It’s my pleasure to share my thoughts on the brand new Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Blu-rays with you today. They will be released in the U.S. on March 23, 2010. You don’t need my review of the films (in short, I love them), so let’s focus on the presentation and extras.
Toy Story
Image: The 1080p picture does not disappoint. The image is like like, the colors are stunning. I did not see any flaws on my 55 inch Sony Rear Projection 1080P television. It’s really beautiful. The best these films have ever looked. The aspect ratio here is 1.78:1.
Audio: Dialogue and music are crisp and clear. The The DTS-HD really highlights both the wonderful sound work and Randy Newman’s score. There’s plenty of action to keep your rear speakers active and your sub-woofer pounding. Just like the Up Blu-ray, this also contains descriptive audio and it’s a great feature for the hearing impaired. The separate audio track describes everything that is happening on screen!
Menus: The menus are a work of art. The moving images include various storyboards and color scripts from the film. The menu is easy to use and even includes an automatic save feature. It will ask if you’d like to re-start from where you left off watching the film.
Extras: I have a complete list of all the extras on the Toy Story Blu-ray page. Rest assured that you will get most of the extra features from the 10th anniversary DVDs and the Ultimate Toy Box. In addition, there’s a bevy of new features (all presented in HD on the Blu-ray). Lee Unkrich sets up the story for Toy Story 3 with clips and and images from the color script. Other favorites are the wonderfully animated “Studio Stories”. These short, very funny, animated films feature narration from Pixarians retelling stories about John Lasseter’s beat up car (Darla K. Anderson, Glenn McQueen), Scooter Races around the building (Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter, Tom Porter) and a Halloween Contest (AJ Riebli). The “Paths to Pixar” is also compelling as Pixarians such as Ralph Eggleston, Tia Kratter, Sharon Calahan and Bill Wise discuss their road to Pixar. Under the “Classic DVD Features”, you’ll find most of the previous DVD features including the commentary track, Making of Toy Story, Filmmakers Reflect, Galleries, Deleted Scenes, Trailers, TV Spots and all the important “Toy Story Treats”. Update: The only treats that are missing are two Army Men ABC promo spots and the John Lasseter/Andrew Stanton introduction. The Blu-ray also comes with standard DVD that includes the movie, commentary track and all the new special features (but, not the classic features).
What’s Missing?: Again, most of the special features are included. The only missing feature from the 10th Anniversary is a John Lasseter video introduction. The documentary (The Story Behind Toy Story) from the Ultimate Toy Box is not included (but most of the material was reused in the The Making of Toy Story except for a few choice bits with the voice actors). Other missing items from the Ultimate Toy Box are isolated soundtracks for each film, the featurettes “History & Development” (3:40), “Character Animation” (4:35), “Shaders and Lighting” (2:17), “Building a Shot” (1:18), Multi-angle Progressions (“The Chase”), The “Claw” game, Render “Bug” clips, two text based early story treatments and few other various text based features (biographies, etc.). It would also have been nice if they would have decided to include a digital copy (like the last few releases had).
Summary: The Blu-ray is the best presentation of Toy Story that has ever been seen. The new extras are a wonderful addition and the classic features are a great inclusion. Don’t hesitate to pick this up, but if you’re a completist, you might want to hold on to your Ultimate Toy Box.
Toy Story 2
Image: The 1080p picture high definition picture is truly gorgeous. The image is free of artifacts or any noticeable flaws. Just like the original Toy Story, the sequel has never looked better. The aspect ratio here is 1.78:1.
Audio: Dialogue and music are crisp and clear. The The DTS-HD really highlights both the wonderful sound work and Randy Newman’s score. There’s plenty of action to keep your rear speakers active and your sub-woofer pounding. Just like the Up Blu-ray, this also contains descriptive audio and it’s a great feature for the hearing impaired. The separate audio track describes everything that is happening on screen!
Menus: The menus are a work of art. The moving images include various storyboards and color scripts from the film. The menu is easy to use and even includes an automatic save feature. It will ask if you’d like to re-start from where you left off watching the film.
Extras: I have a complete list of all the extras on the Toy Story 2 Blu-ray page, but all the important features (sans a few) make the cut here. In addition, the new extras (all presented in HD on the Blu-ray) are very worthwhile. Lee Unkrich talks about many of the new characters (including Lotso, Stretch, Mr. Pricklepants (with test animation previously shown at D23), Buttercup, Trixie, Ken and one other character that has not been officially announced! I’ll leave that a surprise for you. “Celebrating Our Friend Joe Ranft” is a touching tribute to the storyteller (and great friend). There’s interviews with John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Dan Scanlon, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter. There’s rare home videos, photos and a bit of Joe’s short, Good Humor. There’s more great “Studio Stories” (who animated these things, they are great!). These short, very funny, animated films feature narration from Pixarians retelling stories about getting no sleep during the production (Lindsey Collins), bored animators throwing toys into the ceiling and hoping they’ll stick (Angus MacLane, Dylan Brown) and a bug that causes part of the film to be temporarily lost (Oren Jacob and Galyn Susman). Under the “Classic DVD Features”, you’ll find most of the previous DVD features including the commentary track, Making of Toy Story 2, Trailers, TV Spots and much more. The Blu-ray also comes with standard DVD that includes the movie, commentary track and all the new special features (but, not the classic features).
What’s Missing?: The only missing extras from the Ultimate Toy Box are a few featurettes (“Why a Sequel?” (2:38), “The Continuing World of Toy Story” (4:38), abandoned storyreel “Buzz Lightyear Cartoon”, Mixing Demo, Multi-angle Progressions (“Woody’s Nightmare, “Jessie’s Song”), “Which Toy Are You?”, Ponkickies, Guide to Hidden Jokes and some text based features (production notes, biographies, etc.). Again, a digital copy would have been nice for your iPod.
Summary: The is the best way to see and hear Toy Story 2. Don’t miss out!
Update: A few other missing features have been adding to the What’s Missing section (Thanks BK!).
