Sightlines · reception
How Toy Story 2 was received
1999 · John Lasseter · Toy Story 2 on Sightlines
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.
Did you know? During production, most of the film was accidentally deleted from Pixar's servers by a stray command — and it was largely saved because technical director Galyn Susman, working from home while on maternity leave, had a backup copy on her home computer.