Toy Story 2 · reception & legacy
1999 · John Lasseter
How Toy Story 2 has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Famously started life as a cheap direct-to-video sequel before Pixar upgraded it to a full theatrical release — and it landed as that rarest thing, a sequel critics called equal or better than the original. If anything it's since become the trilogy's middle child, with Toy Story 3 stealing some of its 'best of the series' thunder.
What's debated
The eternal fan debate: is Toy Story 2 the best of the trilogy — and one of the greatest sequels ever made, Godfather Part II tier — or did Toy Story 3 quietly overtake it?
Its footprint
Jessie's 'When She Loved Me' montage is the internet's shorthand for 'Pixar movies making grown adults cry,' and Zurg's Empire Strikes Back 'father' parody is an endlessly clipped gag. It's a fixture of every 'sequels better than the original' list ever compiled.
Where it stands
A consensus classic that long held a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes — less a cult object than a 'you grew up on this' touchstone that cinephiles keep re-ranking against its siblings.