Adventure Animation

'Toy Story That Time Forgot' Blu-ray Review: A Christmas wish come true for Toy Story fans

November 9, 2015Ben MK



FEATURE: 
If there's one movie that's become synonymous with the Pixar name, it's their very first feature, 1995's Toy Story. Now, twenty years, two sequels and one TV special later comes Toy Story That Time Forgot, a new short that continues the adventures of everyone's favorite cowboy-astronaut duo, Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

Originally a holiday special broadcast on ABC last December, Toy Story That Time Forgot finds Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Toy Story 3's Trixie (Kristen Schaal) and new character Angel Kitty (Emma Hudak) accompanying their owner Bonnie to her friend Mason's house for a post-Christmas play date. Unfortunately, once they get there, Bonnie abandons them to play with Mason's brand-new video game system, leaving the five pals to explore Mason's toy-filled bedroom on their own.

There they come face-to-face with Mason's other Christmas presents, the Battlesaurs, a group of prehistoric plastic warriors who have never been played with. Things turn ugly, however, when Trixie tries to befriend them and the Battlesaurs' power-hungry leader, The Cleric (writer/director Steve Purcell), takes Woody, Buzz, Rex and Angel Kitty captive. In the end, it's up to Trixie and a brave but confused Battlesaur warrior known as Reptillus Maximus (Kevin McKidd) to stop The Cleric and save the day.

So, how does Toy Story That Time Forgot stack up to the previous three full-length Toy Story adventures? It may be barely one quarter the length of your average movie, but what the short lacks in quantity it more than makes up for with quality, providing plenty of humor, charm and heart to go around. From the animation to the voice acting, everything here feels like classic Toy Story through and through, and Pixar fans young and old won't want to pass up this opportunity to see their favorite characters again.

AUDIO & VISUALS: 
Just because Toy Story That Time Forgot qualifies as a direct-to-video release, don't think for one moment that Disney and Pixar have skimped on the disc's technical presentation. On the contrary, this hi-def transfer looks just as good as any other Pixar Blu-ray out there, thanks to its brilliantly vibrant colors, excellent contrast and pixel-perfect clarity. Audio-wise, viewers shouldn't expect too active a soundscape, though the action does pick up nicely once the Battlesaurs show up. In any case, you can rest assured that the disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack doesn't miss a beat when handling the short's fun-filled sound design.

EXTRAS: 
Disney's one-disc Blu-ray release includes an iTunes digital copy, plus the following Blu-ray extras:

  • Reptillus! (10:51) - Writer/director Steve Purcell, story supervisor Derek Thompson and the filmmakers talk about the backstory for Reptillus, the character design and animation, the voice acting, and the character himself.
  • Toy Story Goes To Comic-Con (3:39) - Writer/director Steve Purcell, story supervisor Derek Thompson, producer Galyn Susman, composer Michael Giacchino and actress Kristen Schaal talk about their visit to San Diego Comic-Con, where they showed footage from Toy Story That Time Forgot and greeted fans.
  • Karaoke: My Unexpected Friend (7:58) - Two karaoke videos for this song from the short, one performed by Reptillus ("Reptillus Sings") and one without vocals ("You Sing").
  • Battlesaurs - Animated Opening (0:50) - An anime-style "2D TV Intro" for the Battlesaurs TV show.
  • Deleted Scenes (9:25) - Five deleted scenes ("Battlesaurs Christmas," "Prisoners of Bone," "SOS," "Trixie's Proposal" and "Light of Play"), each presented in rough animatic form and with an introduction by writer/director Steve Purcell.
  • Commentary - Writer/director Steve Purcell and story supervisor Derek Thompson go into detail about such things as the themes of the short, the genre films that served as inspirations for it, the story and the character development, the actors' performances, the art design, the humor, and more.

Toy Story That Time Forgot is available from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment as of November 3rd, 2015. The Blu-ray features English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, and English Dolby Digital 2.0 Descriptive Audio tracks. Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish. The total runtime is 22 Mins.





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