The lack of a full length Pixar film this year caused unhappiness for many people. But with 2014 coming to a close, Pixar has not disappointed. ‘Toy Story that Time Forgot’ premiered last night and we were treated to yet another stellar half hour Pixar special.
As with the Halloween themed ‘Toy Story of TERROR!’, this special was female led with Trixie the triceratops (Kristen Schaal).
While ‘Toy Story that Time Forgot’ was advertised as a Christmas special, the holiday is more background than anything else. It does still spread plenty of holiday cheer and warmth.
Bonnie has just celebrated Christmas and is still in the mood for the holiday. Woody is dressed as Santa Claus while Rex and Trixie are reindeers. When Bonnie goes on the hunt for her dinosaur, Trixie is excited because she’ll finally be a dinosaur in one of Bonnie’s game. The excitement is short lived however when Bonnie spies Kittysaurus, or Angel Kitty, (Emma Haduck) an ornament on the Christmas tree.
Trixie voices her frustration, but soon Bonnie and her mother head out for a play date at her friend Mason’s house. Trixie, Rex, Angel Kitty, Woody, and Buzz are the toys of choice. When Bonnie arrives, Mason is playing a video game. Bonnie leaves her toys in his room and the gang set out to find some old friends. And this is when Trixie spots the huge boxes of Battlesaur dinosaur toys.
The Battlesaurs are armor plated dinosaurs who have no idea they’re toys. It’s a theme Pixar has revisited since the first Toy Story film, but always with new results. Sparks fly between Trixie and Reptilius Maximus (Kevin McKidd), clearly the coolest looking dinosaur of the bunch. Meanwhile the Cleric who is leader of the Battlesaurs (voiced by director Steve Purcell) proves to have ulterior motives.
Since the Battlesaurs don’t know they’re toys, they think they’re fighting for real. So this means their battles with other toys are intense and a little violent. What happens when Trixie, Rex, Woody, and Buzz find themselves on deck for battle?
There are new characters who instantly steal your heart in this special. Angel Kitty, adorably wide eyed and who delivers messages of good will and hope in a monotone is definitely going to be popular. And Reptilius Maximus is a real hoot. Even in thirty minutes Pixar celebrated childlike wonder and imagination, as well as a chance for Trixie to save the day and learn something valuable about what it means to be Bonnie’s dinosaur.
If you missed ‘Toy Story that Time Forgot’, be sure to catch these showings.
Last modified: December 3, 2014
Have to disagree. It’s fine for small children as a diversion, but this is lazy Pixar. It’s poorly produced, and looks very cheap. Did they do this over seas some where? If this is the direction Pixar is going, it is not good.
^ I’m not sure if we watched the same special or not but how was this “poorly produced”? The animation in the special is on par with the feature length films. Your criticism of the production doesn’t even add up considering all animation was done by Pixar.
I enjoyed the special even if they reused the “toys will be toys” element. Purcell as the Cleric was brilliant, I could tell he enjoyed that role. The special also introduced a choreographed fight sequence between Reptillus, Woody, and Buzz which in the franchise. I like the recent trend of centering the specials away from Woody and Buzz, it adds more variety.
I enjoyed the tv-length short, it was well done and although not at the same quality level as the feature films, it was better than almost all other made-for-tv animated features (including those spun-off from movie franchises). The one shortfall, though, and a major disappointment, is that it was comically NOT a Christmas special, although billed as such. It was a TV show that happened to take place at Christmas-time. Looking at it as Pixar TV Show, it was great. Looking at it as a Christmas special, it missed the mark by a long shot, and in that regard was a great disappointment.
Apparently the meaning of Christmas to Pixar story-writers is just the aftermath of having too many toys to play with. They missed the point – maybe they need to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas again.
However well-produced it does seem very odd that both the Halloween and Christmas Toy Story specials have nearly nothing to do with their respective holidays. Despite all the creative energy buzzing around Pixar they couldn’t come up with anything that actually involved the holidays?
Since editor changed, thumbnails don’t open into large images. Can you please add that?