Toy Story 1 might be perfect

Was watching Monster's Inc a few weeks ago, and had one of those boomer thoughts of "man, Pixar just don't make films like this anymore" and was talking about it with friends on Discord, and someone said modern Pixar films just aren't targeted at me, and I replied "ok, but are you really gonna tell me Onward or Inside Out is as good as Toy Story or Up?"

And thinking about it, the original Toy Story is one of those movies that's as close to perfect as you can feasibly get. It's like Back to the Future or New Hope where everything just clicks together perfectly.

And, that's actually kind of a miracle. The film had seven writers. Peter Docter and Andrew Stanton, Pixar alumi; John Lasseter, you know who he is, for better or worse; Joel Cohen, the guy who Bill Murray accidentally confused for a Cohen Brother; Joss Whedon, not a fan of his, but even a broken clock is right twice a day; and Alec Sokolow, who I can't find much about, but hey, he is credited, so we'll count him.

And I know a lot of people prefer 2 or 3. I never gravitated towards them. I hate to say it, but they aren't mean enough.

Like, Woody in the first film is a very flawed and jealous character. Jealous in the classical sense of protective in an unhealthy way. Andy is HIS child. And Potato Head and Hamm are also very snarky. I feel like this was part of Katzenberg's limited contribution to the film, and while his vision of Woody wouldn't have worked, bringing him to this place of selfish but relatable did. And Buzz being a space cadet both literally and figuratively worked here because it was fresh. It's not like how they literally repeat the same plot beat in the next two films. And it leads to such a somber, well done moment where they bare their souls to each other.

And that's where the movie works. It's a counterbalance between cynicism and sincerity, not as opposing ideas between the hero and villain, but within the characters themselves. There are no villains. Yes, Sid is an antagonist, but he's just modding toys. There's literally whole YouTube channels dedicated to that. He shouldn't maim his sister's toys, but that's a different discussion about harassing your sibling. He is a creative expressing himself in an unhealthy way.

2 and 3 had very clear villains who behave in villainous ways that aren't justifiable.

And the whole film culminates in the Falling with Style Scene. Absolute cinema as the kids say.

And maybe I am just getting old. I was 2 when the first movie came out, and I loved Buzz.

What do y'all think? Am I just being a millennial boomer, or do y'all agree that Toy Story was a peak that hasn't been reached by its sequels?

No hate, everyone is entitled to their opinion