Review: Toy Story That Time Forgot

Spoilers Below

A few things to think about this special:

First: Disney is genius. Here I’m thinking, ”You know what, these Battlesaurs” would make a pretty cool action figure play set. Midway through the special? BOOM! Commercial for Battlesaurs toys.

Second: It’s truly remarkable to see how Kristen Schaal’s career has blossomed to the point where she has effectively become a star in the Toy Story-verse. Her ‘Trixie’ character wasn’t even part of the movie lexicon until Toy Story 3 and even then she wasn’t even a focal point for the B-plot of that movie. Fast-forward to now where Kristen stars in not one but TWO hit animated shows (Bob’s Burgers/Gravity Falls), and wouldn’t you know it she is able to carry a Toy Story special all by herself. Not to say that the rest of the gang isn’t here, but really everyone else was relegated to at best cameos. Trixie, a little less-so Rex, and the Battlesaurs were the bread and butter for this special and it worked. As mentioned, I thought Battlesaurs could stand on its own as a toy-set. Fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would certainly get a kick out of owning dino-soldiers, and this specials character designs provides for exciting possibilities. Unfortunately, my favorite new character was the ‘Angel Kitty’ starring Emma Hudak. Every time the Kitty started to say something you couldn’t help but not-hate this character. Moreover, the musical score sounded quite a bit inspired by Edward Scissorhands wouldn’t you say?

I do think that there are parts of the Toy Story armor that are beginning to show age. For starters, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head is starting to reflect the voice actor’s age. You can just sense that the 88-year old comedy legend just isn’t as snappy as he used to be, and as a result, his zingers don’t have the sizzle that they quite used to. Also, the plot for this time around, seemed a LOT like the first Toy Story. I mean, at the end of the day, the premise was about a bunch of toys trying to convince a bunch of other toys that they are in fact plastic and not real-life depictions of anything. Midway through, the characters realize that they are toys and love the fact that they get to be anything other than what’s on their box. All of these concepts are ideas that have been visited in the past, and I would’ve much rather seen a bit more originality.

Overall, Toy Story Time Forgot helps you remember that Toy Story is still a huge deal for Disney…but for how much longer is anyone’s guess.