Exposing the Bootleg of “Toy Story 2”

Recently I found a bootleg VHS of “Toy Story 2” that is well known online for being rare at a bargain price of only $9. (for context, the tape usually sells at a much more higher price, usually going for $1,000+) However, what you may not know is that the tape is actually very different from the rest of these. If you want to see that tape in great detail, how’s your chances of seeing a video about it today?

Thumbnail artwork by Dozer Davis in collaboration with Romano Brown.

[SpongeyBubby]

Most of the bootlegs I’ve encountered is just a literal copy of the standard retail release, nothing really bizarre yet.

[MattyTheDeer]

I know the reason why there’s no Audience reactions in these bootlegs.

These bootleggers use a radio and tune it into the movie so the Audio can be HD. I have a bootleg that had Radio audio then cuts to the actual theatre audio.

[epiclemon]

I was telling my mom about this VHS and it reminded her of a story.

Okay, so my mom used to work at Toys R Us around the time Shrek was being released on DVD. Toys R Us was having a promotion for the release that had to be mentioned every time someone checked out. Then one guy comes up and my mom mentions the promotion. Then the guy says “What? Shrek? I’ve had that for months now.”

[CECandCartoonian]

Toy Story 2, Simon Sez and The Sixth Sense is a weird combo I never expected in my life.

[khsmediacorner]

This is why I love bootlegs. You never know what will be before or after the actual bootleg.

I saw a video of a Nutty Professor 2 bootleg that had the Thomas and the Magic Railroad bootleg play at the end.

[CharcoalRabbit]

The cue marks from the film reminds me of the movie Fight Club. Specifically the scene where they spliced adult film footage into a kids film in the theater.

Gives me analog horror vibes without the horror part.

[joeybaseball]

I have a bunch of these I got from thrift stores, The Grinch, Rush Hour, etc. And they do suck. Mainly because there's barely any audience reaction. And that's basically the only charming thing there is about a bootleg from 25 years ago. But like you said, they probably filmed these when there was next to nobody in the theater. Which would make sense, because doing this in the 90s, was a very serious crime back then. And they took it extremely seriously. Even imprisoning people for literal years, just for filming a crappy quality bootleg. Something that the cops would just laugh at a theater owner today. And honestly, most theater owners probably don't even care now, as long as you're not shooting up the place. And bootlegs as a whole is almost entirely extinct now because a) a lot of people don't even have DVD players anymore, let alone VCRs, b) movies have extremely short theatrical windows now, sometimes as little as 14 days before hitting streaming. So there's no reason to waste your time filming a crappy cam version, or buying one off the street, when you can watch the real thing in glorious 4K in just a few weeks time, and c) bootlegs go straight to 123 movies now. So why pay for something you can get for free online?

[Tatertot.]

My grandma had a machine that could copy VHS tapes. So you'd put the movie in one side and the blank tape in the other. Thats how we watched a lot of movies (especially Toy Story 2) at her house. We’d bring our tape from home and she’d make a copy to leave there.

[ColdFuse]

I have an uncle that would get us VHS or DVD bootlegs just like this where it was literally a camera recording of a movie in a theater, except the difference here was that they were all made in Mexican theaters, and Mexicans are way more "expressive" than wherever this was made, so you could hear people roaring with laughter or babies crying or see people moving around in the recording 😂😂😂

They still sell bootlegs in big open markets, but I've never bought one in recent times. Back in the Napster and Limewire era, however, these theater recordings were pretty much phased out for torrented bootlegs. The most recent movie I got bootlegged was Megamind on DVD, and it played perfectly fine, but it was like a clearly 480p video file that was artificially rendered in 720p. Acceptable quality, audio was fine, but something was just off about it.

[sleekflash]

I had a bootleg tape with the same case. The tape itself was different, though. IIRC, it was a direct capture, possibly from another tape, that was poorly dubbed over. Whenever a character spoke, the audio mutes, and you hear someone speak over the lines in Spanish.

[joshuav]

I remember seeing a Q mark on my bootleg copy of cars as a kid. It was after McQueen said “yes” from his attempt escape from radiator springs and before he discovers he is running out of gas

[GarfieldCat-]

These always intrigued me bootlegs are like the most interesting of media

[jvargas]

I Was Cracking Up While Seeing This Bootleg VHS

[Rhettroizms]

Rip this vhs and put it on internet archive so something. The footage of an actual 1999 theater recording of Toy Story 2 is a legendary find. Even if its not that noticeable its cool to see what Toy Story 2 might have looked like in a theater since it barley gets re-released from my knowledge. And also because its funni

[khsmediacorner]

Bootleg Triple Feature:
Toy Story 2
Simon Sez
The Sixth Sense

[Adrians_Ideas]

Those “black dots” that appear in the video are still very much a thing in movies today. I saw it last time I went back in 2018 as well

[jocelynecupcake]

Don't act like the first movie isn't a bootleg tself. Toy Story is based off all the other toy themed movies, but mostly Raggedy Ann & Andy. Like, they act like it's so original when it's inspired by existing movies.

[Nesstalgia]

2:59 this is why this video is very underrated because of this one bit
honestly, i wish you got more views, the video is pretty funny af

[DaniJam]

What're you talking about? This VHS is how we all remember it.
(Jokes aside, keep up the good work! This was a very interesting video and it's frankly something that I've never seen done on YT)

[WinxAliNelCielo]

The one I’m trying to find is the one thats recorded from the 2010 DVD, macrovision completely fxcking the film up, all over a white matter disease documentary