[7.8/10] Tons of fun! As with most Pixar works, there’s a strong emotional throughline here that doesn’t take away from the madcap fun of the whole deal. Playing up Jessie’s claustrophobia while the toys are in the trunk makes it extra rousing when she gets herself buried in a box to go save Woody. And her taking Combat Carl’s mantra “Jesse finds a way” is a great example for kids of hyping yourself up, being brave, and facing your fears. Her resourcefulness and cleverness in rescuing her friends and getting Bonnie’s attention to save all the toys is one hell of a triumph.

The Pixar crew also has loads of fun with this one. As an inveterate pop culture nerd, Prickle Pants narrating the various movie tropes in play had me in stitches. Carl Weathers is a boon as Action Carl, with his third person speech and dramatic tone. And the little gags, like Buzz and Woody not being able to understand Mr. Potato Head’s hand signals, or a series of action figures led by “The Pocketeer” are all winning.

And hey, there’s stakes and tension though all this. As a Halloween-adjacent special, the short gets some real mileage out of our heroes being stranded in an unfamiliar hotel and picked off one by one. The setting plays nicely on both classic horror tropes and also the real life kid unease of being in an unfamiliar place. And the reveal that the culprit is a hotel manager who’s trained his pet lizard to steal toys to sell on eBay adds a truly despicable villain into the mix.

Overall, I shouldn't have expected anything less from Pixar, but this is a great dose of spooky-adjacent fun for anyone who enjoys these characters and their little world. And it’s a particular great outing for Jessie.