Toy Story (1995)

I usually avoid this kind of film but gave Toy Story a chance after constant recommendations. Completely converted. John Lasseter transcends genre entirely. It works as pure human drama first and everything else second.

I liked Toy Story when I first saw it, but the second viewing is where it clicked. Once you notice how John Lasseter plants every detail early on, the whole film transforms. Layers everywhere.

I first watched Toy Story as a teenager and thought it was fine. Rewatched at 30 and it hit completely differently. The growing up undercurrent makes total sense now in a way it didn't before.

Whatever you think of the story, Toy Story is one of the most visually extraordinary films ever shot. There are frames here that belong in a gallery. Worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.

I didn't expect Toy Story to affect me so deeply. The way John Lasseter handles identity and purpose is unlike anything I'd seen before. I came out of it looking at the world differently.

I've seen Toy Story multiple times now and it just keeps getting better. the groundbreaking CGI is something rarely matched in cinema. If you haven't watched it yet, clear your evening.

Toy Story is not background viewing. Every scene requires you. Put your phone down, dim the lights. John Lasseter is doing too much to be half-watched. Give it the attention it deserves.

Some elements of Toy Story show their age, but the core of it — jealousy and friendship, the emotional resonance — hasn't diminished at all. Films this good age better than almost anything else.

Toy Story ended and I sat with it for weeks. The jealousy and friendship theme kept circling back. I'd be doing something mundane and the Sid nightmare would pop into my head. That kind of resonance is rare.

The music in Toy Story is so deeply married to the images that you almost can't separate them. It stays in your head days later and when you hear it again the emotions return immediately.