Once again the gang faces the familiar conundrum of dealing with toys who forgot they are toys. This time it is a bunch of dinosaurs. While not as fresh in concept there is still plenty of enjoyment to be had here for kids and their parents. The Toy Story franchise is solid, placing these characters we have known over the last 20 years into new and different situations. While the basic premise here isn’t necessarily new, it does provide at least a decent twist on the formula.
Over the course of three feature films, three short and one television special, Toy Story has proven itself to be versatile in storytelling. The characters (and I don’t even need to introduce them at this point they are now part of our popular collective unconsciousness) are pliable enough to have a variety of situations thrown at them and whatever the story needs, they can handle it in whatever time they need. For this release, we have “Toy Story That Time Forgot” a half-hour (accounting for commercials) special where the gang is facing off against a group of dinosaur toys who think it is really prehistoric times. This wouldn’t work as one of the typical 8 minute shorts, and given enough time and additional plot points could make for a decent film, but at a little over 20 minutes we have a decently paced story that doesn’t wear out its welcome.
Bonnie, the “new” owner of Buzz, Woody and the gang (see Toy Story 3) packs up some of her toys for a playdate. “Toy Story That Time Forgot” is set at Christmas, but really it could have been a child’s birthday story as well. The idea here is Bonnie’s friend recieved the line of Battelsaurs, one thing leads to another, and you can tell not only what the conflict is, but also what the resolution will be.
Writer-director Steve Purcell along with Pixar story guy Derek Thompson provide an audio commentary that is certainly worth listening to. They pair cram a lot of information into the short running time. Also present are some deleted scenes, which is interesting considering this is a 22ish minute television special and you wouldn’t think there would be much. There is a 10 minute featurette on the making of Reptillius Maximus, one of the new main characters (making me wonder if we won’t see him in the upcoming Toy Story 4). Finally there is a very brief bit about comic-con and a karaoke song.
This is a fantastic look at what can be the “daily life” of the Toy Story gang, and perhaps more than feature films if there were one or two of these a year, it might make for more compelling viewing. If you like the franchise at all, pick up this Blu-ray.