Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Lasseter
Screenplay by	Andrew Stanton Rita Hsiao Doug Chamberlin Chris Webb
Story by	John Lasseter Pete Docter Ash Brannon Andrew Stanton
Produced by	Helene Plotkin Karen Robert Jackson
Starring	Tom Hanks Tim Allen
Cinematography	Sharon Calahan
Edited by	Edie Bleiman David Ian Salter Lee Unkrich
Music by	Randy Newman
Production companies	Walt Disney Pictures Pixar Animation Studios
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release dates	November 13, 1999 (1999-11-13) (El Capitan Theatre)[1] November 24, 1999 (1999-11-24) (United States)
Running time	92 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$90 million[3]
Box office	$511.4 million[4][3]

Toy Story 2 is a 1999 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures.^[5] The second installment in the Toy Story franchise and the sequel to Toy Story (1995), it was directed by John Lasseter, co-directed by Ash Brannon and Lee Unkrich (in their feature directorial debuts), and produced by Helene Plotkin and Karen Robert Jackson, from a screenplay written by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin, and Chris Webb, and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton, Brannon, and Pete Docter. In the film, Woody is stolen by a toy collector, prompting Buzz Lightyear and his friends to rescue him, but Woody is then tempted by the idea of immortality in a museum. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, and Laurie Metcalf reprise their roles from the first film and they are joined by Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Estelle Harris, Wayne Knight, and Jodi Benson, who play the new characters introduced in this film.

Disney initially envisioned Toy Story 2 as a direct-to-video sequel. The film began production in a building separated from Pixar, on a small scale, as most of the main Pixar staff were busy working on A Bug's Life (1998). When story reels proved promising, Disney upgraded the film to a theatrical release, but Pixar was unhappy with the film's quality. Lasseter and the story team redeveloped the entire plot in one weekend. Although most Pixar features take years to develop, the established release date could not be moved and the production schedule for Toy Story 2 was compressed into nine months.^[6][7]

Despite production struggles, Toy Story 2 opened on November 24, 1999, to a successful box office, eventually grossing over $487 million and received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences, with a 100% rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes, like its predecessor.^[8] It is considered by critics to be one of the few sequel films superior to the original^[9] and is frequently featured on lists of the greatest animated films ever made. Toy Story 2 would go on to become the third-highest-grossing film of 1999, behind Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and The Sixth Sense.^[10] Among its accolades, the film won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 57th Golden Globe Awards. The film has seen multiple home media releases and a theatrical 3-D re-release in 2009 as part of a double feature with the first film, 10 years after its initial release. Another sequel, Toy Story 3, was released in 2010.