Toy Story

John Lassiter, 1995 (8.5*)
Terrific animation from Pixar, their first full-length movie done with computer animation. In this story, the toys of a boy named Andy come alive with the arrival of a new one, Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut voiced by comedian Tim Allen, while the "leader of the gang" of old toys, a cowboy named Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, is not only jealous but confused. Buzz and his miraculous 'high tech' stuff, like a laser beam, threaten Woody's status as smartest toy, and thus the natural leader.

This is a wonderfully human story with terrific visuals and an enjoyable plot for all ages. When you suspend your belief and buy into the fantasy, the toys become human and elicit our feelings as if they were real. The sequel, Toy Story 2, is almost as good, and deals with the poignancy of discarding old toys that were once best friends..

Winner of 19 awards and 33 nominations, ranked #147 on the IMDB 250

Update: here is our review of 2010's Toy Story 3, a very worthy sequel and perhaps best of the trilogy, nominated for five Oscars®