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Toy Story 2 Blu-ray 3D Review

  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Video Codec:  MVC (3D); AVC/MPEG-4 (2D)
  • Resolution: 1080p/24
  • Audio Codec: (2D & 3D) English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 ES, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Descriptive Video Service Dolby Digital 2.0, French & Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
  • Subtitles: (2D & 3D) English SDH, French, Spanish
  • Region: ABC (Region-Free)
  • Rating: G
  • Run Time: 92 Mins.
  • Discs: 4 (1 x Blu-ray 3D + 1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD + 1 x Digital Copy)
  • Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
  • Blu-ray Release Date: November 1, 2011
  • List Price: $49.99

[amazon-product]B005GSVFB4[/amazon-product]

Purchase Toy Story 2 on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:4.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:5/5]
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:5/5]

3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4.5/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG  thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

The Film

[Rating:5/5]

Every one of the Toy Story films follows the same basic plot with the same themes of friendship, trust, loyalty, and courage. That Pixar has managed do three of them that is just as good or better than the one before it is a true feat of storytelling magic. Tory Story 2 again falls into line. Following the group of toys owned by the young boy Andy (John Morris), this time around, the cowboy toy Woody (Tom Hanks) is disappointed when Andy leaves him behind when he goes off to cowboy camp after Woody tears his arm. When he is “shelved,” Woody finds another old, broken toy on the shelf, a penguin squeeze toy named Wheezy (Joe Ranft), who gets picked up by Andy’s mom (Laurie Metcalf) to be sold in a yard sale. Woody, always the hero, tries to rescue Wheezy, and he succeeds, but he’s spotted by the unscrupulous toy salesman, Al (Wayne Knight) who spots Woody, and despite being told Woody isn’t for sale, he steals him.

Back at Al’s place, Woody finds out that he is a toy from a popular old TV show, Woody’s Roundup, and part of a collection. He meets the rest of the toys from his collection, Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (Joan Cusack), Stinky Pete the Prospector (Kelsey Grammer), and a horse named Bullseye. But Al is trying to sell the entire collection to a museum in Japan and Woody wants to get back to Andy, rather than stay together with his newfound companions in the Roundup collection. Meanwhile, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) leads a rescue with Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Rex (Wallace Shawn), and Slinky (Jim Varney) to get Woody back from Al’s toy store, but Woody is facing trouble on his own end from the Prospector, who doesn’t want him to succeed in getting away.

It’s another touching story from Pixar with great animation, lovable characters, and lots of action. The adults will appreciate the the depth of character development as well as the way the story emphasizes loyalty and friendship while kids will love the the more slapstick gags, the candy colors and the hyperactive sound mix.

Video Quality

2D HD: [Rating:5/5]

3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]

With each subsequent Toy Story film, the CGI animation obviously improved. This not only helps with the image quality, but also with the colors and overall detail. In reference to the 3D effect for Toy Story 2 it another excellent one, along the lines of what I saw with the Cars 2 and Toy Story 3. There isn’t a lot of pop out, the strongest scene in that sense being the very opening sequence with Buzz Lightyear but the sense of depth and clarity is strong, detail is hardly diminished, and ghosting is minimal, but even with the compensation for the dimness on my set, the colors and brightness are just a bit duller than the 2D version.

Toy Story 2’s 2D transfer is identical to its previous 2D-only release. It is a pristine AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement with vivid colors, strong detail and a lack of artifacts.

Audio Quality

[Rating:5/5]

The release comes with two lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. If you have 5.1 capability, I don’t see the sense in listening to this in 2.0 at all. The 5.1 mix is absolute reference from beginning to end, with clean dialogue, big sounding lows that aren’t boomy, and lots of discrete panning through all the channels. It does get quite loud, but there is a wide dynamic range, so the mix isn’t always pushed to the very max.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:4.5/5]

Stories from the Pixar staff, commentaries, and all the classic DVD features (in standard definition) make this a typically beefy supplemental package from Pixar that adults and kids can enjoy.

The supplements provided with this release:

  • Toy Story 3 Sneak Peek: “The Character” (4:00)
  • Audio Commentary – by director John Lasseter, co-directors Lee Ulrich, and Ash Brannon and co-writer Andrew Stanton
  • Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: International Space Station (3:43)
  • Paths to Pixar: Technical Artists (4:24)
  • Studio Stories: Toy Story 2 Sleep Deprivation Lab (1:25)
  • Studio Stories: Pinocchio (2:15)
  • Studio Stories: The Movie Vanishes (2:32)
  • Pixar’s Zoetrope (1:58)
  • Celebrating Our Friend Joe Ranft (12:46)
  • Classic DVD features:
    • Making Toy Story 2 (8:10)
    • Joh Lasseter Profile (3:02)
    • Cast of Characters (3:28)
    • Toy Box
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Design
    • Production
    • Music & Sound
    • Publicity
  • DVD
  • Digital Copy

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:4.5/5]

Toy Story 2 in 2D or 3D is an excellent home theater experience for the whole family, from the carpet crawlers to the greying ones.

Additional Screen Captures

[amazon-product]B005GSVFB4[/amazon-product]

Purchase Toy Story 2 on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:4.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:5/5]
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:5/5]

3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4.5/5]

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