John Lasseter
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Doc Hollywood (1991)
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones
influenced Cars (2006), Cars 2 (2011)
Themes Plot
The music gets much more mellow as the pace slows down, and Randy Newman's "Our Town" sung by James Taylor shows a mellowing in McQueen, recalling Michael J. Fox in Doc Hollywood and countless other big-city-guy-meets-small-town-simple-folk films.
The derivative tale of a big city boy entering a small town world is an almost note-by-note copy of the Michael J. Fox comedy, “Doc Hollywood.”
As per the formulaic plotline—lifted most obviously from Doc Hollywood—Lightning’s fortunes are sidetracked when he falls off the truck and lands in a teeny town off the highway, Radiator Springs (the fall in itself borrows from another movie, The Fast and The Furious, as bully-punk cars harass lil’ Lightning).
Set in a world inhabited only by motor vehicles, Cars is sort of a cross between Michael J. Fox 's Doc Hollywood and NASCAR.
If you can get past that the story is basically the same as the 1991 Michael J Fox 'vehicle' "Doc Hollywood" - as portrayed by the Chevron cars - it should make for an enjoyable trip to the movies for all ages.
The first movie may have been a loose (and unintentional) remake of 1991’s “Doc Hollywood,” but at least it was charming and heartwarming.
Epic (2013)
Directed by Chris Wedge
influenced by A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story (1995)
Visuals Characters Plot
It echoes forest-battle tropes from FernGully and Avatar and boasts a visual palette reminiscent of A Bug's Life.
Christoph Waltz plays the villain perfectly and deliciously, reminiscent of Kevin Spacey’s turn as an evil grasshopper in “A Bug’s Life” from 15 years ago.
Taking characters from William Joyce children’s novel about “Leaf Men” and “Brave Good Bugs,” a team of writers has borrowed from “Antz” and “A Bug’s Life,” and even “Spiderwicke Chronicles” for a story about the fairy forces of life in a forest, the Leaf Men (and women) and their allies, in battle with the rotting reptilian bog-dwelling forces of decay.
If you like this, try: “Robots,” “Ferngully,” and “A Bug’s Life” and the books by William Joyce.
Though technology has made massive leaps in the 15 years since A Bug’s Life, this tiny-creature toon can’t muster anything like the Pixar classic’s sense of wonder at seeing the minute made massive.
That could be the implicit message of all the animated pictures predicated on the tiny, from A Bug's Life to The Secret World of Arietty.
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Directed by Rich Moore
influenced by Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars 2 (2011)
Plot Themes
The beginning is reminiscent of Toy Story , with an underground world of video games that come to life once the arcade closes for the night and characters who leave their game to explore other worlds.
The concept is a little like that of Toy Story : the characters in video games have existences of their own and, once the arcade is closed, they can roam around, even crossing over into other games.
With bouncy CG that's given greater depth by 3-D, director Rich Moore 's film blends the secret-lives-of-toys reality of Toy Story with the self-actualization vibe of Bolt, with the former proving far more electric than the latter.
Disney's variant on themes from Pixar's Toy Story is a mixed bag of frantic action, humorous antics and blunted satire pitched squarely at the juvenile.
Executive Producer John Lasseter is the man behind Toy Story, and it shows.
Unlocking the Pixar cheat-code for No. 1 blockbusters, Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph" features winsome voice-overs by comedians playing it kid-safe, a simplistic yet universal moral and even "Toy Story" director John Lasseter as executive producer.
Sausage Party (2016)
Directed by Greg Tiernan
influenced by Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998)
Plot Themes
What if the premise of a film like Toy Story, in which inanimate objects come to terms with the meaning of their existence, was pushed to its logical, dark-as-hell conclusion?
In the grand tradition of "Toy Story," ''Sausage Party" imagines the lives of the foodstuffs in the local supermarket aisle.
Animated movies have a long history of anthropomorphizing inanimate objects (toys in Toy Story, automobiles in Cars, plastic building bricks in The LEGO Movie , etc.).
Because, legitimately, Sausage Party is part Toy Story, part The Lego Movie, part Team America, and part Book Of Mormon, all with the sheen and vigor of Chuck Jones animation, but which, despite its influences, is still very much it's own glorious monstrosity.
It’s hard to shake the feeling that story masterminds Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Jonah Hill would have been better served by a more free-form narrative, something closer to “A Scanner Darkly” than “A Bug’s Life,” but “Sausage Party” was surely hard enough to get financed as it is.
Taken from a Pixar plot perspective, this movie about self-aware food in a supermarket mashes the existential queries of “Toy Story” with the stand-your-ground pride of “A Bug’s Life.”
Brave (2012)
Directed by Mark Andrews
influenced by Toy Story (1995), Cars (2006), A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars 2 (2011)
Themes
Two of the writers (Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell) were responsible for "Cars," one of the weaker entries in the Pixar canon, and another (Brenda Chapman) was behind Dreamworks' tepid "The Prince of Egypt."
Releasing just one picture per year, they have seen fit to go the lazy sequel route, first with 2010's amiable but arguably lesser " Toy Story 3 " and then with 2011's appalling " Cars 2 ," a desperate, charmless affair that spit on everything that made 2006's " Cars " so special.
"Brave," the company's fifth feature-length release since being purchased by Disney in 2006, shows a more evolved strain of corporate influence hinted by last year's DOA "Cars" sequel.
But for the Pixar Animation crew it’s just another number in their unbelievable string of hits: “Toy Story” (1995), “A Bug’s Life” (1998), “Toy Story 2” (1999), “Monsters, Inc.” (2001), “Finding Nemo” (2003), “The Incredibles” (2004), “Cars” (2006), “Ratatouille” (2007), “WALL-E” (2008), “Up” (2009), “Toy Story 3” (2010), “Cars 2” (2011) . . .
In the same way Pixar's movies refuse to speak down to the youngest members of their audience, they've also never pandered to gender: Remember, the Toy Story franchise ended with Andy, the benevolent overlord of Buzz Lightyear and Woody the cowboy, bequeathing his boyhood playthings to the little girl next door.
Or, more simply put, when compared with the rich attention to humor, subtext and story featured in Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Toy Story 3, Brave comes up short.
There are visual references to Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark, sound effects lifted from Star Wars, and an extended parody of The Empire Strikes Back which acknowledges its own silliness and is funnier than Spaceballs and more good-humored than what Lucas is doing these days.
And yes, you could spend multiple viewings of Toy Story 2 looking for the inside jokes: Tour Guide Barbie (Jodi Benson) admonishing passengers bilingually a la Disneyland to "remain seated please" in a toy car; high-speed channel surfing including Pixar shorts like Tin Toy and Luxo Jr.; a toy repair expert (Jonathan Harris) whose face recycles the star of the Oscar-winning short Geri's Game; genial pokes at Tron, Jurassic Park and The Empire Strikes Back.
The script, which Lasseter supervised with half a dozen writers contributing, is sharp and quick, jam-packed with perceptive plaything humor ("I'm packing your angry eyes, just in case," says Mrs. Potato Head) and hilarious homages to old westerns, "Star Wars," early Pixar shorts and an especially side-splitting "Jurassic Park" spoof.
Parodies are kept to a minimum, although there's a funny takeoff on a key element of the Star Wars series in addition to a quick, throw-away moment lifted from Jurassic Park .
As a cadre of Andy’s toys — Hamm the piggy bank (the voice of John Ratzenberger), Slinky Dog (the voice of Jim Varney), Mr. Potato Head (the voice of Don Rickles), and Rex the dinosaur (the voice of Wallace Shawn: My Favorite Martian), all led by Buzz Lightyear (the voice of Tim Allen) — attempts Woody’s rescue, the audience is treated to numerous and hilarious salutes to all manner of GenX obsessions: Star Wars, video games, Jurassic Park.
The opening sequence is a funny and clever parody of both the Star Wars and Star Trek series, and the filmmakers work in great visual gags that play off scenes in Jurassic Park (1993) and Die Hard (1988).
The Nut Job (2014)
Directed by Peter Lepeniotis
influenced by Toy Story 2 (1999), A Bug's Life (1998)
Inspired by his hilarious and much-acclaimed 2005 animated short “Surly Squirrel,” “Toy Story 2” animator director and co-writer Peter Lepeniotis has expanded it into a full-length 3D feature.
Oh sure, one could appreciate the weird ’50s noir vibe being pushed by Peter Lepeniotis (who worked as an animator on such films as Toy Story 2 and Fantasia 2000) or the desire to parallel the adult and ankle biter storylines, but for the most part, the movie is all pretense and very little payoff.
Director Peter Lepeniotis, a former animator who worked on Toy Story 2, muddles the story further by overlaying a needless plot about a bank robbery as humans and varmints vie for their treasures.
Director Peter Lepeniotis previously served as an animator on the brilliant Toy Story 2 but here he loses focus on what works in animated features.
In 2005, former Disney animator Peter Lepeniotis (Toy Story 2, Fantasia 2000) directed “Surly Squirrel,” a computer-animated short about a foulmouthed municipal rodent who conspires with his rat friend to steal pizza from a park trash can across the street from an in-progress bank robbery.
MARK: Here to save us from the rest of the January dreck is “The Nut Job”, a movie…nay, FILM…that makes all 3 “Toy Story” flicks combined jealous.
Turning Red (2022)
Directed by Domee Shi
influenced by Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999)
Characters Themes
Not only must Mei negotiate her hormones and control them at school, where a braces-mouthed bully reminiscent of Sid from Toy Story (1995) taunts her, but she must contend with her mother.
Before Pixar returns to the Toy Story franchise with Lightyear, Turning Red represents a reminder as to the wonderful originality they are capable of when not designing films to sell toys.
Such old-fogey objections aside, “Turning Red” represents a fresh change from traditional Pixar fare, eschewing the slightly fuddy-duddy nostalgia of “Toy Story” and “Cars” for a this-side-of-Y2K millennial mindset.
It feels wrong to see the production company of Toy Story and Monsters Inc. finally working with original ideas again and only for those movies to be subjected to the comfort of your couch.
The Toy Story pictures, for example, demonstrated a total understanding of the meaning playthings have in our lives.
Toy Story’s putting away of childish things devastated us with the bittersweetness of aging, pristinely packaged inside the odd couple act of Woody and Buzz.
Inside Out (2015)
Directed by Pete Docter
influenced by Cars 2 (2011), Toy Story (1995), Cars (2006)
Themes
Cars 2 was light, not matching its predecessor (which was itself one of the studio’s lesser pictures), Brave was sweet but ultimately unmemorable, and Monsters University, while very good, wasn’t up to the level of the original.
Sure, you still get the occasional Cars 2 and ... Cars, but for each of those, the studio still releases movies with themes that resonate with actual human beings.
Twenty years since Pixar transfigured the animation filmmaking process with trailblazing innovation in Toy Story and after the recent shaky offerings of Cars 2 and Monster’s University failed to reach the dizzy heights Pixar audiences have become accustomed to, the studio’s fifteenth feature produces an abundance of spectacularly detailed CGI effects combined with an intricately ambitious narrative, which sees Pixar not only return to top form but indeed raise the bar further within animation filmmaking itself.
John Lasseter gave us the first two Toy Story films, which earns him forgiveness for Cars 2.
After a quartet of uninspired cash grabs (“Toy Story 3,” “Cars 2,” “Brave” and “Monsters University”) designed primarily to sell toys, Disney’s quasi-independent computer-animation arm returns to the glory days of “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “Wall-E” and “Up,” with an envelope-pushing instant classic from “Up” director Pete Docter.
Like the "Toy Story" movies (two of which Docter also wrote), "Inside Out" is about the passing of childhood ritual, its most bittersweet moments the ones glimpsed in a rear-view mirror, as it reminds the unfaithful: Remember when you loved that?
Barbie deliriously draws inspiration from a wide range of cinematic sources, with references to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg , Groundhog Day , The Matrix , Toy Story , and, most hilariously, The Godfather .
Written by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, “Barbie” boasts a joyously wry self-awareness akin to the “Lego Movies,” taps into childhood innocence a la “Toy Story,” plus goes deep weaving in actual Barbie history.
Pulling from such inspirations as “The Truman Show” and “Toy Story,” Gerwig — who co-wrote the script with Noah Baumbach — plunges her heroine into an existential crisis brought on by a dimly perceived real world that is encroaching on her plastic, reassuringly monotonous idyll.
After Mattel, they find the culprit: America Ferrara, playing a frustrated feminist whose young daughter is giving away her toys a la “Toy Story.”
This is a clever take on growing up as seen through the point of view of the doll itself, like Toy Story and The Lego Movie.
This is never more apparent than when the toy, depicted as a human, despite still being an inanimate object being played with by a child (this “Toy Story”-like notion might have worked better if animated), repeats its idyllic life over and over, in which women hold all the positions of power – and their governance has surely led to equal rights and happiness for all.
Frozen (2013)
Directed by Chris Buck
influenced by Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999)
Characters Themes Visuals
Anna's traveling companions are an earnest rustic named Kristoff, who cuts and sells ice for a living (his business has taken a hit from the local climate change); Kristoff's mute but savvy reindeer, Sven; and a funny little snowman, Olaf, whose habit of detaching and reassembling his body parts recalls Mr. Potato Head from Pixar's "Toy Story" trilogy.
Frozen is really about a powerful subtext, just like Toy Story is really about figuring out who you are, and Toy Story 2 is really about the existential crisis of choosing who you want to be, and Toy Story 3 is about reminding people what Toy Story 2 was about (yeah, I said it).
Meanwhile Pixar stepped in and stole the company’s animated show with “Up,” “Cars,” “Toy Story” and “Wall-E,” to name a few.
And if you prefer the hand-drawn animation of latter-day Disney releases like “Aladdin” to Pixar ’toons like “Toy Story,” you might be beguiled by the visuals.
The year after The Lion King, Pixar released the first CGI-animated feature, Toy Story, launching a string of 11 consecutive box-office smashes and artistic triumphs, including such masterpieces as Finding Nemo, WALL·E, Up and Toy Story 3. Disney floundered for a decade until the company bought Pixar; and Pixar creative guru John Lasseter took creative control of both groups, with the mission of reviving the invaluable brand of Disney Animation.
Frozen is really about a powerful subtext, just like Toy Story is really about figuring out who you are, and Toy Story 2 is really about the existential crisis of choosing who you want to be, and Toy Story 3 is about reminding people what Toy Story 2 was about (yeah, I said it).
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Directed by Lee Unkrich
influenced by Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars 2 (2011), Toy Story (1995), Tin Toy (1988), Cars (2006)
Themes
"Toy Story 2" took the concept further, exploring themes of friendship and betrayal (real or imagined; when you feel betrayed it doesn't really matter which).
The conceptual genius of 1999’s Toy Story 2 was that it took the idea behind The Velveteen Rabbit to its logical end: A child’s love can bring a toy to life, but children grow up and leave their toys behind, which is a form of death for a toy.
3 1/2 Stars (out of 4) Tweet State of Play By Jeffrey M. Anderson The geniuses at Pixar haven't necessarily improved upon Toy Story 2 (1999), but more than ten years later they have effectively repeated its themes and provided a terrific and funny summer adventure.
Director Lee Unkrich — who worked on the first “Toy Story” and co-directed “Toy Story 2” — and scriptwriter Michael Arndt (a Pixar outsider who won a best original screenplay Oscar for “Little Miss Sunshine”) have done a good job of combining the classic (and much-loved) characters of “Toy Story” with new toys that quickly establish their own personalities.
The mournful message of Jessie's song, which takes up only a few minutes of screen time in the otherwise boisterous adventure that is Toy Story 2, makes up the entire theme of Toy Story 3.
It's a theme that was explored in Toy Story 2 and is continued here.
The film is not, as you would certainly be led to believe by the concept, DreamWorks's outright carbon copy of Pixar's Cars .
But after the originality of the hero, the filmmakers borrow too heavily from other movies; the similarities to "Ratatouille" and "Cars" are almost distracting.
Reminiscent of the opening of 2006's " Cars " if Lightning McQueen were to have remained at the glitzy raceway and never been sidelined in Radiator Springs to learn a valuable lesson about life in the fast lane, "Turbo" additionally loses its way in a cog of mixed messages.
Their destination is the Indy 500, where Theo (now rechristened Turbo) can win the patronage of Cars fans.
A garden snail gets to chase the chequered flag in the Indy 500 in DreamWorks' latest 3D digimation, which seems less like a riposte to Pixar's Cars than a peculiar addendum to the Wachowskis' Speed Racer .
But it lacked the depth and the brilliance that defined the other Pixar greats, especially “Finding Nemo,” “WALL*E,” “Up” and the three “Toy Story’s.”
"Cars 2" is a loud, obnoxious, carnival ride of a movie whose only redeeming value is that its merchandise sales - the chief reason for its existence - might help the studio fund three or four more worthy projects down the road that will be on the level of "Up" or "Finding Nemo" or your pick of the "Toy Story" movies.
The beauty of movies like Toy Story and A Bug’s Life (1998) and Finding Nemo (2003) is that they reimagine elements of our own world in a way that makes the familiar fantastical and funny and whimsical; after seeing those films, you can never look at a child’s doll or an anthill or a coral reef the same way again.
What’s missing then is that certain spark, that moment when a movie like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo turns from stellar entertainment into a certain cinematic statement.
Pixar retained its first-class marquee value with such treasures as “Finding Nemo” (2003), “The Incredibles” (2004), “Ratatouille” (2007) and “Wall.E” (2008).
That would be unreasonable, of course, even if Pixar hadn't established itself as the Yankees of CGI animation, whacking home runs with "Toy Story" (1995), "A Bug's Life" (1998), "Toy Story 2" (1999), "Monsters, Inc." (2001), "Finding Nemo" (2003), "The Incredibles" (2004), "Cars" (2006), "Ratatouille" (2007), "WALL-E" (2008), "Up" (2009), and "Toy Story 3" (2010).
Up (2009)
Directed by Pete Docter
influenced by Cars 2 (2011), Cars (2006), A Bug's Life (1998)
Characters Themes Plot
Eventually, "Up" evolves into the most cartoony of the Pixar movies, even cartoonier than 2006's "Cars," by having Carl make 65-year-old Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones look like a novice AARP action hero.
You half wish the animation house would produce one more dud like Cars to break up the monotonous stream of heart-expanding excellence.
Indeed, action sequences have been Pixar's Achilles' heel, with overly long and tedious effects letting down Cars and The Incredibles.
So when the brass announced some time ago that the new Pixar movie, Up, would kick things off in ’09, I’m afraid I immediately assumed that it must be more Cars than WALL·E , quality-wise.
“Up,” like “Wall-E” and “Cars” before it, pretends to scoff at sentimentality, when all it’s really doing is dressing it up in self-awareness.
"Cars 2" is a loud, obnoxious, carnival ride of a movie whose only redeeming value is that its merchandise sales - the chief reason for its existence - might help the studio fund three or four more worthy projects down the road that will be on the level of "Up" or "Finding Nemo" or your pick of the "Toy Story" movies.
More annoying, Despicable Me borrows left and right from other, better animated/kids films, lifting ideas from The Grinch, Meet the Robinsons, The Incredibles, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Toy Story (the minions are nothing more than a carbon copy of the alien squeeze toys in that film).
Resembling the underground factory in Metropolis, it's manned by yellow, phallic, sometimes monocular humanoids not unlike the one-eyed blue B.O.B. in Monsters vs. Aliens, or the three-eyed Pizza Planet aliens from the Toy Story movies.
In truth, it’s not the best title from a marketing perspective, since it doesn’t tell you anything about the movie, certainly not in comparison to, say, “Toy Story,” “The Princess and the Frog” or “Finding Nemo.”
Small, yellow, capsule-shaped and coverall wearing, these minions scurry about doing all manner of work for Gru, whom they adore the same way the aliens in the "Toy Story" trilogy worship the all-powerful Claw.
Consider "Toy Story", "Antz", "A Bug's Life", or "SharkTale" (which ironically started life with a more story-oriented name, "Shark-Slayer").
Robots combines the visionary alternate world-building of Monsters, Inc. , the flair for gadgetry and gimmickry of an old Fleishers cartoon, and most sneakily of all, the toybox nostalgia of the Toy Story movies , with cleverly worked-in toy and game references — “Operation,” Slinky, Wheelo — that will have adults grinning with recognition.
In the end, the film comes off as more of a low rent "Toy Story" mixed with "Monster's Inc.".
As far as I'm concerned, as beautiful as it to look at, "Robots" lacks the warmth of the "Toy Story" movies, the hipness of the "Shrek" films, the heart of "Monsters, Inc.," and the sheer fun and excitement of "The Incredibles."
The Lego Movie (2014)
Directed by Phil Lord
influenced by Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999)
Themes Plot
The picture looks good, it has some yuks, and there are even early hints of an Idiocracy-style satire of a lowbrow culture — the most popular show on TV, Where Are My Pants?, is a PG version of Ow! My Balls! — but the overlong Lego Movie collapses in the third act, finally becoming an overt commercial for the toys while getting existential in a way that unfavorably parallels the Toy Story movies.
It’s not the second coming of Toy Story , although it does echo Toy Story in notable ways.
Taking inspiration from a grab bag of pop culture detritus — The Matrix and Toy Story among the key influencers — The Lego Movie follows ordinary Joe protagonist Emmet (Chris Pratt), a cheerful chap whose daily routine includes stretching, watching a dopey TV show called Where’s My Pants? and trundling off to work singing his favourite song: EVERTHING IS AWESOME .
On one hand, “Toy Story” had long since cornered the sincere ode-to-childhood-playthings approach, while the “Transformers” and “G.I.
You’ve seen this all before — it’s Toy Story meets The Matrix — just not done in Legos.
Tipping its head toward the self-aware set-up of Wreck-It Ralph (via the Tour Guide Barbie sequence from Toy Story 2 ), The Lego Movie casts (un)happy plastic construction worker Emmet (Chris Pratt) as an accidental hero when President Business (Will Ferrell) attempts to obliterate nonconformist creativity with the aid of an instruction manual and some glue.
Cars 3 (2017)
Directed by Brian Fee
influenced by Toy Story (1995), Cars 2 (2011), Cars (2006)
Themes Characters
Other than filling up toy aisles with cars sporting cute eyes, the Cars movies haven’t been as noteworthy or artistically successful as others on Pixar ’s slate — not as ingeniously heartfelt as the Toy Story trilogy nor as enjoyably rambunctious as, say, Monsters, Inc.
Now, the Toy Story trilogy got pretty grim and philosophical too — but the Toy Story trilogy also included humor (remember humor?) and established a convincing reality for its characters, the rules of which were scrupulously followed.
The first one (released in 2006) is considered the one major black mark in the animation studio’s killer run from 1995’s Toy Story to 2010’s Toy Story 3 , and 2011’s Cars 2 is the only Pixar film with a “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
In comparison to other Pixar sequels, “Cars 3” lacks the narrative ambitions and genuine heart of the “Toy Story” follow-ups and, to a slightly lesser extent, “Finding Dory” but it is still an improvement on such sorry sights as “Cars 2” and “Monsters University.”
Viewers who did enjoy Cars and Cars 2’s goofier elements might not care for this film’s direction; McQueen’s bumbling sidekick Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) is mostly relegated to the background, and gone entirely for long stretches.
In the wake of the noisy misfire that was 2011’s Cars 2, the Pixar pit crew ran the diagnostics and were able to pinpoint the winning formula of humor, heart and action (along with an added dose of Route 66-informed nostalgia) that made the 2006 original such a sweet ride.
The pursuit of Marty through New York City feels like the latter half of Toy Story 2 , and the script’s constant reliance on pop culture references, while clever, harkens back to the days of Reebok pumps and Aladdin .
Following the exploits of four pampered zoo animals that must fend for themselves after being dumped on a tropical island, Madagascar features a brisk pace, colorful look, and an emphasis on broad, relentlessly silly jokes - so it seems fairly clear that small kids are the intended audience for the film (ie Toy Story this isn't).
It’s just that the likes of Toy Story, Shrek and The Incredibles have entitled us to expect more from animated comedies these days.
Suspension of disbelief aside, think about the worlds of Toy Story and Finding Nemo and how we were able to sustain the simplest of story points without blinking and able to concentrate instead on the characters and their adventures.
Unlike the vocal talents used in Pixar cartoons (imagine any "Toy Story," "Monsters, Inc." or "Finding Nemo" character, and you can still hear their voices), the celebrities cast in this DreamWorks production bring nothing distinctive to their roles.
The pursuit of Marty through New York City feels like the latter half of Toy Story 2 , and the script’s constant reliance on pop culture references, while clever, harkens back to the days of Reebok pumps and Aladdin .