Pixar has, without a doubt, retained its charm throughout the many years it has stood strong. After this year's Up and last year's WALL-E outtings, it's good to just sit back and enjoy some of their earlier films like this. And, as much as I try to avoid clichés in writing, they're better than I remember!
The re-rendering makes textures, lighting, etc. on both films look much better than before; though it's more noticable with the first movie. The faces of the humans look a good deal better, as well. And this goes without saying, that the two movies are spectacular. Inbetween them is a 10-minute intermission where you can watch Toy Story Trivia and answer questions, theatre-styled. Most questions are easy, though you have to remember that the point of the Double-Feature was so that new audiences could experience the films on the big screen. There's also a bit of nice, new 2-D animation that plays before the movies start, with a bit of a Mary Blair-ish flair to them, at least color-wise.
And of course, there's the big question of how they looked in 3-D. Like Up, the 3-D was used to enhance the experience, the moods and the scenes, and never at times seemed gimmicky or overdone. The car chase scene in the first film, in particular, looked spectacular with the new 3-D effects.
The trailer attached for Toy Story 3 was also amazing, and much better than I anticipated. It starts with home videos of Andy playing with his toys, and then it shows him now, a young adult, with his mother telling him that he can only bring one toy with him to college. Naturally, all the toys panic, and Mr. Potato Head cracks a joke about how much they'd sell for on eBay (in the spirit of Peach's line from Finding Nemo). Buzz accidentally gets set to Spanish-speaking mode by the end of the trailer as it presents us with the catchphrase for the upcoming threequel, "No toy gets left behind." A fitting statement.
It was a very enjoyable theatre experience, and well-worth the money if you're a big fan of these films or have never seen them before or in theatres. Highly recommended, as this may be the last time we get to see the movies on the big screen....