Toy Story

First of all, I should say that watching a new Toy Story movie again after all these years made me feel this: "I've gotten old." I remember watching the first two films around 2003–2004, and no matter how you look at it, a full 16 years have passed without my noticing how. Wow!

Of all the films from Pixar Animation Studios—none of which I have disliked so far—the Toy Story series is probably my favorite. As someone who loved playing with toys as a kid and still wants to collect figures of characters I love, I may have played with toys even more than Andy does in the films. In fact, many of us are attached to the series for the same reason I am: we all felt that as children we became part of the worlds we built with our toys, and Toy Story, which conveys all those memories through a carefully crafted and highly successful animated film, made us bond with it as if we were watching an animation of our own world. The character who best represents us when we play with toys and detach from the real world is probably Buzz Lightyear. Because instead of accepting that he was part of a script given to him, he believed that script was real, striving to save the universe—and somehow could never be talked out of it.

Andy growing up alongside us, going to university, and having to leave his toys behind was another wonderful detail designed especially for those of us who followed the series chronologically from its earliest releases—so we would find ourselves inside that world and even identify with Andy. (Though I brought my Action Man figure to the house I lived in during university and displayed him on my shelf. He is still there on my shelf today—oh Andy, why did you leave our beloved Woody and Buzz, I ask you!)

The recently released fourth film being a bit more dramatic than the others gave it a different atmosphere, but it was woven in so tastefully that it never got boring. Within the film itself, the questions longtime fans of the series have always wondered about—"Why and how are toys alive?"—are also explored through the character of Forky . At the same time, the film shows us that Woody still has not gotten used to Andy's leaving, and that even though Andy has grown up, Woody constantly wonders where he is and what he is doing. On top of that, because he is now a little girl's toy, it deals with being the less-preferred toy and the struggles that brings. Of course, being dramatic does not mean there are no jokes. The film's humor is well measured and woven into the story nicely. Just when you think it might be getting a bit too emotional, you suddenly find yourself bursting into laughter. 

While watching the film I kept wondering why one of my favorite characters, Mr. Potato Head’s screen time was so limited, and after the film I learned that because his original-language voice actor had passed away, they chose to give him less screen time. Among the new characters joining the series, the most memorable was probably Duke Caboom. I had already warmed to Duke, who appears in some very fun scenes in the film, and then after leaving the theater I learned that he was voiced by our beloved Keanu Reeves. And since we are talking this much about voice acting, I have to touch on whether the film should be watched in Turkish dubbing or in English. I think this was the first time I watched a Toy Story film in English so I would not miss the wordplay (in the earlier films, given my age, my English was unfortunately weaker..) and I had a great time. As for the Turkish dub, from what I heard in comments, because Mehmet Ali Erbil could not voice the role due to illness, and Haluk Bilginer for a reason I do not know, it can feel different for those used to the earlier Turkish voices. Still, those same sources also added that it is a successful Turkish dub.

Although I have always found it more right to watch films in their original languages, the Woody – Mehmet Ali Erbil and Buzz – Haluk Bilginer pairing holds a special place for me, partly because of nostalgia. Woody shouting "YOU ARE A TOY" at Buzz, and Buzz's famous line "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND," are probably among the biggest reasons that pairing stuck.

Toy Story is also one of the important factors that helped Steve Jobs—who had been fired from Apple, the company he founded, and soon after called it "the best thing that ever happened to me.."—regain his standing and return to Apple a year after the film came out. In other words, we can probably say that behind Apple rising from the ashes when it was nearly collapsing—Apple, which has pioneered so many of the technological advances we use in daily life—was the success of the first Toy Story film.

In conclusion, if you have not watched it and you are interested in animated films, Toy Story is a series that is absolutely worth watching—whether for how it brings back your childhood days, its highly successful story, the way it moves you at times, or its perfectly measured humor.

Thank you for reading my Toy Story piece. If you liked the article, you can support me by pressing the like button at the bottom right. See you in my next posts—take care! :)

To Infinity and Beyond!

- Buzz Lightyear