`Toy Story' delights grownups, too

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RATING: * * * * *

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by Christof Spieler

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That would be Toy Story' s appeal. The concept itself is wonderful enough: Our toys come alive when we're not looking. I can halfway believe that even now.

Actually, there's something else here as well. This is the first ever full-length computer-animated movie. It took 800,000 computer hours, 500 gigabytes of images and four years to do.

The results are incredible -- but not just graphically. The computer nerds at Pixar, the company which created Toy Story, have created not just a technological milestone but a really good movie as well.

The story begins on the afternoon of Andy's birthday party. Most of his toys are worried. What happens if Andy gets newer, better toys?

So a bucket of green plastic soldiers is sent downstairs on a reconnaissance mission. It looks good, until the last package, which contains a plastic spaceman named Buzz Lightyear, is opened. Buzz, with his karate-chop action, blinking lights, sound effects and retractable wings, awes all the other toys immediately -- except for Woody, the cowboy who was their old leader. Now he's lost Andy's affection and consequently his status in the toy box.

So affable Woody snaps and tries to get even with Buzz. Before he knows it, they're in the hands of Sid, a twisted little kid who gets thrills from torturing toys. The two can escape only if they work together.

It didn't take me long to forget the whole computer animation bit. Sophisticated rendering techniques aside, the characters are surprisingly three-dimensional. The plot turns hinge not on chance but on the interactions between different personalities. Even the supporting characters have character, and the social dynamics of the toy box are surprisingly sophisticated as well.

Pixar already has one Academy Award to its credit (for "Tin Toy," a 1989 animated short). Two more movies are in the works for Disney, and with the fast evolution of computers, the animation quality can only get better.

That's saying a lot -- the animation in this movie is incredible. People are still a bit problematic, but they're a lot better than expected.

Even aside from the computer wizardry, though, it's a great movie -- fun, exciting and wonderfully creative. Never mind the fact that half the audience will be under 14; see it anyway.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the December 1, 1995 issue.

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