The prospector blocks their exit, and when Al returns he packs the toys away in crates for their flight to Japan. However, Stinky Pete reveals himself as the antagonist who had foiled Woody’s earlier attempts to leave. Woody reconsiders, and convinces Jessie and Bullseye to return with him to Andy’s house, to experience the joy of being loved again, if only for a while. Perhaps Andy will only play with them for a few years more, but if Woody is locked behind glass at a museum he will never be played with nor truly loved ever again. In a reversal of the original film, Buzz must now be the one to convince Woody of the value of being a toy. The “rescuers” arrive at the apartment and find a Woody reluctant to leave. Unbeknownst to the group, they are also being followed by Emperor Zurg, Lightyear’s Vader-like arch-nemesis. They are joined by an “updated” Buzz Lightyear action figure, who nonetheless shares the original Buzz’s delusion of actually being a Space Ranger rather than a toy. They breathe a sigh of relief and venture into the Toy Barn, not realizing that Woody is actually being kept in Al’s apartment…across the street.Įventually, the rescue party realizes their mistake and arrive at the apartment building, now with additional toys in tow. Though they almost get squashed under a runaway section of cement pipe, the toys make it across, only causing a handful of car accidents in the process.
In an especially intense scene, the toys cross a busy road while hiding under traffic cones. Potato Head, Rex, and Hamm the piggy bank on an epic quest to Al’s Toy Barn (though the distance is really only a few blocks, the toys’ small size makes the journey epic). Meanwhile, Buzz Lightyear has formed a team to “rescue” his abducted comrade. Gradually, Jessie, Bullseye, and the Prospector convince Woody to travel with them to the museum, where he will be beloved by children forever, and never risk being damaged or forgotten. The same fate, Jessie warns, awaits Woody when Andy one day tires of him. In the first appearance of the now-traditional “Pixar why did you make me so sad” scene, Jessie recalls the days “when somebody loved me” – her owner, a girl named Emily, once did everything with Jessie, but eventually grew up and abandoned her in a charity bin. Woody protests, saying that he must return to Andy’s house, as his owner still loves him. Al has arranged to sell the entire kit and kaboodle to a Japanese toy museum, where Woody and the Roundup Gang are to comprise a featured exhibit. With the inclusion of a Woody doll, they tell him, the collection is now complete. Woody encounters toy versions of the “Gang,” who introduce him to his television heritage, and his status as a highly-valued collectors’ item. Like the real-world Howdy-Doody Show, “ Roundup” was a popular 1950s children’s series, featuring the puppety adventures of Sheriff Woody and his Roundup Gang: Jessie the yodeling cowgirl, Woody’s horse Bullseye, and the bumbling prospector Stinky Pete. When Andy’s mom insists that Woody is not actually for sale, Al simply steals him, while the other toys look on in horror from Andy’s window.Īl, played by Wayne Knight (AKA Newman from Seinfeld and Dennis Nedry from Jurassic Park), turns out to have a large collection of memorabilia associated with Woody’s Roundup. Al, also a vintage toy collector, is overjoyed by his find. Though the gambit to save Wheezy succeeds, Woody is trapped at the sale, where he is discovered by Al McWhiggin, the proprietor of Al’s Toy Barn (a toy store referenced, but never seen, in the first movie). Andy’s mom puts Woody up on “the shelf,” a place where broken toys are put to be forgotten and, often, thrown away or sold at yard sales.Ī yard sale is the fate of Woody’s shelf-mate Wheezy, a rubber penguin who has “lost his squeaker.” Quickly, Woody mounts a mission to save his squeaker-less friend. Unfortunately, Andy accidentally rips Woody’s arm in a rigorous play session, and the damaged sheriff must stay behind. The film, set a few years after the events of the first Toy Story, begins with the toys’ owner, Andy, preparing to depart for “Cowboy Camp.” Woody is anticipating joining Andy on the journey, an excursion he looks forward to every year. And in that regard, Toy Story 2 earns top marks. But this Countdown, particularly now that we’re so near the end, is a list of movies which have most spoken to me personally. Let me be clear: I love animation, and could talk at length about many animated features which deserve a place of honor alongside film history’s most lauded live-action efforts. Every hour we spent together lives within my heart.”Īnd so we come to the highest-ranking (fully) animated film of the Countdown. “When somebody loved me, everything was beautiful.