In 1995, most current Seton Hall students were impressionable elementary students, whose biggest concern in life was having an extra five minutes tacked onto afternoon recess. During this idyllic past, Disney and Pixar united to change animation and children's movies forever. From this union came the blockbuster hit, "Toy Story." The life-like characters in the trailers captivated television screens worldwide and were enough to make any child beg to catch the movie on its opening day, even if they weren't interested in cowboys or astronauts. "Toy Story" didn't just bring innovative animation to table, but also a message of friendship, compromise and loyalty that still applies to all ages even today.
Fast forward 12 years and one sequel later, Disney-Pixar has re-released "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in movie theaters with an interesting twist- they are in 3D. At the time of the original release of "Toy Story," there were no feature films that had used solely computer generated imagery, making the movie technologically savvy and revolutionary. The re-release targets children who weren't born when Woody and Buzz Lightyear were cultural phenomenons in the mid-90s, as well as to build hype for the third installment to the "Toy Story" saga which is due for release in the summer of 2010.
In "Toy Story 3" we visit a more mature Andy preparing to head off to college, putting his toys away into storage, except his favorite toy, Woody. In typical "Toy Story" fashion, the toys are accidentally thrown away and find themselves in a daycare struggling to survive while Woody attempts to save them and find a them new home. The third story targets both the young adults that grew up with the "Toy Story" crew and new, younger fans.
The re-release of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" still earned an estimated $12.5 million in its opening weekend, proving that some values stick regardless of generation and age.
Kristen Hardy can be reached at kristen.hardy@student.shu.edu.
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