmas special, but to me, it didn't feel Christmassy at all.

Woody, Buzz and Rex got a bit of screen time and as usual they are great themselves as well as the interactions between them. So, in all fairness, it is a decent effort, not the best of course, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Toy Story continues to be the best protected franchise ever filmed, as Pixar makes sure every entry with these characters is top notch. As usual, everything looks amazing, there are fun new toys to meet, and the pacing is brisk. You never have to worry about filmmakers who don't know their audience with Toy Story--they are so careful and demand the best for their viewers. Every moment that ends up on screen furthers the story and can be appreciated by any age viewer. There is a bit of a dig at gaming culture, as the message seems to favor active play over technology and screen time. But if you don't love the way Bonnie gets Mason to turn his dinosaur battlefield into a all-toy dance off, then I don't want to know you.

And now this is end. I wish there was more short movie from Toy Story.

After Toy Story 3, Pixar continued the story of Woody and Buzz through short cartoons, and even two holdiay specials. This is the second of the two specials, set after Christmas, where Woody, Buzz, Rex, Trixie, and Angel Kitty, an ornament who is exclusive to this special, for a playdate Bonnie has with her friend, Mason. As the two kids are hooked on a new video game console, the toys are taken hostage by the Battlesaurs, action figures led by Reptilus Maximus, and while Rex and Trixie are treated nicely, Buzz, Woody, and Angel Cat are sent to fight to the death at the arena, causing Trixie to see that her new friends were not played with, and therefore, do not know they are toys.

Basically, like the first special, Toy Story of Terror, focused on Jessie conquering her fears, this special focuses on Trixie and her problem of Bonnie not playing with her as a dinosaur. Most of the cast from the film reprise their role (in fact, this would be Don Rickles' final movie before he would pass away in 2017). However, it does get violent at some points, even if the victims are all toys (one scene has Reptillus Maximus decapitating toys, while sock monkey is thrown out of the arena and mauled to death by smaller dinosaurs, with fluff flying out), but nothing too dark or scary happens (and since these are toys, there is no gore, other than fluff being spilled, and they are still alive even if their heads are knocked off). With a good story and cast of chatacters, as well as a good lesson Trixie teaches Reptillus, this is a neat TV special for the whole family.