Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and the first sequel to Toy Story. It is the second installment in the Toy Story franchise and was directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin, and Chris Webb. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Pidgeon reprise their roles from the first film. In the film, Woody is stolen by a greedy toy collector, prompting Buzz Lightyear and his friends to save him, but Woody is then tempted by the idea of immortality in a museum.

Disney initially envisioned Toy Story 2 as a direct-to-video sequel. The film began production in a building separated from Pixar, on a small scale, as most of the main Pixar staff were busy working on A Bug's Life (1998). When story reels proved promising, Disney upgraded the film to a theatrical release, but Pixar was unhappy with the film's quality. Lasseter and the story team redeveloped the entire plot in one weekend. Although most Pixar features take years to develop, the established release date could not be moved and the production schedule for Toy Story 2 was compressed into nine months.

Despite production struggles, Toy Story 2 debuted on November 24, 1999 and was a box office success, grossing $511 million against a $90 million budget. It received widespread acclaim from critics, with a 100% rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes, similar to its predecessor. It is considered by critics to be one of the few sequel films superior to the original and is frequently featured on lists of the greatest animated films ever made. Toy Story 2 would go on to become the third-highest-grossing film of 1999. Among its accolades, the film won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 57th Golden Globe Awards. Two further sequels have been released: Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019).