Toy Story 2 Trivia

Cameos, in-jokes, re-used animation and other trivia for Toy Story 2.

References to Toy Story[]

The Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg opening states that Buzz is in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector 4, which is where Buzz said he was stationed when Hamm asked him where he was from. Also, after Buzz lands, he looks around exactly the same way he did when he "landed" on Andy's bed (breathing and reflection included) and has almost the same dialogue when talking into his wrist communicator.
Andy setting up a stage for Evil Dr. Porkchop with his toys while preparing to leave for Cowboy Camp is very similar to what he did with One-Eyed Bart at the beginning of the first film.
When Woody fights Jessie on the desk, Jessie did an attack, pulling the thumb, which is the same one when Woody and Buzz were fighting in the Dinoco Gas Station beneath Andy's mom's car from Toy Story.
When the toys arrive at the Buzz Lightyear aisle, before they meet Utility Belt Buzz, Tour Guide Barbie mentions 1995 as the year when retailers didn't order enough Buzz Lightyear dolls to meet demand. Also, 1995 was the year the original movie was released.
Toy Story 2 intentionally reuses scenes from the original Toy Story, with many of Buzz and Woody's roles switched. The prime example of this being when Buzz is trying to convince Woody he's not a collector's item by saying "You are a TOY!" as Woody did at the Dinoco gas station.
Woody's "oof" when he falls off of Buster is the same sound, he makes when the bowling ball from the closet falls on his head in the first Toy Story.
A red toolbox identical to the one Sid owned in Toy Story (minus the Binford logo) appears at the yard sale.
Woody losing his arm is similar to when Buzz lost his (although Buzz lost his left, and Woody lost his right).
Woody having his arm reattached by the cleaner is similar to Buzz having his arm reattached by the Mutant Toys.
Buzz inspecting the Utility Belt Buzz is done in the same fashion as when Woody first inspected Buzz in the first film.
Buzz telling Utility Belt Buzz that he is not a space ranger while being confined to the Buzz Lightyear toy packaging is very similar to Woody telling the other toys that Buzz is not a space ranger from the first film.
When Zurg is fighting Utility Belt Buzz and smashing the buttons on his chest, it's done in the same way Woody was fighting Buzz, skipping the line "Buzz... Buzz... Buzz Lightyear to the rescue."
When Jessie was fighting Woody, she had him in the same position Buzz had him when they Fought at the gas station.
The Pizza Planet delivery truck Woody and Buzz hitched a ride on in Toy Story was used again in Toy Story 2 by Buzz and the rest of Andy's toys to get to the airport to save Woody (Pizza Planet's trademark aliens were also seen in the car).
Buzz and Andy's other toys chasing Al is very similar to Woody and Buzz chasing the moving truck from the first film.
Buzz looking out the window of the Pizza Planet truck to see Al's briefcase in the airport is very similar to what he did when he sees the Robot Guards of Pizza Planet from the first film.
Buzz and Andy's other toys disguised as a puppy kennel to enter the airport is very similar to Woody and Buzz disguising themselves as discarded food cartons to enter Pizza Planet from the first film.
When Andy's toys are leaving, Buzz gives Utility Belt Buzz the same Vulcan salute he gave Woody.
Buzz opens the helmet of Utility Belt Buzz, who gasps for air, similar to when Woody opened Buzz's helmet in the first film.
Woody and Andy's other toys looking weirdly after seeing Utility Belt Buzz gasping for air is similar to what Woody did after seeing Buzz gasping for air in the first film.
Utility Belt Buzz aiming his laser in front of Andy's other toys in Al's Toy Barn is very similar to Buzz aiming his laser in front of Woody in Andy's room from the first film.
Utility Belt Buzz referring to Hamm as "Slotted Pig" is very similar to Buzz referring to Rex and Slinky Dog as "Lizard" and "Stretchy Dog" respectively from the first film.
Utility Belt Buzz realizing that his thrusters on his jetpack are not working while he and Andy's other toys tried to escape Al's car is very similar to Buzz realizing that his laser isn't working after aiming it at the Mutant Toys from the first film.
Utility Belt Buzz also tackles Woody and says, "Watch yourself!" after entering Al's room much like Buzz did when he first met Woody and noticed the other toys coming.
Buzz surfing on the toy car ramp to help Woody get up looks very identical to what he did to prove that he can fly in the first film.
When Mr. Potato Head tries to open the window and falls out, his arms are a nod to Toy Story when he tries to lift a "weight", his arms fall off.
Slinky Dog leaving Al's apartment in a sad expression after Woody refuses to leave is very similar to what he did after seeing Woody Exposing Buzz's severed arm at Sid's house in the first film.
Stinky Pete says that once the astronauts arrived, children only wanted to play with space toys. Woody says he knows how that feels. This is a reference to his jealousy towards Andy playing with Buzz more than him in the first film.
Both films end with a final dialogue between Woody and Buzz if they are worried about something.
Jessie outgrowing her owner in a flashback is similar to when Buzz discovered that he's a toy in the first film.
In the yard sale, when Woody lands on the table where Al was standing next to, some padlocks surrounding Woody on the same table are the same padlocks that were attached on Sid's door in the first film.
Woody realizing what Buzz has said and choosing to escape Al's apartment with Buzz and Andy's other toys is very similar to Buzz realizing what Woody has said about being a toy and choosing to escape Sid's house with Woody in the first film.
There is a bunch of Bucket O Soldiers boxes on the side in Al's Toy Barn.
When the toys arrive to their first location to find Woody and are about to give up, Buzz encourages the toys not to give up by mentioning two events from the first film which Woody did not give up on, such as Sid strapping Buzz to the rocket and the toys throwing Woody out of the moving van.

Cameos[]

Early in the movie when everyone is looking for Woody's hat, Mr. Potato Head finds Mrs. Potato Head's ear. The scene cuts to Mrs. Potato Head reading a book version of A Bug's Life.
The ball from Luxo Jr. is shown in the Al's Toy Barn TV commercial. It can also be seen when Buzz Lightyear and the toys enter the toy store, and a container of those balls can be seen to the left of the door when exiting.
As Hamm flips through the TV channels looking for the Al's Toy Barn commercial, frames from several Pixar projects go by including Tin Toy, Knick Knack, Red's Dream, Luxo Jr., Pixar's various commercials for Tetra Pak, Listerine, Hallmark, Levis, Bunn and probably Apple and Tower Records and their old logo from the 1980s.
Flik and Heimlich from A Bug's Life can be seen close-up in one of the outtakes, returning the favor, after Woody made a cameo in in one of the outtakes for A Bug's Life.
- Heimlich can also be seen in the actual movie, when he is crawling on a branch just before Buzz Lightyear cuts through.
  - Also in the same scene, the Bug Bar from A Bug's Life is also visible.
The Cleaner who comes in to clean up Woody is also Geri from the short film Geri's Game. In one of his drawers, his chess pieces can be seen. He also has a drawer of loose eyeballs, a reference to Theodore Pauley from Pixar's next film Monsters, Inc..
Toys from A Bug's Life can be seen in Al's Toy Barn before Buzz discovers the Buzz Lightyear aisle.
In the very beginning of the movie, when it says, "Walt Disney Pictures Presents", Luxo Jr. can be seen formed in the stars (in the red circle).
Al's car in the film is similar to Flo from Cars.
Tuck and Roll and Dot from A Bug's Life appeared on Al's painting.
In Andy's Room, there is a calendar with a picture from A Bug's Life. The picture is from the Pixar 1997 annual report to shareholders.
The boxes that Al prepares to go to Japan are the same boxes that were used to decorate Bug City from A Bug's Life.

Cameos Gallery[]

Recycled animation[]

The tree in Jessie's flashback is the same as that from A Bug's Life.
The canyon from A Bug's Life is re-used for Zurg's planet. Note: the floating rocks in the canyon were a slight animation error, but John Lasseter liked how it looked, so it was used in the final version of the film.
Wheezy has the same feet as the Aliens.
When Woody fights Jessie on the desk, Jessie did an attack, pulling the thumb, which is the same one when Woody and Buzz were fighting in the Dinoco Gas Station beneath Andy's mom's car from Toy Story.

Other[]

The tagline is a reference to the Thin Lizzy song The Boys Are Back in Town. Coincidentally, the song was used for the trailer music, the same goes for its sequel.
Woody's Roundup was cancelled on January 12, 1957, as a reference to John Lasseter's birthdate.
The dog collar on the table at the yard sale was the center ring in P.T. Flea's Circus in A Bug's Life.^[1]
The painting over Al McWhiggin's living room couch is an abstract painting of the characters from A Bug's Life.^[1]
Jessie was originally going to be a desert plant named Señorita Cactus.^[1]
The shirt Andy is wearing before leaving for cowboy camp is from the Triple R Ranch. This is the same name as the ranch from the Spin and Marty series on The Mickey Mouse Club.^[1]
Wheezy coughs up more than 100,000 individual dust particles throughout the film.^[1]
This is the last Toy Story film to be released on a Wednesday in November (as for its sequels were released on Friday in June).
This is the first Toy Story film to be promoted by McDonald's inside the United States and Latin America, where the original Toy Story promoted it outside of the United States and Latin America (particularly in Europe and Asia).
Rex was playing Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which is probably a reference to how the first Toy Story video game was released on it.
- However, this one's game was released on GBC and PS1.
- The game itself uses stock sounds from Star Wars like Blaster fire and Darth Vader's breathing.
In Zurg's fortress in the video game, Lightsaber waving sounds can be heard when Buzz moves his hand through the hologram. In addition, X-Wing laser sounds are heard when Buzz deflects the lasers with the platform. Also, when Buzz steps on the platforms before they fall, the rhythm and the notes of the "Sunrise" fanfare from Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra (which is best known as the main theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey) can be heard.
Zurg's robots that appear in Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg have the well-known Cylon scanner from the Battlestar Galactica franchise.
During Woody's nightmare, the playing cards are the ace of spades, which is commonly referred to as the "death card" and was used in the Vietnam War.
- In the above nightmare, when Woody is thrown into a trash container, some of the severed arms belong to Rocky Gibraltar, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Emperor Zurg, Mr. Potato Head, a baby doll, and a robot.
In some US prints, when Buzz gives his speech, it had the US flag with "The Star-Spangled Banner" playing in the background. In some non-US prints, it had a globe with fireworks, with "The Star-Spangled Banner" replaced with a new anthem by Randy Newman called "One World Anthem". On some international DVD and Blu-ray prints, the flag was replaced with the globe, but "The Star-Spangled Banner" is still played in the background.
- In some Spanish-dubbed prints, the "One World Anthem" plays over the US flag, composed by Randy Newman.
In international prints, during Wheezy's version of You've Got A Friend In Me, the letters that spell out WHEEZY on the blocks are replaced with stars. However, in the 2010 releases of international prints, close-ups of the heads of Bullseye and Hamm from the crowd on each side of the screen were removed in the final shot.
- Additionally, in some English-language prints that used the globe with fireworks in that other scene, the blocks still retain the letters.
When Woody is trying to get his arm back from Al without waking him up is similar to when Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark is trying to get the idol without triggering any darts.
The car that Andy's toys ride to navigate Al's Toy Barn is seen earlier as a Hot Wheels-sized car being pulled out of Andy's toy box by the Green Army Men in their search for Woody's hat.
The Barbies repeatedly sing, "How low can you go?" in the party scene where they are doing the limbo, which is a line taken from the song "Born to Hand Jive" from Grease.
- The background music at the Barbies' party is the surf-rock classic "Wipe Out".
The scene where Rex is left behind and starts chasing after the car, and Mr. Potato Head spots him in a side-view mirror is an homage to the movie Jurassic Park.
It turns out that Zurg is Buzz's father, a parody on the relationship between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back.
Mr. Potato Head throwing his hat to jam a door is reference to the James Bond villain Oddjob who used his hat as a throwing weapon and as well as a Mortal Kombat playable Fighter Kung Lao doing the same thing.

The plane that takes off at the Tri-County International Airport has similar colored wing tips compared to Buzz Lightyear's.
The toy car that Jessie rides to help Buster is the same as her previous owner Emily's as seen in her flashback, sans the wood side paneling.
For some reason, like the first film, this film was shown only in widescreen for all of its home releases excluding the 2000-2001 DVD releases, despite A Bug's Life introducing the re-framed fullscreen viewing format.
In the Korean dub of the film, the toy museum is located in Seoul, South Korea, likely to avoid any references to Japan and Japanese culture, due to the tension between Japan and South Korea at the time.
This is the last Toy Story film that featured Jim Varney as the voice of Slinky Dog, as he died on February 10, 2000, the year after the film's theatrical release. Blake Clark took over as the voice of Slinky in almost all media released after, including its sequels.
Jessie's yodeling voice was provided by Mary Kay Bergman, but she sadly committed suicide, two days prior to the film's release (on November 22, 1999, which coincidentally is also the day its prequel became four years old), after suffering from an anxiety disorder.
This is the last Pixar film of the 20th Century.
This is also the last Pixar film to be made in the Point Richmond office before moving to Emeryville, California in 2000.
This is the last Toy Story film to be released on VHS.
In the UK, this was the first film to have a short film attached to its theatrical release; previous Pixar films Toy Story and A Bug's Life were devoid of a short film in said territory.
The dust in the scene where Woody meets Wheezy set a record for number of particles animated for a movie by computer.
This is the first sequel for both Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.
This is the last Toy Story film to be THX certified.
This is the only Pixar film where the theatrical version (with outtakes at the end credits) doesn't have a music closing logo, but the original 1999 theatrical release (with no outtakes in the end credits) has a music closing logo.
During the bloopers reel in the end credits, a few characters mentioned the existence of Toy Story 3. It came true 11 years later after Toy Story 2.
- The outtakes were added to the end credits on Christmas 1999. The 2000 DVD (Widescreen) and 2005 Special Edition DVD has the original credits, with no outtakes (This means the 2010 DVD was the first home media release to include those). The 2000 VHS and DVD (Fullscreen) has a reformatted end credits with the outtakes at the top of the screen instead of being on the side. The 2019 UHD release uses the bloopers at the credits, but the clip of Prospector talking with the Barbies in his box has been removed. It was also cut from the versions available digitally.
- It is also the only Toy Story film to receive a fullscreen release in the US (found only on the US version of the Toy Story 2-pack DVD set released in 2000, the international versions, as with all future releases including individual re-releases, only show the widescreen version).
On all DVD releases of this and Toy Story since 2010, the audio commentary was taken directly from the 2005 DVD
According to Pixar's Studio Stories: The Movie Vanishes, Oren Jacob, and Galyn Susman tell the story of when someone entered a "/bin/rm -rf *" command on the Unix server that Toy Story 2 was on. This command deletes everything "as fast as it can." It made all the data disappear in front of their eyes. 20 to 30 people who worked for a really LONG time had their work erased in 20 seconds. The machine was unplugged and plugged back in. This stopped the deletion, but still, most of the film was gone. Fortunately, Galyn had a copy of the movie on her home computer. The computer was carefully driven to the Pixar office and restored to the servers. This was later referenced on a license plate in Toy Story 4.
When the Barbie backpack containing Stinky Pete arrives on the conveyor belt, the announcer in the background announces the arrival of a flight named LassetAir Flight A113. The name "LassetAir" is a reference to director John Lasseter, and A113 is the Easter egg that has appeared in several Pixar films to date. However, the subtitles haphazardly change this as Atlantic Air Flight 810.
In the scene where Hamm is threatening Stinky Pete with his kung fu, Pork Chop, is the only dialogue exchanged directly between actors John Ratzenberger (Hamm) and Kelsey Grammer (Pete), both of which are most well known for playing Cliff Clavin and Frasier Crane, respectively, on the 80s TV series Cheers. Another main character of Cheers was Woody Boyd, played by Woody Harrelson. In A Bug's Life, Ratzenberger (as P.T. Flea) exchanged much more dialogue with David Hyde Pierce (as Slim), who plays Frasier Crane's brother Niles in Frasier's spin-off series. In the Season 9 episode of Frasier, "Cheerful Goodbyes", several actors from Cheers reprise their roles, which results in all three of them together for the majority of the episode.
- In the Cheers episode "One Hugs, the Other Doesn't", Frasier's first wife, Nanny G., is played by Emma Thompson. But 12 years later in the Frasier episode "Caught in the Act", she is played by Laurie Metcalf since Thompson had been cast as Nanny McPhee.
- In the Frasier episodes "Momma Mia" and "Don Juan In Hell: Part Two", Frasier and Niles' mother and a look-a-like of their mother are played by Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks' wife.
When the toys fall into the luggage room on the conveyor belt, Slink pulls off a label that says LHR, which are the airport initials for London Heathrow, an airport in London, England.
This was the final film to star Jim Varney of Ernest P. Worrell fame to be released when Varney was still alive, since he died of lung cancer a few months later. Varney's real final film was the 2001 animated Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire, since he died at the same time that film was still in production.
Originally, Toy Story 2 was going to be a 60-minute direct-to-video release in the market. But as the story was being written, Disney executives saw the story and gave Pixar permission to make the film be a feature-length film.
As Buzz and the other toys search for Woody and the Roundup Gang at the airport in the conveyor belt maze, Slinky Dog cries out, "Buzz! Buzz, my back end's going to Baton Rouge!" Baton Rouge, Louisiana is where art director Ralph Eggleston was from.
The TV in Al's apartment was actually modeled after a vintage television set that John Lasseter used to own.
When Woody looks at the Woody's Round Up toys, mock-ups of the toys were shown to Tom Hanks while he was recording, and Woody's reaction is actually Hanks' reaction recorded.
The scene where Buzz mispronounces "s'mores" and Woody corrects him would later be re-created in the 2010 Buzz Lightyear: Mission Logs episode "Blast Off", where Hamm corrects Buzz on the same mistake, and in the 2011 Toy Story Toons episode Hawaiian Vacation, where Buzz mispronounces "Hawaii" and Woody corrects him.
Pixar used 35,000 texture maps in Toy Story 2, 10,000 of which were used exclusively on the humans. They occupied 40 GB of disk space.^[2]
It took over a month for Pixar to digitally paint Al's car.^[2]
The most animation produced in one week of production on Toy Story 2 was 5 minutes and 42 seconds.^[2]
This film takes place in August (as seen on the calendar).
This is the only Toy Story film not to feature Randy Newman's version of the song "You've Got a Friend in Me", which is also not to feature it at the beginning of the film.
- This is also the only Toy Story film not to feature the Wilhelm scream.

References to Toy Story 2 in other media[]

The Linux fork which is the OS of the Raspberry Pi computer is called Wheezy.

Deleted Scenes[]

Godzilla Rex[]

This is another way of getting Woody into the yard sale box. It shows some of the characters getting in position for Godzilla Rex (who is played by Rex) to come. When Godzilla Rex appears, the Green Army Men "shoot" with their guns, but it doesn't work. Everyone runs away from him except Buzz Lightyear has a plunger and shoots it at Godzilla Rex, causing Godzilla Rex to go on a Hot Wheel car and knock over some things until he holds on to a chair, making it fall on the Toddle Tots Fire Truck which Woody is on and makes Woody fly off the fire truck and goes into a window and slides his way from the roof into the box. They deleted this scene because they thought it was too coincidental.^[3] It's likely that this scene was animated during the film's direct-to-video production since in the original storyline, Woody falls into the yard sale in a much similar way.

Crossing the Road[]

This was only partially deleted: the scenery was replaced, but everything else was kept. Originally the sequence where Andy’s toys cross the road was going to take place in a generic suburban setting, but Pixar thought that it would have ‘worked much better’ if Al’s Toy Barn were right across from his penthouse.^[3]

Changed Scenes[]

The original animation had Al not only steal Woody, but also fix him on his own. However, as the story went on, it became clear that this couldn't be possible, and the decision was taken to add another character, hence the use of Geri from Geri's Game.
In the film's climax when Woody and Jessie escape from the plane via the wheel hatch, the first animation shot had Jessie slip and Woody catching her from falling. Joan Cusack, who provided the voice for Jessie, came up with the idea of having it being switched around, and that Jessie saved Woody from falling off.

International Releases[]

In the scene where Buzz is leading Rex, Slinky, Potato Head and Hamm through the street at night, and Buzz tells the rest of the group, "We will not rest until he's safe in Andy's room," originally an American flag waves behind him while "The Star Spangled Banner" plays. This was changed into a spinning globe with fireworks and a different song, most likely to make it internationally suitable, not just in the US. However, the American flag still remains on the UK release of the video game and on television transmissions in the UK.
In the final scene, most releases show that Wheezy is standing on blocks spelling out his name, but in some releases the blocks only have stars on them.

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Toy Story 2 Fun Facts, Digital Home Video
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 The Science Behind Pixar Fun Facts
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 https://www.youtube.com/embed/XJFtlzCXBGo

[ts2_funFacts-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Toy Story 2 Fun Facts, Digital Home Video

[The_Science_Behind_Pixar_Fun_Facts-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 The Science Behind Pixar Fun Facts

[Rex-3] 3.0 ^3.1 https://www.youtube.com/embed/XJFtlzCXBGo

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