Toy Story 2 in 3-D

Directed by John Lasseter. Voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Kelsey Grammer, G cert, gen release, 92 min.

The only jarring moment in Toy Story 2, reissued in (yawn!) digital 3-D for two weeks, comes when Al McWhiggen, the obsessed toy collector, sets about sending images of Woody and Jessie to a Japanese client. Look how he goes about it. He takes their photograph with a Polaroid camera and faxes the images to his eager contact. Polaroid? Fax? Why not just use a Daguerreotype and a carrier pigeon?

This little bit of technological archaism only stands out because the rest of Toy Story 2(well, the slightly robotic humans aside) still looks so delightfully fresh and innovative. The film is, indeed, one of the most perfect sequels ever made. Serving the established characters honourably, while still finding time to make some new friends, Toy Story 2feels like both a continuation and a refurbishment of the original aesthetic. The scene in which Jessie, the cowgirl doll who alternately charms and irritates poor Woody, tells how her owner grew out of toys is almost as heartbreaking as the opening sequence of Up.

Alas, there is no 2-D option, but, as with last year's rerelease of Toy Story, the darkened image doesn't distract too much from the experience.