Andy's toys Woody and Buzz are back in Toy Story 2. Woody has been kidnapped by toy collector Al, and Buzz mounts a rescue mission with the help of Andy's other toys. Along the way Woody becomes friends with cowgirl Jessie and horse Bullseye.
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Message
Toy Story 2's overall theme is friendship. Woody is originally kidnapped while rescuing another toy, and Buzz makes it very clear on a couple occasions that he mounted his rescue mission because Woody is his friend. The movie even closes with the song "You've got a friend in me".
Woody also has an internal struggle whether to return to Andy with his friends, or whether to continue on to Japan with Jessie and Bullseye. Without Woody, Jessie and Bullseye will go back into storage; but as a toy Woody's dedication is supposed to lie with his owner (who shelved him the last time they were together) and he will clearly miss his other friends. This is an excellent opportunity to talk to your children about helping others vs peer pressure, especially after it is revealed that Stinky Pete, aka The Prospector and the 4th member of the cowboy toy set, was being manipulative the entire time.
Content
Language
There is no swearing in this movie.
Fears
The entire movie revolves around the fact that Woody was kidnapped by Al and he is being shipped to Japan unless Buzz and the other toys can rescue him in time.
In one instance Jessie starts panicking at the prospect of having to go back into storage again, saying "I won't go back in the dark". There's a brief scene where Woody has a dream that Andy doesn't like him anymore and he gets thrown into the trash with broken parts of toys that drag him under; it's no scarier than the broken toys found in Toy Story 1, but small children may be uncomfortable for that minute while the dream plays out.
There are no storms, fires, scary monsters, clowns, strong villains, or home break-ins.
Family & Relationships
In the opening scene Buzz is disintegrated, but it's quickly revealed that the opening scene was from a video game. Woody's trip to Japan threatens to tear him away from his friends. When Barbie sits down in the car next to Mr. Potato Head, he quickly chants "I'm a married spud" several times, to which Ham the piggy bank responds "then make room for the single fellas" and swaps seats with him. Buzz ends up with a "Butte" sticker stuck to his butt for a moment.
Sneaky Pete is manipulative in his attempts to get Woody to go to Japan with them, eventually increasing to the point of damaging Woody while threatening him.
There is no divorce, loss of a loved one, sneaking out, or running away.
Other Content
There's no magic, but all toys are alive and when humans are around they simply pretend to be inanimate. This doesn't seem to confuse children; they understand that the movie is pretend and in reality their toys aren't alive.
At one point Buzz is replaced by a different toy Buzz. The movie does a pretty good job of making it clear that this is happening by showing replacement Buzz putting Andy's Buzz into a box. However, if your children have trouble understanding, then just point out to them that the replacement Buzz has a cool belt.
Conclusion
Toy Story 2 is a clean and fun movie about friendship that children will enjoy and parents will find nostalgic.
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