The Toy Story Gangs First Christmas Special Has Its Problem, But Remains Entertaining

Welcome to 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

With Toy Story 4 on the inevitable horizon, PIXAR has utilized the form of the holiday special to guarantee the world of Woody and Buzz remains an active one storytelling wise. The first, Toy Story Of Terror!, was a surprisingly enjoyable effort, and though Toy Story That Time Forgot doesn't quite match that ones quality, it still remains an entertaining enough half hour of television.

The premise of this one revolves around Woody, Buzz, Rex and Trixie being brought over to a playdate where numerous dinosaur warriors roam. However, these warriors believe they're actually noble fighters, not realizing their reality as toys. A similar predicament of course befell Buzz Lightyear when he was first introduced, and it's to the specials credit that this doesn't feel like a retread of that plotline, mainly because this time around someone is intentionally making sure the dino warriors remain oblivious to reality.

It won't take much deducing to figure out whose the maniacal figure responsible for such treachery, and a similar lack of surprise runs throughout the world of the toys new dino buddies. While their land is fun on a visuals level, and the character designs are similarly a hoot, their delusional take on life remains unchallenged for much of the middle portion of the special, and frankly, that viewpoint of reality just isn't that compelling. Once a bit more conflict arises in a coliseum in the finale, things get more interesting, but the specials does have a lack of urgency that brings things down a bit.

At least Trixie, played by Kristen Schaal, makes for a likable protagonist. This is the first time this triceratops has gotten to headline any piece of Toy Story media, and she makes for an enjoyable presence for the story to center on. It helps that Schaal's vocals makes Trixie's struggle a relatable one, and make sure to make every humorous line count. She spends much of the special with Reptillius Maximus (Kevin McKidd), a character whose on the bland side for much of the duration of the tale, though credit where credit is due, his final scenes where he comes to grip with reality are well played.

The rest of the Toy Story gang isn't given as much screentime, with Woody and Buzz most notably getting little to do (why can't they bring back Slinky or Bullseye for these specials? I love those guys!) A bit more of the ensemble cast that viewers like me have come to adore over the years might have improved things a bit, but Toy Story That Time Forget remains a diverting tale, even if it's connection to Christmas is minimal at best.