Toy Story of Terror

This is a really short film (I see it is labelled as a "TV movie," so probably aired as a 30 minute special) but it is a halloween classic for our family. Uniquely for a Halloween special, the children do not experience fear, but the sadness of losing their toys; the toys themselves, however, are picked off one by one, in the style of a classic "slasher" film like Halloween, but by a marauding lizard, facing the prospect of injury, dismemberment, and permanent separation from their friends as the hotel/pet owner auctions them off on e-bay. At least there's a happy ending!

In this adventure, the toys find themselves in their own little horror movie. As Bonnie and her mum are on a trip they find themselves stopping at a motel and soon the toys start to disappear one by one. Jessie has to figure out what has happened to her friends and the cowgirl has to overcome her claustrophobia.

Woody and Buzz Lightyear have smaller roles, it is Joan Cusack as Jessie who has to sell these Toy Story short aided by Rex and Mr Pricklepants.

This television special shows there are still stories to be told in the Toy Story universe although I found part of the motivation of the villain reminiscent of Toy Story 2.

It is still a charming animation although you always sense that Pixar and Disney realise that this is still a cash cow that needs milking.

I stumbled across this little "Toy Story of Terror" short practically without even knowing it existed. I had a bit of trepidation, however, as the ending of "Toy Story 3" was so incredible that I didn't want things to get "ruined" by tacked-on material that muddies the water.

Luckily, "Toy Story of Terror" doesn't try to do too much (a 22-minute runtime pretty much dictates that, I guess), instead providing a fun little adventure that lampoons scary movies in a fun fashion. All your favorite characters are on point, and it even introduces some new blood with Combat Carl (voiced by Carl Weathers), a GI Joe-like toy with a penchant for speaking in the third person.

Not too much to analyze here...just a lot of fun with your favorite characters from the film trilogy! I wouldn't pay too much for a 22-minute short, but if you do get a chance to see it I think you'll be cracking smiles throughout.

Toy Story of Terror (2013)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Made-for-TV short has Woody, Buzz and the rest of the toys staying the night at a hotel when they wonder off and are captured by the desk clerk who plans on selling them over the internet. TOY STORY OF TERROR comes three years after the third film in the series, which was without question a true masterpiece of the genre. This short doesn't come anywhere close to that but fans of the series will find plenty here to enjoy. It's great that the regular voice members are back with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack doing their usual wonderful work. There's also Don Rickles back as Mr. Potato Head and we even get Carl Weathers and Timothy Dalton for a good time. The animation is wonderful but then again you really wouldn't expect anything less from the gang at Pixar. The film contains some nice excitement as the toys go on their adventure and the finale will certainly have you cheering. Mix in all the great laughs and you're really left with a nice little gem that lives up to the features in the series. New characters like Combat Carl (Weathers) and PezCat just added to all the fun.

The Toy Story films may now be over but this short film came out in the UK as part of Halloween programming. I didn't know what to expect from it – perhaps it was just a lazy TV spin off to generate income and keep the brand fresh, but actually it was a very enjoyable little short with all the main characters returning as well as some great new ones. The plot sees the gang checking into a motel where, as Mr Pricklepants points out, terrible things can happen. Sure enough the gang start getting picked off one at a time, confronting Jessie with her worst fears which she must overcome to save the gang.

With this plot the short has a knowing humor based on horror movies and it wears this well. It isn't all this though, the film also has a nice message about overcoming fear and does a good job to bring that out of Jessie very quickly for maximum use. The film is not as impacting, intelligent nor as funny as the films, but it is still good enough to be worth watching for what it does well. I laughed out loud a couple of times (pretty good for 20 minutes) and was amused consistently for the rest.

The characters are great. I liked that the originals all returned, although Hanks and Allen clearly did their work in one day in the studio. Cusack is good while Dalton, Shawn, Schaal, Rickles, and others are all good value. The addition of Carl Weathers not only pleased me as an Arrested Development reference, but he was also a very funny character; Pezcat was also good and produced the biggest laugh from me. Overall a very enjoyable seasonal short film with high production values and high quality all round.