Five movies where toy box characters come alive
With Toy Story 4 hitting cinemas this week, here are some of the best toy movies to stream to spark your imagination. But make no mistake, not all these flicks are for kids.
Leigh Paatsch
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To celebrate the arrival of Toy Story 4 — and the end result is cause for celebration — here are five more home-streaming options where the toy box comes alive with movie magic.
THE TOY STORY TRILOGY (1995-2010)
Stan
*****
The first Toy Story remains an astonishing declaration of intent by Pixar, who until 1995 specialised in award-winning animated shorts.
As for the sequel four years later, many believe it is superior in every department.
Then came Toy Story 3, undoubtedly one of the greatest movies of the 21st century so far. Together, this trio takes everyone’s inner child to a special place where it is play time, all the time.
THE LEGO MOVIE (2014)
Netflix
****1/2
This (building) blockbuster’s clever storyline follows a lowly construction worker (voiced by Chris Pratt) who rebels against the sameness all around him … with the help of a feisty woman (Elizabeth Banks) who happens to be going out with Batman (Will Arnett).
Best of all, just as the film’s conceptual agility never ceases to dazzle, the all-Lego visuals both innovate and resonate strongly.
TRANSFORMERS (2007)
Amazon
***1/2
The wow factor is deployed to brilliant, guilty-pleasure effect by director Michael Bay (Armageddon) in the original (and clearly the best) expansion of the 1980s action-figure phenomenon.
It might well be a 143-minute movie about shapeshifting intergalactic robots using our planet to work through their anger-management issues, but you won’t be bored for a moment.
Stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox.
PIGLET’S BIG MOVIE (2003)
Foxtel Now
***
Unassuming and refreshingly uncomplicated, this Disney-produced cartoon is tailor-made for the very young.
Better still, if they are familiar with the honey-addicted ways of Winnie the Pooh and his Hundred Acre Wood posse, it will prove a total delight.
Core messages of the importance of friendship and lending a helping hand are delivered in a touching way.
TED (2012)
Netflix, Amazon
***1/2
The title character might be a teddy bear, but kids’ stuff this definitely ain’t.
Ted is a plush toy with a trash mouth, voiced by director Seth MacFarlane (creator of the animated TV hit Family Guy).
Ted gained his magic ability to walk and talk as a result of a wish made by John (Mark Wahlberg) as a lonely 8-year-old boy.
Almost 30 years later, either is yet to grow up.
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