Toy Story

Pixar Films Chronology

A Bug's Life

"Hang on for the comedy that goes to infinity and beyond!"

—Tagline

Toy Story is Pixar's first full feature film, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures in the US on November 22, 1995. It was written by John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow, and was directed by Lasseter as well. The film's music was written by Randy Newman. Toy Story is also the first film to be made entirely out of CGI.

The film was so successful that it prompted a sequel, Toy Story 2. Eleven years later, a second sequel, Toy Story 3, was also released. Both sequels were hits and garnered critical acclaim similar to the first. Leading up to the third film's premiere, as part of its promotion, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were also re-released as a double feature in Disney Digital 3-D on October 2, 2009.

Plot

The film begins with a six-year-old boy named Andy Davis playing with his toys, such as a Mr. Potato Head toy, a plastic dinosaur toy, and his favorite toy, Woody, a cowboy doll. He takes Woody into the living room and plays with him some more, with a short interruption talking to his mom about his birthday party later that day and the upcoming move to a new house. After playing with Woody, Andy starts helping his mother by carrying his baby sister Molly to her. While he's away, all of the toys come to life.

The party makes all the toys extremely nervous, wondering if Andy will get a toy that will replace them. Woody sends the small green soldiers led by Sarge downstairs to spy on the party. At the end of the party, Ms. Davis pulls out a surprise gift from behind her, which turns out to be a Buzz Lightyear action figure in spaceship packaging. Andy and his friends run upstairs to open him and in his hurry Andy knocks Woody off the bed. They quickly leave, and the other toys welcome the newcomer. Buzz however doesn't seem to be aware that he is a piece of plastic, believing himself to be the actual Buzz Lightyear on a mission to save the universe from Evil Emperor Zurg. The other toys take to him immediately, being impressed by his many features. Only Woody is unconvinced, showing jealousy towards Buzz, who might replace him as Andy's favorite toy. As time passes, Andy replaces many of his cowboy themed room decorations with space ones causing Woody's resentment to rise while Buzz attempts to fix his 'damaged spaceship' (in reality, a piece of the packaging had been torn).

Sometime later, Mrs. Davis takes Andy and Molly on a trip to the space-themed Pizza Planet restaurant. Andy asks if he can bring any toys, and she agrees to let him take one. Woody, knowing Andy will choose Buzz, plans to trap him in a gap behind Andy's desk by using RC so Andy won't find him. However the plan goes badly wrong and instead knocks him out the window by accident. When the other toys learn of Woody's actions, most of them think Woody tried to kill Buzz out of jealousy. They then try to attack him, but Woody is rescued when Andy, unable to find Buzz, takes Woody on the trip instead. At a stop at a Dinoco gas station to refuel the car, Woody (after pondering how he's going to convince the toys that the whole thing was an accident) finds that Buzz grabbed ahold of the family's minivan and is with them. After a conversation, the two toys begin to fight, knocking each other out of the minivan, and are left behind when it drives away. Woody convinces Buzz to hitch a lift on a Pizza Planet truck in order to return to Andy.

Woody finds Andy there, but Buzz, still thinking he's a real space ranger, climbs into a toy crane game, thinking that it's a spaceship that will take him to Emperor Zurg's location. Woody goes in after him, but the two eventually are found by Sid Phillips, who lives next door to Andy and is known to torture and destroy toys just for fun.

Left alone in Sid's room, Woody and Buzz come upon a group of mis-matched toys, the results of Sid's many "experiments". Woody and Buzz react in fear, thinking that the mis-matched toys are cannibals. Meanwhile, at Andy's house, the toys continue to look for Buzz in the bushes. But when Andy and his mother come home, Andy notices that Woody's gone. The other toys wonder what has become of the two. Some are worried for both Buzz and Woody, while others express their hope that Woody has met a bad end. The next day, at Sid's house, Woody and Buzz, having been mistreated by Sid (Sid burned Woody's forehead with a magnifying glass), try to escape, only to run into Sid's crazy Bull Terrier Scud. Eventually getting out of Sid's room, Buzz comes upon a TV where he sees a commercial for the Buzz Lightyear line of toys. Watching it, he realizes that Woody was right about him: He was a toy this whole time, not a real space ranger. However, in denial (and one last desperate attempt to prove he's not a toy), Buzz tries to fly out of a window by jumping off the guardrail of the stairs on the second floor, only to fall to the floor, losing his arm in the process. He is found by Sid's little sister Hannah, who takes him away to put him in her tea party.

Woody finally finds Buzz in Hannah's room, dressed as "Mrs. Nesbit" and attending a tea party. While Woody formulates a plan of escape, Buzz is too depressed to care. When Woody throws a string of Christmas tree lights across the way to the toys in Andy's room, Buzz refuses to back him up; Woody tries to use Buzz's detached arm in a desperate attempt to convince Andy's toys that Buzz is with him, but when they see through this act, they take it as evidence that Woody truly did murder Buzz and leave him in disgust. The Mutant Toys then return and swarm over Buzz, and Woody finds that they have repaired him. However, before Woody can make friends with them, Sid returns with his new acquisition: A firework rocket. He decides to blow up Woody with it, but cannot find him as Woody hides in a milkcrate. Sid then decides to blow up Buzz instead but is stymied by rainfall. He unknowingly traps Woody in the crate by putting a heavy toolbox on top, a plans to go ahead in the morning.

Overnight, Woody tries get Buzz to help him escape however is Buzz is still depressed that he's only a toy. Woody tries to convince him that being a toy and is much better than being a Space Ranger, and Andy still thinks he's the best thing in world. Buzz doesn't know why Andy would want him, and Woody explains while coming to terms with his own feelings of resentment

Why would Andy want you?! Look at you! You're a Buzz Lightyear. Any other toy would give up his moving parts just to be you. You've got wings, you glow in the dark, you talk, your helmet does that... that whoosh thing. You are a COOL toy... as a matter of fact you're too cool. I mean -- I mean what chance does a toy like me have against a Buzz Lightyear action figure?

As Woody sadly states that he should be the one taped to Sid's rocket, Buzz looks at his boot where Andy has signed his name, helping his realize how much Andy loves him and how being a toy isn't too bad. The two try to escape (although Buzz accidentally knocks the toolbox on Woody when trying to get the milkcrate off of him). Unfortunately, Sid wakes up and takes Buzz out to blow him up, leaving Woody alone in the room. Even worse, Andy and his family are getting ready to move, with Andy depressed over having seemingly lost Woody and Buzz having only been able to find Buzz's cardboard spaceship and his cowboy hat. Woody calls out to the Mutant Toys to tell them a plan to escape. After a daring escape through the house and past Scud, Woody and the mutants end up in the yard with Sid. They decide to break the rules and they allow Sid to see that they can move on their own. Woody even speaks to him through his voicebox, telling him that his toys are sick of being tortured, then with his own voice tells him (in a sinister way) to play nice. This freaks Sid out and he runs into the house screaming, where his sister frightens him with her new doll Sally (a possible replacement for her original doll Janie, which was destroyed by Sid).

Now freed from Sid, Woody and Buzz try to catch Andy's moving van just as it is pulling away from the house. After saying farewell to the Mutant Toys, a harrowing chase follows, with Scud chasing them and Andy's toys not helping, since they still think that Woody intentionally got rid of Buzz. Luckily, Woody and Buzz get rid of Scud and the other toys finally see that Woody was telling the truth. Eventually, with the help of RC, Andy's remote control car, and strategic use of Sid's rocket, Woody and Buzz return to Andy, whose mom assumes they were in the car all along.

At Christmas, we see a scene similar to the birthday party, with the toys less worried about the new ones. Mr. Potato Head is pleased to find out that Molly has been given a new Mrs. Potato Head. When discussing being replaced by a new toy (like Woody was almost replaced by Buzz), Woody poses the question to Buzz, "What could Andy possibly get that is worse than you?" The answer comes in the form of Andy's first present, a puppy (which makes Woody and Buzz feel quite uneasy).

Voice Cast

Main Article See: Toy Story Cast Credits

Tom Hanks: Woody
Tim Allen: Buzz Lightyear
Don Rickles: Mr. Potato Head
Jim Varney: Slinky Dog
Wallace Shawn: Rex
John Ratzenberger: Hamm
Annie Potts: Bo Peep
John Morris: Andy Davis
Erik von Detten: Sid Phillips
R. Lee Ermey: Sarge
Sarah Freeman: Hannah Phillips
Laurie Metcalf: Ms. Davis
Joe Ranft: Lenny
Jeff Pidgeon: Aliens/Mr. Spell/Robot
Jack Angel: Mr. Shark/Rocky Gibraltar
Debi Derryberry: Aliens/Pizza Planet Intercom
Penn Jillette: TV Announcer
Mickie McGowan: Mrs. Phillips

Production

The film's working logo.^[4]

Toy Story began its life as an extension of Pixar's short Tin Toy, which featured Tinny, a mechanical drummer who tries to find his way in a baby's play room. The original plot called for Tinny to butt heads with a ventriloquist's dummy. Ultimately, Tinny was found to be too immobile for the storyline and he was developed as a "space toy", first named Lunar Larry, but eventually becoming Buzz Lightyear. Woody's character was gradually made more edgy during production, at the suggestion of Jeffrey Katzenberg. After this decision garnered an overall negative response, the character was reverted back to his former state of having good intentions, but a lot of pride.

Reception

Critical Response

Toy Story has received universal critical acclaim since its release in 1995. It holds an average 9/10 on Rotten Tomatoes and 92/100 on Metacritic. Time named it the 8th best film of 1995. In 2003 it was ranked 'the greatest animated movie of all time' by the Online Film Critics Society.

More recently, famous movie director Terry Gilliam praised the film and said it's "a work of genius. It got people to understand what toys are about. They're true to their own character. And that's just brilliant. It's got a shot that's always stuck with me, when Buzz Lightyear discovers he's a toy. He's sitting on this landing at the top of the staircase and the camera pulls back and he's this tiny little figure. He was this guy with a massive ego two seconds before... and it's stunning. I'd put that as one of my top ten films, period."

Box Office Results

Toy Story was the number one movie of the year in 1995 (beating Batman Forever and Apollo 13), according to Box Office Mojo. It opened the day before Thanksgiving and made almost $10 million on Wednesday and Thursday, plus another $29 million over the weekend. It was the number one film for its first 3 weekends, and then again the last weekend of December. During its theatrical run it grossed $191.8 million domestically and $362 million worldwide. At the time it was the third highest-grossing animated film, behind The Lion King and Aladdin.

Rating

Although this movie was rated G in the United States, it was rated PG in the United Kingdom most likely due to Sid's violence and the ordeal in his bedroom.

Sequels and Spin-offs

Sequels

Four years later, Toy Story was followed by a sequel titled Toy Story 2 which was released in theaters November 24th 1999. Eleven more later, Toy Story was followed by a second sequel titled Toy Story 3 which was released in theatres and 3D June 18th 2010. Tom Hanks,Tim Allen, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey and Jeff Pidgeon reprise their roles of their characters in both sequels. Annie Potts and Jim Varney also reprised their roles of Bo Peep and Slinky Dog in TS2, although in TS3, Bo was written out of the story (although she made a brief cameo during opening of TS3). As for Slinky Dog, because of Jim Varney's Death one year after the release of TS2, He was voiced by Blake Clark in TS3. It was announced in November 2014 that Pixar is working on a third sequel, Toy Story 4, set to be released in theaters on June 16, 2017.

Spin-Offs

One year after Toy Story was released, there were ABC shorts called Toy Story Treats. In 2000, Pixar released a Buzz Lightyear TV Show titled Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2-D animated spin-off TV series) which aired 2000-2001 and a movie called Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2-D animated spin-off movie of Toy Story) released direct-to-video 2000. In 2011 and 2012, Pixar released three shorts film that follow the events of TS3 titled Toy Story Toons. The first one titled Hawaiian Vacation was released in theatres and 3D June 24th 2011 with Cars 2. The second one, Small Fry was released in thaetres November 23rd 2011 with The Muppets. The third one, Partysaurus Rex was released in theaters and 3D September 14th 2012 with the 3D-re-release of Finding Nemo. Plus Woody, Buzz, Rex and Mr. Potato Head have recently appeared in a Halloween special titled Toy Story of Terror. They and the Aliens will reappear in a Christmas Special titled Toy Story That Time Forgot

Merchandise

See Merchandise

Promotion

Toy Story had a large promotion prior to its release, leading to numerous tie-ins with the movie, including images on food packaging. A variety of merchandise was released during the film's theatrical run and its initial VHS release including toys, clothing, and shoes, among other things. When an action figure for Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody was created it was initially ignored by retailers. However, after over 250,000 figures were sold for each character prior to the movie's release, demand continued to expand, eventually reaching over 25 million units sold by 2007.