They’re Alive!

Day 18) Your Favorite Disney-Pixar Film

So I have to say that I think that this is one of the best Disney-Pixar films. It has a great cast of characters, an amazing storyline, and I thank Disney for bringing to light something that all us children thought growing up; that our toys would come alive when we left the room or turned our backs. I know I was convinced this growing up, as there were times when I would  leave a doll or stuffed animal somewhere only to turn back and find it in a completely different place.

Anyways, I just love this movie A lot. I had a toy Woody, Buzz, and Ham piggy bank. Yeppers, I was a huge fan. In fact, it makes sense that this is one of my favorite films and that I absolutely love Woody, as we are so much alike.

To find out who you are, go here.

So the story is about a child, Andy, who has a great imagination:

And different toys that he loves to play with. His favorite is a cowboy, Woody. On Andy’s latest birthday everything changes. His gifts are all spacemen; making his room go from a Western paradise to place beyond the milky way. The other really interesting thing about this film is that it actually gives a pretty good summary of the death of the Western. With the rise of the anti-hero and space being the “final frontier”in the 1960s-80s, Westerns lost their hold of being the King Genre, ruler of all.

There is no middle ground.

 

To be honest most Sci-fi films were just Westerns in space (such as Star Wars and Star Trek). In fact Star Trek was actually proposed as being a tale of cowboys set in space.

Anyways, back to the film. So Woody begins to get jealous of all the attention that not only Andy gives his new Space toy, Buzz, but how everyone else treats the “new guy”. No one cares about Woody with the new boy in town. To make things even worse for Woody, Buzz thinks that he is the real Buzz and not a toy, no matter what Woody says.

Everything comes to a head when Andy is going out for pizza with his mom and can only take one toy. Woody wants to be the chosen one, and plots to knock Buzz behind the desk, but instead actually knocks him out the window.

 

All the toys think he murdered Buzz and are about to send him out, when Andy comes in, taking Woody with him as he can’t find Buzz.

Buzz, very much alive, sneaks onto their car, and when Andy’s mom stops for gas confronts Woody. The two get in a huge fight in which they say some of my favorite lines.

The two manage to sneak onto a Pizza delivery truck and get back to the restaurant. Woody tries to get Buzz onto Andy’s sister’s stroller, but he jumps into a claw machine that’s in the shape of  a rocket.

The two end up being picked by Andy’s evil neighbor Sid, who likes to torture and chop up his toys. There Buzz has a existential crisis after watching a Buzz Lightyear commercial. He tries to prove he isn’t a toy  by flying, but falls and breaks off his arm. Sid discards him, but his sister Hannah finds him and plays with him. Her attentions furthers Buzz’s depression and identity crisis.

Woody tries to get him to escape with him, by using Christmas lights to get across to Andy’s house. However, he can’t get Buzz to show the other toys that he is alive, so they won’t help him. Sid’s toys, who look really creepy as Sid destroys them and reconstructs them, but they end up healing Buzz and reattaching his limb.

Sid comes home and attaches a rocket to Buzz, hoping to blast him off, but is stopped by the rain. Woody sets out to help him, breaking a few rules along the way.

Buzz and Woody, now friends, try and get to Andy’s house before his family moves. They miss the truck and car, but Sid’s dog Scud chases after them. Buzz jumps on him to save Woody. And Woody goes into the moving van to get Andy’s R/C car. The other toys thinking Woody is still evil, knock him off the van. But he and Buzz join up and take off in the car. The car’s battery dies, and the two light Buzz’s rocket, flying off into the car.

So there you go. An amazing film, with great characters, lines, and one amazing story. 🙂 Love it!

For more on Toy Story, go to My Favorite Movie Lines

For more on Quizzes, go to Belle of the Ball

For more on Disney, go to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

For more on Star Wars, go to Happy Father’s Day

For more on Cowboys, go to Fashion Show

For more on Westerns, go to At the End of the Rainbow

For more on imagination, go to Belle of the Ball

For more on identity theft, go to The Two Witch Sisters

For more on pizza, go to Pink Elephants

For more on best buds, go to Best Friends

 

The Two Witch Sisters: Double, Double, Toil, and Trouble (1993)

Gravedigger: [Screams] You’re at two places at the same time. Lynn Farmer: We’re twins, silly. Gravedigger: Oh… ohh… twins! Oh, twins!

So way back in the day I used to watch this movie every time Halloween came around. I have to admit it I was a huge Olsen fan, I watched all their movies and TV shows.

So the film title is from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the three sisters (witches) chant this. However, in this film there are only two sisters.

So we have the Farmers–Don, his wife Christine, and their twin daughters Kelly & Lynn. The older Farmers are worried about losing the house as they are deeply in debt. The younger farmers are having an identity crisis as they are tired of everyone getting them confused and want to be individuals.

In every movie they dress the same so I don’t know how they will accomplish that.

The Farmers decide to ask Christine’s Aunt Agatha, her father’s sister, for a loan, but don’t have very much hope. You see Aunt Agatha is a mean cruel old woman and promptly refuses to help them out in any way.

I’m mean and nasty Aunt Agatha

Aunt Agatha used to have a twin sister, Sophia, but she has disappered.

While they are visting Aunt Agatha the girls run into Mr. Grave Digger (Agatha’s employee). He tells them a story about how the house used to be owned by a powerful witch who had a moonstone that gave her magical powers. Before she was burned at the stake, she hid the stone somewhere in the house.

Dude, do you really think that is a story you should be telling small children? Come on, let’s think about this.

When Agatha and Sophie were little girls they heard the story and searched all over the house in an attempt to find it.

Agatha & Sophia as children

The two hated being twins and thought the moonstone might be able to change this.  Agatha ended up being the one to find the stone and used it to make Sophia’s life miserable.

I’m EVIL!

Years later, on one Halloween night, Sophia and her fiance , the butler, were planning on running away to elope. Agatha found out and cast a spell banishing her sister into the other realm and trapping her in a mirror (kind of like in Scooby-Doo & the Ghoul School when Shaggy gets trapped). The only way to see/talk to Sophia is through the mirror Agatha keeps hidden in the basement. The last chance to save Sophia from being trapped in the mirror forever, is if she is saved by midnight this very Halloween night.

The twins discover the only way to save their home and Aunt is if they get the moonstone. Only twins are able to wield its power. The girls meet a crazy cast of characters who help them on their quest; a clown named Oscar, Mr. Grave Digger, and Mr. N who would do anything for money.

(Top to Bottom: Mr. N, Mr. Gravedigger, & Oscar)

The girls also get a toy magic wand, which supposedly has real magical powers.

Agatha does whatever she can to get rid of the twins. She tries to poison them with jealousy, and get Lynn to betray her sister. In the end, Lynn decides her sister is the most important person in her life.

The twins get the moonstone, but the magic doesn’t work! It isn’t until the two proclaim their love for each other that Sophia is freed.

Agatha is enraged and tries to put her sis back in the mirror. The two fight and Agatha ends up being pushed into the mirror instead. All her magic is undone and the mirror is shattered, leaving her trapped there forever.

Don & Christine go to the mansion to find the girls, and see Aunt Sophie. The three of them tell Don and Christine that Agatha decided she needed a vacation and went on a long trip far away. Sophia gives the Farmers the money they need and the home is saved.

Yay!

When cleaning up the girls find out that Agatha is still able to talk through the shards of glass. She asks the girls to release her, but they say no way!

Happy Halloween!

Click here to check out the film. 😀