Lamp Life

Voices of: Annie Potts, Ally Maki, Jim Hanks, Emily Davis, Mila Crespo, Heather Hiatt
Directed by: Valerie LaPointe
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Animation, Short
Length: 11 minutes
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Bo Peep (Annie Potts) catches Woody up on what's happened to her since she last saw him, many years ago.

Review:

Tim: I've said numerous times how I'll always welcome short films set in the Toy Story world. It was exciting to get Lamp Life, a brand new short film that helped launch Disney+. It's pretty clever, actually and it feels like it tells an essential story, verses just a throwaway one. The short takes place after the events of Toy Story 4 and the bulk of the movie is Bo Peep telling Woody all about her life after they last saw each other in Toy Story 2. This is actually a story well worth telling. It further develops Bo as a character and it expands our understanding of her existence outside of the context of the feature films.

It helps that it's an interesting story she tells. Her "Lamp Life" felt grounded in reality- a baby lamp has an interesting existence- it's prone to damage, and babies quickly outgrow it. We watch as Bo moves from family to family, experiencing a series of ups and downs. Her story moves quickly, but it feels well thought out. It holds your attention as you wonder what adventure was around the bend. The movie does a good job of connecting to the 2nd and 4th movies while filling in the gaps with an effective story.

It was nice to hear Annie Potts voice this character again. She did a great job in the fourth movie and it was fun hearing her again here. I have to admit, I was pretty disappointing Tom Hanks had his brother, Jim Hanks, fill in for Woody. You cannot replace Tom Hanks and I wish he had been involved. Jim's voice is similar, but you can tell there's a difference. That was a bummer.

It'll be interesting to see where this franchise goes from here. The fourth film was the natural conclusion, but we've already got this short film, plus those "Forky Asks a Question" things that I'm not sure I want to watch. For what it's worth, Lamp Life is an effective short and I enjoyed it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Toy Story of Terror, Toy Story Toons: Partysaurus Rex