I went to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 back-to-back in 3D at Northpark the other night. Because Toy Story happens to be one of my favorite movies and I have seen it possibly one hundred times, I decided to focus on purely the character aspect of the film. It is not the storyline of a film that makes a film great, it is the characters. Toy Story has a relatively linear storyline with a pretty typical conflict between the protagonists and the antagonists, but the characters are so rich and humorous the conflict creates itself, independent from the storyline.
However, I chose to carefully notice the personality traits of the more minor characters, being Rex, Hamm, and Slinky.
Rex is a toy T-rex, and everyone knows T-rexes are not smart creatures. At least WERE not. His character in Toy Story is enriched by this fact through his clumsy, confused, and insecure personality.
Slinky is the dog who gives full loyalty to Woody, even when everyone else is against Woody. Dogs are stereotyped as loyal and true to their owners.
Hamm is a cunning, confrontational pig. He has no trouble stirring conflict and drama between the toys. It is in the nature of a pig to be snobby and stubborn.
Although these are all obvious observations, I do not think these are connections the audience makes on a conscious level. I think it is interesting to look into character representations depicted in films and how it generates the conflict.
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