Toys To Life 2

Toys To Life 2
Directed by	Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise
Produced by	Christopher Woodrow
Screenplay by	Michael J. Wilson
Story by	Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise Irene Mecchi Jonathan Roberts Linda Woolverton Michael J. Wilson Earl Richey Jones Todd Jones
Starring	Owen Laramore Dove Cameron Will Arnett Idina Menzel Catherine O'Hara Drew Barrymore James Corden John DiMaggio Catherine Zeta-Jones Jesse Tyler Ferguson Robert De Niro Adam Sandler
Music by	John Powell
Edited by	David Ian Salter
Production company	Paramount Pictures Dice Animation Cartoons
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	March 25, 2023
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$75--85 million
Box office	$323 million

Toys To Life 2 is a 2023 American computer animation comedy fantasy film produced by Dice Animation Cartoons and released by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to 2020's Toys To Life, the film was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. In the film's ensemble voice cast, Owen Laramore, Will Arnett, Idina Menzel, Catherine O'Hara, Drew Barrymore, and James Corden reprise their roles. John DiMaggio voiced John's cab driver in the first film, but in the sequel, DiMaggio voices Smartypants. They are joined by Dove Cameron, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Robert De Niro, and Adam Sandler, who voice the new characters introduced.

Toys To Life 2 was released theatrically in the United States on March 25, 2023. The film received massively mixed reviews from critics for its adult themes, toilet humor, and G-rating, although the animation, voice acting, and John Powell's musical score received praise. Despite this, it was positively received by audiences and grossed $323 million worldwide against its $75--85 million budget. Two sequels, Toys To Life 3 and Toys To Life 4 were released on March 9, 2026 and March 17, 2029.

Plot

One month after the events of the first film, John Playskool and his troopers: Ian the lion, Tina the train, Ouch the pillow penguin, Ribbit the frog, Robone the robot dog, and the four yellow fish Age, Page, Cage, and Rage have become heroes since saving the museum, with John as the new king. One day, the Toytown toys discover a portal, but are ordered to fear it, much to their disappointment. On the way to work, John loses control of his car and inadvertently crashes into the city clock Toyomia, causing everyone to evacuate and rendering them homeless. With Toytown to be auctioned off the next week, John and his troopers jump into the portal, which leads them to a place called "WonderWorld".

A cheerful know-it-all named Smartypants directs them to the Clock Store. John and his troopers win the right clock, but must collect $700 in 24 hours or they will forfeit the bid and lose the clock. They befriend a broke salesman named Guy Gamer, who explains they make enough money in time by visiting a popular named Jungle Girl. They attempt to bring Gamer Guy the car of its main character Claire X. Venable, but are forced to give it back after an intense high-speed chase. She and her crew, Stewart, Mary, Chad, and Kath explain that it is unnecessary to steal cars to make money and make a video of John. Claire suggests John and his troopers to come see her friend Besst and her assistant Wickk and make more videos at VideoToons, much to the chagrin of John, who reluctantly agrees.

As John and Besst make tons of videos that eventually become popular, Ian, Tina, Ouch, Ribbit, Robone, and Age, Cage, Page, and Rage spread the word across WonderWorld. In a matter of time, they make $1,357. John rushes to the Clock Store and buys the clock. Claire appears and reveals to John that she decided to stay with him after learning of his popularity. John and Claire fall in love. Fearing they will lose Claire, the Jungle Girl crew sends monkeys to bring her back. Upon learning of this, John follows Gamer Guy into the Dark Chamber, where an giant anthropomorphic talking snail named Slug offers John R, a potion that he thinks will make Claire's crew happy with the change. John accidentally drops R, which detects Claire as an insecurity and reboots Jungle Girl. John confesses to Claire that the mishap was his fault. Feeling betrayed, Claire ends her relationship with John and throws away his crown, ordering him to never return. R scans John and duplicates him.

Meanwhile, John's troopers discover R has created zombie clones of John and inform a John, who has recovered his now-smashed crown. They find Claire hiding with Smartypants. Claire pins John to the wall and threatens him with a knife, intending to kill him for ruining everything, but John confesses he was trying to prove himself as a good king. As John's troopers try to fend off the zombie clones, Smartypants suggests John and Claire lure the clones into a anti-potion trap with Besst's help. However, the plan fails, and the zombie clones form a giant John. The giant John grabs Claire and tries to kill the real John, but Claire's crew appear at the scene, finally coming to terms with Claire making her own decisions. The giant John and R disintegrate, and John is saved from falling to his death by Little Spence, Mamo, Mousey, Ken the color worm, and the Red Monkeys.

John gives half of his broken crown to Claire. John and Claire reconcile and finally kiss, and Claire bids a heartfelt farewell to her crew. John, Claire, Ian, Tina, Cage, Page, Rage, and Age, Robone, Ribbit, Ouch, Little Spence, Mamo, Mousey, Ken, and the Red Monkeys return to Toytown. John and Claire marry at the museum, and Claire becomes John's queen.

Cast

• Owen Laramore as John Playskool, a blue snowboarder action figure who is a tour guide at the Toytown Museum and the king of Toytown.
• Dove Cameron as Claire X. Venable, the main character of Jungle Girl and later queen of Toytown.
• Will Arnett as Ian, a smart-talking toy lion and one of John's troopers.
• Idina Menzel as Tina, a toy train and one of John's troopers.
• Catherine O'Hara as Ouch, a pillow-sized penguin resembling dachshund who is one of John's troopers.
• Drew Barrymore as Ribbit, a Tennis ball-shaped toy frog and one of John's troopers.
• James Corden as Robone, a British-accented robot dog toy and one of John's troopers.
• Nick Frost as the four yellow fishes in John's family:
  • Age
  • Cage
  • Page
  • Rage
• John DiMaggio as Smartypants, a cheerful know-it-all in WonderWorld. DiMaggio previously voiced John's cab driver in the first film.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Besst, a algorithm that determines the trending videos on VideoToons.
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Guy Gamer, a desperate game salesman who can't make a sale.
• Robert De Niro as Slug, an anthropomorphic giant talking helpful-but-pompous snail who resides in the Dark Chamber.
• Woody Allen as Wickk, an algorithm who is an assistant to Besst.
• Claire's Jungle Girl crew:
  • Adam Sandler as Stewart
  • Bindi Irwin as Mary
  • BD Wong as Chad
  • Awkwafina as Kath
• Brooklynn Prince and Ellen Page as Little Spence and Mamo, two Tonka trucks who are mother and daughter. Little Spence was previously voiced by Ella Anderson in the first film.
• Sarah Vowell as 3-inch-tall elephant toy and Little Spence's best friend.
• Warwick Davis as Ken the Color Worm a snake made out of snap beads who is an inventor.
• The Red Monkeys:
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Ronald
  • Jim Cummings as Krasinski
  • Benedict Wong as Brad
  • Frank Welker as Creeko (uncredited)
• Jodie Whittaker as Anji, a Christmas ornament who is a teacher. She was voiced by Annie Potts in the first film.
• Fred Tatasciore as R, an insecurity potion.

Additionally, Bret Iwan, well known as the voice of Mickey Mouse, voices the store's alert messenger while Mary Elizabeth Winstead voices the store's clerk. Non-speaking characters include Goat, a goat and Guy Gamer's companion, and Johnzilla, a monster formed by zombie clones of John created by R.

Reception

Box office

Toys To Life 2 opened in select theaters on March 25, 2023, and was projected to fail at the box office due to its negative critical responses, but it did not. The film it grossed $80 million in its opening weekend. The film ended its theatrical run on June 23, 2023, having grossed $135 in North America and $188 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $323 million. Produced on a $75--85 million budget, the film was a box office success.

Critical response

Toys To Life 2 was met with a massively mixed reception from film critics, who compared it unfavorably to Ralph Breaks The Internet and lambasted the G-rating and overuse of adult humor, put praised the animation and voice acting. On the website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 35% approval rating based on 213 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "With a rehashed plot and potty humor (which is too disturbing for a G-rating), Toys To Life 2 is a disappointment, but it is still generally as visually appealing as any Dice Animation film to much younger kids". On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 43 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film a mixed review, writing, "Although it isn't the worst Dice Animation film, Toys To Life 2 falls flat". Rosie Knight of IGN wrote, "The original Toys To Life has what the sequel should have: the original storyline that led it to winning an Academy Award. Instead, the sequel borrows overindulgently from other films, although children today will be entertained". In a mixed review, Samantha Incorvaia of Arizona Republic wrote, "Though created to be a kids movie, this animated movie has humor targeted toward the adults in the audience. That's disappointing. However, it will leave kids laughing out loud".

Conversely, Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a more positive review, writing, "With a fascinating return of our favorite heroes from the original, Toys To Life 2 will surely appeal to the children in the audience".