Nightmare Fuel / Toy Story 2

Byyyyyeeeee Woooooooddddyyyyyy...

Moment pages are Spoilers Off per site policy. You Have Been Warned.

---

• Woody's nightmare is already bad enough, but it becomes even worse once you realize being dragged into a trash can of dismembered doll parts is Woody's equivalent of being dragged into a grave by bloody, mutilated human body parts.
  • The original Toy Story was supposed to have a similar scene, but instead of being dragged into a trash can of dismembered doll parts, Woody was eaten alive by cockroaches!
  • The way Andy acts in the nightmare. The moment he doesn't want Woody anymore, he starts speaking in a creepy monotone and has a glassy, lifeless stare that is truly unnerving. What makes it even worse is that this stare isn't looking at Woody. It's not directed at the camera either. It's just... into nothingness. And when he says "Bye Woody" and looks at him one last time before closing the trash can, the lighting and shading of his face make him look almost like something straight out of The Ring. What's worse, certain foreign dubs of the movie distort Andy's voice the moment he drops Woody to make it sound demonic, which coupled with his stance makes it look like the poor child is possessed.
  • The original storyboard version adds an extra cryptic touch, when Woody first calls out to the other toys, they seemingly ignore him, or alternatively fail to notice him, foreshadowing the nightmarish fear he is not considered a working toy anymore.
  • Also in the original storyboard version, Andy stares at the camera with those glassy lifeless eyes.
• Buzz's Family-Unfriendly Death at the beginning of the film, where he gets disintegrated from the waist up by Emperor Zurg. Sure, it's a video game, and not the real Buzz, but it's still unsettling.
• Jessie's fear of the dark (or at least being put back into storage) is frighteningly realistic. When Woody reveals he doesn't intend to go to Japan with the rest of the gang, Jessie starts freaking out, hyperventilating and stroking her braid. You can tell she's clearly distressed. Later in the movie, Jessie is trapped in the green suitcase and is unable to get out before falling down the compartment slide and loaded onto the plane. By the time Woody reaches her and opens the case, we see Jessie curled up in a fetal position. It's scary how realistic the fear is represented and how close it can hit home.
  • It's clear that Jessie has some serious psychological problems: claustrophobia from being in storage for so long, separation anxiety from Emily abandoning her, not to mention Pete lying to her for so many years about the fate of their show and giving her trust issues. And it's all played very straight. The fact that she's otherwise peppy and excited suggests that she's a Sad Clown.
• There's an Easter Egg on the two-disc special edition DVD that shows a rough animation of the scene "Jessie's Song" where Jessie is dropped off for charity. Fair enough. But after the car goes over the hill, it's just silent for a few seconds before the car suddenly careens over the hill and goes all over the place with the tires squealing before it crashes into the boxes. All while in Jessie's point-of-view. Worse is that it's described as a "hilarious outtake". Here's the easter egg.
• Stinky Pete finally flipping out at Jessie and Woody when he reveals he's been the one sabotaging Woody's escape plans.
  Stinky Pete: I tried reasoning with you, Woody, but you keep forcing me to take extreme measures.
  Woody: Wait a minute, you turned on the TV last night, not Jessie!
  Stinky Pete: Look, we have an eternity to spent together in the museum. Let's not start off by point fingers, shall we?
  Woody: You really are "Stinky Pete", aren't you?
  Jessie: Prospector, this is fair.
  Stinky Pete: Fair? I'll tell you what's not fair: spending a lifetime on a dime-store shelf watching every other toy be sold. Well, finally my waiting has paid off, and no hand-me-down cowboy doll is gonna mess it up for me now!
  • The first person shot of Buzz opening the chest containing Woody and the Round-Up gang in the airport has a livid-looking Stinky Pete popping out and punching him. Then, there's the terrifyingly deliberate way he tears Woody's arm with his pickax and threatens to dismember him if he doesn't come quietly.
    Stinky Pete: Your choice, Woody. You can go to Japan together or in pieces! He fixed you once, he can fix you again!
  • While Pete's response to Woody refusing his orders (raising his pickaxe) is already creepy on the original version, the Finnish dub turns it up to eleven by (possibly mis)translating Pete's accompanying line "Fine" as "Hyvä" - as in "Good", changing the context from "You forced my hand" to "I'm going to enjoy this".
• A bit of understated Nightmare Fuel: After Utility Belt Buzz overpowers Buzz, he shoves Buzz into an empty "Buzz Lightyear" box (all while Buzz keeps shouting at him that they are all actually toys), and places him up on the shelf... and then Mr. Potato Head and the others come down the aisle and take him (mistaking him for their Buzz). All while Buzz is screaming and struggling from inside his box.
  • And then, a few scenes later, we cut back to the aisle as Buzz busts back out.
• It's more a mundane case, but the suspense as Andy's mom comes to take toys for the yard sale. All these toys can do is stand and wait as she glances around them, it already established they are terrified of being put in the sale and taken from all their friends. Even worse when it actually happens in the third movie. She hovers around Slinky and even picks up Rex at one point (you can even see the latter's eyes shift and bulge terrified), though they avoid their fate. Wheezy on the other hand isn't so lucky...
• Three words: Evil Emperor Zurg. The video game was one thing, but when the real thing (er...toy) is accidentally released from his packaging, he immediately seeks out Buzz Lightyear so he can kill him. The glowing red eyes, the sinister voice, and the determination to eliminate his hated enemy show he's not messing around. If a delusional space toy like Buzz Lightyear causes problems, just imagine what a delusional space toy of a super villain could do...
  • And if that wasn't frightening enough? Just as Andy's toys are about to arrive at the elevator car to try and rescue Woody, they end up with a very horrified look on their face as the car arrives to its floor. In the dark of the shadows arises Zurg, his menacing eyes more than enough to send Utility Belt Buzz and Rex into a fright. Even Andy's Buzz, who's well aware of his status as a toy by this point, can't help but express terror on his face seeing a delusional version of his foe blocking their only path between them and rescuing Woody.
  • The fight itself has its dark moments. When it seems like Utility Belt Buzz has the drop on Zurg, he disappears...only to return in full fury and choke Buzz. Rex is horrified as he can only watch while Zurg twists and throws Buzz onto the roof of the car, demanding a surrender. Buzz refuses, citing that Zurg killed his father. All Zurg does is reveal the truth, forcing the poor toy to do a Skyward Scream as he writhes in horror:
  Zurg: No Buzz. I. Am. Your father.
  • Then, Zurg is about to "execute" Buzz. It's not like he actually can (what with him being a toy and all), but you can see that Buzz is too caught up in his Heroic BSoD to do anything, utterly distraught, almost as if he wants Zurg to end him. Rex is so horrified that he can't look, only saving Buzz on accident when he knocks Zurg down the elevator shaft. All Zurg can do is scream as he falls to his demise, his eyes fading as Randy Newman's score provides a backdrop of impending doom for the villain. He's lucky he even survived such a devastating fall, when he could have easily been smashed to pieces when he hit the bottom of the shaft.
• The video game is far from the scariest Disney game, but it still has some frightening elements.
  • In the film, Prospector stated that Woody had no business being on the streets at night in his condition as a damaged toy. While you could try to chalk it up to Prospector’s manipulations, the game really takes advantage of the fact that you’re a toy leaving the safety of home and going out into the real world on a rescue mission. Thankfully, the only threats are just the never-ending army of hostile toys, but the way the levels are designed certainly make you feel like a toy fending for themselves.
  • When you fall from a high ledge, Buzz will settle into a flailing animation as he begins screaming the whole way down. It’s negated by Buzz’s screaming being portrayed by some rather hammy editing of Tim Allen’s previous recorded lines, and how you don’t take any fall damage, but the long moments where you fall and feel the controller vibrating certainly feel unsettling. Especially in levels such as “Elevator Hop” and “Alleys and Gulleys”.
• The main bosses of the game run the gamut from creepy and unexplained to personal, major threats.
  • When you reach the first boss level, “Bombs Away”, the sun is setting, and as the plane approaches, it hits you that this thing is the guardian preventing you from striking out into the world for your journey. The plane acts as a final test for what’s effectively the game’s tutorial section, as if to say “playtime’s over, from here on out, it’s the real world.”
  • Several of the early bosses have no explanation, with the game simply instructing you to defeat them once you encounter them. This includes the Zurg kite, the jackhammer, the dinosaur robot, and especially the evil clown spinning-top in “Alleys and Gulleys”. You have no idea what he’s been doing waiting at the top of the building (which you only reach after a long, tricky ascent enabled only by some back-pedaling), but he’s ready for you. The laugh he makes whenever he hits are you are also pretty creepy.
  • The second major boss is the mysterious slime monster. From the moment you arrive at the level on the selection screen, you hear eerie, ominous wind and… something else howling. It gets you nervous before you even start the level. Once you do challenge the monster, he erupts from a trash can, growing larger and harder to defeat as time goes on, making inhuman, deep laughs whenever he recharges himself. Thankfully, he’s the boss before the lighter levels at Al’s Toy Barn, so he’s the darkest point before the dawn in a fashion.
  • The third major boss is played up as a creepy alien invader, but is pretty tame. But then you get to the big confrontation with Zurg. Much like the Slime Monster’s level, you can hear an ominous ambiance when you arrive at his level in the selection screen. Zurg is substantially bigger than you, can inexplicably fly, and his weapon fire can actually hurt you. He’s on the cover of the game for good reason. Even when you defeat him and he falls into the abyss of the elevator shaft, he disappears into a murky green explosion that looks otherworldly.
• “Tarmac Trouble” is a tense, wide open level set at a runway during a thunderstorm. The game manual actually describes your mission as to hurry up and save Woody before it’s too late, making for a rather anxiety-inducing penultimate level.
• “Prospector Showdown” starts by finally showing Woody for the first time in-game… but he’s quickly knocked aside by the arrival of Prospector and his henchmen Blacksmith and Gunslinger. Here’s hoping you saved up some lives, because this trio is dead-set on killing you. The constantly shifting airplane also makes for an unsettling arena as three of the toughest bosses in the game are gunning for you all at once.

---