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Toy Story 2 DIRECTED BY JOHN LASSETER, ASH BRANNON, LEE UNKRICH RELEASED: 1999 Why's it so good? Pixar's only sequel to date displays all the artistry and attention to storytelling that you'd expect from the studio, and bodes well for the upcoming Toy Story 3, Cars 2 and Monsters Inc. 2. The new characters - particularly Jessie - fit in beautifully with the established crew, there's that hilarious cinephile space-set opening, the themes are deepened and developed, and that Sarah McLachlan song will slay you every time.

How does it stack up to the original? This is one of those films that provokes debate: is it as good as the original or actually better? Frankly, why bother trying to choose? They're both sublime pieces of filmmaking, both in terms of animation, character, voice work and scripting. Certainly the technology has taken another step forward for this one, but it's polishing an already-brilliant stone. Glaring error: This was originally conceived as a straight-to-DVD sequel. Can you imagine something this sublime going straight to DVD? It'd be a travesty. GAP BETWEEN SEQUEL AND ORIGINAL: 48 MONTHS 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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