As a child who grew up on Toy Story, there is a special place for the toys in my heart. To this day I still consider the Toy Story trilogy some of my favorite movies. However, I stand by my original belief that there should not be another Toy Story movie mainly because I felt the movie series had the perfect ending with Toy Story 3. But who am I to turn down a nice 30-minute Halloween special with the toys especially one as good as this?
In this adventure, the toys find themselves in their own little horror movie. As Bonnie and her mom are on a trip they find themselves stopping at a motel to get car repairs. Once there the toys realize that something is making them disappear, one-by-one. In the end, it is up to Jesse to figure out what must be done to save her friends before it is too late.
This was definitely a nice way to see the toys again. After 18 years with the series, this TV special is a nice reminder that there are still plenty of stories for this wonderful world to tell.
I especially loved the focus of the special on Jesse. She has always been one of my favorite characters and she really has a chance to shine in this TV special. We get a deeper look at her fear of enclosed spaces as well as the opportunity for her to overcome her fears. It was very nice to see.
If I had any complaint it would be that it was too short. They could've very easily expanded this story into an hour long TV special and make it just right. Since it was so short, I felt a little robbed of very precious time with the toys. While a movie would be too long and feel unnecessary for this story, an hour long special would be just perfect without feeling unnecessary. If it was longer they would've been able to explore the horror themes a little bit longer as well as make the climax (as wonderful as it was) even more exciting.
However, these couple of complaints pale in comparison to the wonderful reunion viewers are given with the toys. The whole point of this special is to remind you why you fell in love with the toys in the first place (and remind you Jesse is the best cowgirl toy around). It does all of this while playing around with some of the best known horror movie tropes in cinema. It is great fun.
It succeeds on every level by creating a fun, beautifully animated, wonderfully written Halloween special that everybody in the family will enjoy. Toy Story might not feel right for future movies but it definitely feels right for future TV specials. Toy Story is still alive and I'm so happy for it.
