Last year, Pixar delivered their first TV special with Toy Story of Terror!. It was a bizarre 21 minutes that found everyone’s favorite big screen toys paying homage to a genre that their target audience is completely unfamiliar with. I was excited by the concept, but disappointed by the execution. It was dark, not funny enough, and took the characters to a place I never wanted to see them go. That’s why I wasn’t too excited when I heard they were making another.
As more got revealed about the next Toy Story adventure, which was advertised as a Christmas special, I got my hopes up a little. Mainly because I love dinosaurs with a fiery passion and this one promised more dinosaurs. And dinosaurs it delivers with Trixie, voiced by Kristen Schaal, becoming the main character. But a talking triceratops in metal gear does not a worthwhile TV special make.
After a Christmas celebration at home, Bonnie’s mother takes her and a few toys to a friend’s house. The toys get left alone in a boy’s room where his new BattleSaurus toys aren’t aware they are toys and take a liking to Trixie and Rex. Both dino-toys are tricked out with metal accouterments, but soon discover that they are expected to destroy their friends in a battle arena. Trixie will have to find the courage to save her friends and teach these new toys what they really are.
The plot feels like a rehash, merely flipping the “Buzz thinks he’s a real space ranger” on its head with the BattleSaurs thinking they are real BattleSaurs. The concept delivers a few laughs and I loved when all of the dinos burst out into the BattleSaurs theme song. But the arena scene tries too hard to be funny and just comes off as morbid. Sid’s room was creepy, but found a way to be funny with the crazy toy mashups he made. This lacked that level of humor with the sadistic nature of what these toys are doing. Perhaps the worst insult of all is that Buzz and Woody are barely in this special. The true saving grace is an adorable Angel Kitty toy that Bonnie received as a Christmas gift. She delivers phrases of wisdom and plays Christmas songs on her trumpet, livening up a few scenes that need some much needed comedy relief.
Compared to Toy Story of Terror!, Toy Story That Time Forgot is much better. But compared to the three films and the three Toy Story Toons, it’s still a weak effort. The fact that each of the shorts packs more laughs into 7 minutes than this special delivers in 21 is sad. These characters are beloved by adults and children alike. The level of interest in anything Toy Story is high and I think everyone who grew up playing with Andy’s toys expects more than this from the studio that was once the pinnacle of computer animation.