Al's apartment building
Al's Penthouse is an apartment in Toy Story 2 where Al McWhiggin, the toy collector and owner of Al's Toy Barn, first takes Woody after stealing him from a yard sale at Andy's house.
Official Description[]
- Although Al is surrounded by toys, he has a different point of view than Andy. Al is an adult, not a kid, and his only relationship with toys involves a profit motive. The filmmakers established the distance between their worlds by giving Al a small apartment in an imposing high-rise, where the colors were more drab, the lighting was dim and artificial, and air vents would be seen as escape routes.
Toy Story 2[]
- (The elevator floor indicator stops at 23)
New Buzz: "Blast! He's on level 23." - Slinky Dog: "How are we going to get up there?"
- Rex: "Maybe if we'd find some balloons, we could float to the top!"
- Mr. Potato Head: "Are you kidding? I'd say we stack ourselves up, push the intercom, and pretend we're delivering a pizza."
- Hamm: "How about a ham sandwich: with fries and a hot dog?"
- Rex: "What about me?"
- Hamm: "Uh, you could be the toy that comes with the meal."
- ―New Buzz and Andy's toys discuss ways to gain entry into Al's apartment[src]
The apartment is on the topmost floor of the tall, 23-story (75 m) building located right across the street from Al's Toy Barn. It is a brown building made out of concrete and possibly constructed in the 1970s due to the appearance on the exterior.
Meanwhile, Woody meets his companions from Woody's Roundup, which consists of Jessie the yodeling cowgirl, Woody's horse Bullseye, and Stinky Pete the Prospector. Woody also finds a collection of merchandise including, but not limited to, a yo-yo with his face on it, a bubble-blower with his face and a push-down hat, a boot that fires a snake, and a record player. There is also a TV that plays the show Woody's Roundup, which was canceled following the launch of Sputnik.
The Woody's Roundup gang also learn that Woody already has an owner named Andy which makes Jessie upset and begins to panic and is afraid to go "back in the dark" (storage). It is here where Woody loses his arm and later that night he secretly attempts to sneak out of the apartment until Al's TV mysteriously turns on. The next day, after Woody and Stinky Pete have a talk about the future, Woody changes his mind and begins to think if being with the Roundup Gang in a museum is really all worth it.
Later, Andy's toys use a network of air vents connected to an elevator shaft within the building to gain access to the penthouse and save Woody from Al, which culminates in the Prospector (who turned on the TV last night on purpose) locking Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye inside the apartment, preventing them from escaping.
After Al returns to his apartment to pack Woody and the Roundup Gang into a case and leaves for the Tri-County International Airport. The toys then permanently leave the apartment to resume their epic quest to rescue Woody.
Trivia[]
- At one point, when Woody goes out to retrieve his arm while Al is sleeping, he must be careful not to step on the cheese puffs, or else he will wake Al. This mirrors a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana Jones, while inside a temple in South America to retrieve a Golden Idol, must not step on the sinking stone, which will trigger a dart trap at him.
- In Toy Story 2: The Video Game, there is a level based on Al's Penthouse. It shows the other rooms unlike the film, as it features a bathroom, kitchen, fireplace, and a bedroom with a model train going around a track over the bed. Also, the TV, display cases, and the other Woody's Roundup memorabilia are in a separate room rather than being in the same room when Buzz enters through the air vent like in the film.
- Al's TV is based on a real Philco Predicta television owned by John Lasseter.
- When looking closely at the elevator floor indicator, one can see that numbers 2 and 3 are not shown, but most noticeably number 13 is omitted, which is common for almost all buildings in North America (possibly due to triskaidekaphobia).
- As the toys exit the apartment, Mr. Potato Head throws his hat like a Frisbee to stop the closing doors, a reference to Oddjob's trademark hat-throwing technique in Goldfinger.
- For some unknown reason, Al's apartment doesn't allow children to reside in but only adults, as a sign on the front door of the apartment reads "NO CHILDREN ALLOWED". The reason for this could be either that Al hates kids so much he forced the staff to put up that sign, or it is one of the buildings that doesn't allow children (since some buildings don't).
Video Game[]
