Toy Story 2 3-D

The other half of Pixar’s newly minted 3-D double feature gives us a chance to take a fresh look—in depth, as it were—at one of Hollywood’s rarest phenomena: a sequel that actually improves on its hard-to-beat predecessor. With Woody stolen by an unscrupulous toy collector and Buzz and the gang on a rescue expedition, the pleasures include an exponential improvement in Pixar’s techniques (this in 1999, only four years after Toy Story); a wry comment on pop-culture collectibles; and the introduction of Cowgirl Jessie, one of the greatest characters in the history of animation (voiced with full-throated zeal by Joan Cusack). And let’s not forget Sarah McLachlan’s sublime performance of Randy Newman’s “When She Loved Me,” the most heartbreaking song ever composed for a motion picture.