Countdown to Up: 7 Days to Disney•Pixar’s 10th film

Toy Story 2 is Pixar’s first and only sequel. It is also one of the rare sequels that lives up to, and arguably exceeds, the film it is following. The animation of the humans exceeds the original, but it doesn’t really matter, because it is mostly a story about toys.

-John C.

Toy Story 2 Trivia*

• The dust in the scene where Woody meets Wheezy set a record for number of particles animated for a movie by computer

• The settings on Zurg's gun are numbered to eleven, a reference to Nigel Tufnel's amplifier in This Is Spinal Tap

• In the opening sequence, when Buzz is on an alien planet, and ultimately battles the Emperor Zurg, many of the sound effects are directly from the Star Wars trilogy, including lightsaber sound effects, the torture droid's hum, and the scraping metal noise the AT-AT's make as they lumber across the plains of Hoth in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

• Various scenes are reprised with a twist from Toy Story. For example, when Jesse fights Woody, she has him on the ground, foot on his back, pulling his arms back - exactly the same position Buzz Lightyear had him in the gas station. Buzz Lightyear also yells "You are a TOY!" to Woody, as Woody had yelled to Buzz in the previous film. As well as the scene where Zurg and Buzz (2) are fighting on top of the elevator. As Buzz's talk button is repeatedly hit it skips the message "Buzz... Buzz... Buzz Lightyear to the rescue." This occurred in the fight between Woody and Buzz underneath the car at the gas station

• There is A Bug's Life calendar hanging in Andy's room

• There are A Bug's Life toys on display in Al's Toy Barn

• Heimlich the caterpillar from A Bug's Life can be seen crawling up a branch right before Buzz cuts through it

• Slinky's line, "I may not be a smart dog, but I know what road kill is" is a reference to Forrest Gump, which starred Tom Hanks, the voice of Woody

• "The Cleaner", the old man who restored Woody, is featured as a chess player in the Pixar short film Geri's Game. As he opens the drawers of his chest looking for his glasses, the middle drawer contains chess pieces

Up Trivia**

This is Pixar’s 10th film and it is also the first one where animals can actually talk to humans. Although I must add that the dogs do not talk in a conventional way. They wear collars that translate their thoughts into words. Which means that their mouths do not move while they are talking.

*All trivia is courtesy of IMDb

**Trivia written by James P.