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About this book
The first computer-generated animated feature film, Toy Story (1995) sustains a dynamic vitality that appeals to audiences of all ages. This lively study explores how its depiction of a glimmering commercial world both deconstructs and affirms modern popular culture and in doing so provides a distinctive alternative to the usual Disney formula.
Reviews
I've read plenty of the BFI's excellent Film Classic series, but Tom Kemper's take on Toy Story is up there among the very best.' - The Crack Magazine
'One of the many praiseworthy things about the BFI's Film Classics series is that it has not shafted animation...Toy Story inspired so many [animated films] as to be genre-defining, so it is often easy to lose sight of what made the film stand out on its first release twenty years ago. With Toy Story: A Critical Reading, Kemper has given the film the in-depth analysis it deserves.' - Cartoon Brew
'A masterpiece of film criticism' - Toronto Film Review
'Tom Kemper's new critical monograph on Toy Story stands out from its fellows in the British Film Institute's Film Classics series not only in its choice of subject — a beloved and massively successful children's film, as opposed to the established classics or "cutting-edge" modern films typically featured in the series — but in the sophistication and persuasiveness of its argument. Kemper offers a wealth of insight on this foundational film in the Pixar canon, contextualizes it within the history of animated films and the pictorial arts, and highlights the film's surrealist touches. Most importantly, it accomplishes what any good single-film monograph should do: make you want to go out and watch (or re-watch) the film immediately.' - David Davison, Toronto International Film Festival
'One of the many praiseworthy things about the BFI's Film Classics series is that it has not shafted animation...Toy Story inspired so many [animated films] as to be genre-defining, so it is often easy to lose sight of what made the film stand out on its first release twenty years ago. With Toy Story: A Critical Reading, Kemper has given the film the in-depth analysis it deserves.' - Cartoon Brew
'A masterpiece of film criticism' - Toronto Film Review
'Tom Kemper's new critical monograph on Toy Story stands out from its fellows in the British Film Institute's Film Classics series not only in its choice of subject — a beloved and massively successful children's film, as opposed to the established classics or "cutting-edge" modern films typically featured in the series — but in the sophistication and persuasiveness of its argument. Kemper offers a wealth of insight on this foundational film in the Pixar canon, contextualizes it within the history of animated films and the pictorial arts, and highlights the film's surrealist touches. Most importantly, it accomplishes what any good single-film monograph should do: make you want to go out and watch (or re-watch) the film immediately.' - David Davison, Toronto International Film Festival
About the author
Tom Kemper is Lecturer at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California and Teacher at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, USA. He is the author of Hidden Talent: The Emergence of Hollywood Agents (2009).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Toy Story
Book Subtitle: A Critical Reading
Authors: Tom Kemper
Series Title: BFI Film Classics
Publisher: British Film Institute London
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2015
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84457-669-2Published: 15 May 2015
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: 112
Topics: Animation, Film and Television Studies