Toy Story (1995)
Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, John Morris, Erik von Detten, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Sarah Freeman
Directed by John Lasseter
Expectations: High. Haven’t seen this since it came out.
Pixar is a monolith within the American animation industry. Their films appeal to both young and old viewers, satisfying on a number of levels. It is this reason that any new Pixar film, like any new Hayao Miyazaki film, is an event for all in attendance. Toy Story was their first feature and it makes sense that it would lay all the groundwork for this high caliber of work, and it does so in such a confident way that no matter how jaded you are, the team at Pixar proves that they have a wonderful working knowledge of how to make not just a great animated film, but a great film period.