Toy Story
| Toy Story | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Toy Story.
From left to right: Bo Peep, Woody, Mr.Potato Head, Troll, Hamm, Buzz Lightyear, Sarge, Slinky Dog, Rex. | |
| Directed by | John Lasseter |
| Written by | story by: John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft screenplay by: Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow |
| Produced by | Bonnie Arnold, Ralph Guggenheim executive produced by: Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs |
| Starring | Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, John Morris, Erik Von Detten, Laurie Metcalf |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | Domestic: $191,773,049 Worldwide: $358,100,000 |
Toy Story is an Academy-award-winning CGI animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 22, 1995, and Australia on December 7, 1995, as well as in the United Kingdom on 22 March 1996. It was the first computer-animated feature-length film to be made and Pixar's first feature-length production. It grossed $191,773,049 in the United States and it took in a grand total of $358,100,000 worldwide. The primary characters are toys in the room of a nine year-old boy, Andy, and the film is mostly told from their point of view. Andy, his baby sister Molly and mother have smaller roles, as do the neighbour boy Sid, his dog Scott, and sister Hannah.
In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the greatest animated film of all time.[1] In 2005 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 2007, the film was ranked #99 on the American Film Institute's 10th Anniversary Edition of the 100 greatest American films of all time, the only computer animated film on the list.
Plot
The story begins with a boy named Andy playing with his toys, such as a Mr. Potato Head, a plastic dinosaur toy, and his favorite toy, Woody, a cowboy toy. 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 soon-coming move to a new house. After playing with Woody, Andy starts helping his mom by carrying his baby sister to her. While he is gone, all 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 downstairs to spy on the party. At the end of the party, Andy's mom pulls out a surprise gift from behind her, which turns out to be a Buzz Lightyear toy in doll form. Buzz does not seem to be aware that he is a piece of plastic, believing himself to be 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.
Eventually, when Andy is told he can take only one toy with him on a trip to Pizza Planet, Woody tries to shove Buzz behind Andy's dresser, but instead knocks him out the window. When the other toys learn of Woody's actions, they think he has turned into a killer. They try to attack him, but he is rescued when Andy, unable to find Buzz, takes Woody on the trip. At a stop at a Dinoco gas station for gas, Woody finds that Buzz grabbed ahold of the family's minivan and is with them. The two 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 reunite with Andy. Woody finds Andy there, but Buzz, still believing he is a real space ranger, climbs into a toy crane game, thinking it is a spaceship that will take him to his rival's location. Woody goes in after him, but the two eventually are grabbed by Sid Phillips, who lives next door to Andy and is known to torture and destroy toys, simply to amuse himself.
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, he notices that Woody is gone. The other toys wonder what has become of the two. Some are worried for both Buzz and Woody, while others express the hope that Woody has met a bad end. The next day, at Sid's house, Woody and Buzz, having been mistreated by Sid, (Sid managed to burn Woody's forehead with a magnifying glass) try to escape, only to run into Sid's maniac dog, Scud. Eventually getting out of Sid's room, Buzz comes upon a television where he sees a commercial for the Buzz Lightyear line of toys. Watching it, he realizes that Woody was right. He was a toy this whole time, not a space ranger. In one last desperate attempt to prove he is 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 an arm in the process. He is found by Sid's sister Hannah, who takes him away to put him in her tea party.
Woody finally finds Buzz in Hannah's room, dressed as "Mrs. Nesbitt" 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. The mixed-up toys then return and swarm over Buzz, to Woody's dismay. But it turns out they were only repairing him. Before Woody can make friends with them, however, Sid returns with his new acquisition: a firework rocket. He decides to blow up Buzz with it, but is stymied by rainfall.
The next day, Sid takes Buzz out to blow him up, leaving Woody alone in the room. Of course, it was also when Andy and his family is going to move. Andy, still depressed to lose Woody and Buzz, finds only the cardboard spaceship of Buzz, and a cowboy hat. Woody calls out to the mixed-up toys to tell them a plan to escape. After a daring escape through the house and past Scud, Woody and the other toys 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, telling him to "play nice." This freaks Sid out and he runs screaming into the house, where his sister frightens him with a dolly.
Now freed from Sid, Woody and Buzz attempt to catch Andy's moving van just as it is pulling away from the house. After saying farewell to the mixed-up toys, a harrowing chase follows, with Scud chasing them and Andy's toys not helping, since they still believe Woody intentionally got rid of Buzz. Luckily, they get rid of Scud and let the toys believe in Woody to see that he is helping Buzz. Eventually, with the help of R/C, Andy's remote control car, and strategic use of Sid's rocket, Woody and Buzz return to Andy, whose mother thinks they were in the car all along.
The next Christmas, we see a scene similar to the birthday party, with the toys again worried about the new ones. Mr. Potato Head is pleased to learn that Andy's baby sister has gotten a 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 final present, when a dog's bark is heard.
Development
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. Meanwhile, the original ventriloquist's dummy was designed to be sneaky, mean and borderline evil. When tests proved that the character was too unsympathetic, his character was gradually modified until he became the Woody of the film.
Other changes the film underwent during development include:
- Billy Crystal was originally offered the role of Buzz, but turned it down. However, he accepted the offer of voicing Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc., another Pixar film.
- Bill Murray was considered for the role of Buzz but lost the producer's number, Murray states he would have accepted the role and he deeply regrets losing the number, he believes that had he done the movie it would have been him inducted into the Disney Hall Of Fame not Allen.
- The part of Woody's girlfriend was originally intended to be filled by a Barbie doll, but Mattel refused to consent to her use.
- Disney required several re-workings of the film, even going so far as to threaten to shut the production down.
- Scenes of Woody having nightmares over losing his position as "favorite toy" were cut for time, but later incorporated into Toy Story 2.
Voice cast
Crew
| Crew Position | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Lasseter |
| Produced by | Ralph Guggenheim Bonnie Arnold |
| Original Story by | John Lasseter Pete Docter Andrew Stanton Joe Ranft |
| Screenplay by | Joss Whedon Andrew Stanton Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow |
| Executive Producers | Edwin Catmull Steve Jobs |
| Songs Written and Performed by | Randy Newman |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
| Supervising Technical Director | William Reeves |
| Art Director | Ralph Eggleston |
| Film Editors | Robert Gordon Lee Unkrich |
| Supervising Animator | Pete Docter |
| Story Supervisors | Joe Ranft Robert Lence |
| Character Designers | Bob Pauley (Designer/Illustrator) William Cone Jean Gillmore Dan Haskett Tom Holloway Steve Johnson Bud Luckey Andrew Stanton |
| Modeling Supervisor Layout Supervisor Shading & Visual Effects Supervisor Lighting Supervisors |
Eben Fiske Ostby (Associate Technical Director) Craig Good Thomas Porter Sharon Calahan Galyn Susman |
| Sound Designer | Gary Rydstrom |
| Production Manager | Karen Robert Jackson |
Awards
Won:
- John Lasseter received an Academy Special Achievement Award in 1996 "for the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film."
Nominated:
- Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score, Randy Newman
- Best Music, Original Song, Randy Newman for "You've Got a Friend in Me".
- Best Writing, Screenplay Written for the Screen: Joel Cohen, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton & Joss Whedon
Won:
- Best Animated Feature
- Best Individual Achievement: Animation, Pete Docter
- Best Individual Achievement: Directing, John Lasseter
- Best Individual Achievement: Music, Randy Newman
- Best Individual Achievement: Producing, Bonnie Arnold & Ralph Guggenheim
- Best Individual Achievement: Production Design, Ralph Eggleston
- Best Individual Achievement: Technical Achievement
- Best Individual Achievement: Writing, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton and Joss Whedon.
Nominated:
- Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
- Best Original Song - Motion Picture, Randy Newman for "You've Got a Friend in Me".
Nominated:
- Best Family Film
- Best Writing: Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton & Joss Whedon
Home video releases
- Toy Story was released on VHS and LaserDisc in October, 1996. It contained no bonus material.
- In January, 2000, it was released in a "Special Edition" VHS with the bonus short, Tin Toy.
- Its first DVD release was in October of 2000, in a two-pack with Toy Story 2. This release was later available individually.
- Also in October, 2000, a 3-disc "Ultimate Toy Box" set was released, featuring Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and a third disc of bonus materials.
- In September, 2005, a 2-disc "10th Anniversary Edition" was released featuring much of the bonus material from the "Ultimate Toy Box", plus new features.
- At that same time, a bare-bones UMD of Toy Story was released for the Sony PlayStation Portable.
Soundtrack listing
- You've Got A Friend In Me
- Strange Things
- I Will Go Sailing No More
- Andy's Birthday (Instrumental)
- Soldier's Mission (Instrumental)
- Presents (Instrumental)
- Buzz (Instrumental)
- Sid (Instrumental)
- Woody And Buzz (Instrumental)
- Mutants (Instrumental)
- Woody's Gone (Instrumental)
- The Big One (Instrumental)
- Home Together (Instrumental)
- On The Move (Instrumental)
- Infinity And Beyond (Instrumental)
- You've Got A Friend In Me (Duet)
Video games
There were several video games based on Toy Story, including:
- Toy Story for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and PC.
- Toy Story for the Game Boy
- Toy Story Racer for the Sony PlayStation (also contains elements from Toy Story 2)
There were also some "activity" titles released by Disney for the PC and Mac:
- Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story
- Disney's Activity Center: Toy Story
All these titles are significant, because Pixar created original animations for all of them, including fully animated sequences for the PC titles.
Sequels
- Toy Story 2 was released in 1999
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2-D animated spin-off movie to Toy Story)
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2-D animated spin-off TV show)
- Toy Story 3 is scheduled for release in 2010.
Toy Story in popular culture
- This movie was referenced three times on Tim Allen's sitcom Home Improvement. The first time, two trick-or-treaters come to the door of Tim's house, one dressed as Simba from The Lion King, and the other dressed as Buzz Lightyear. Randy answers the door, and gives the Simba more candy than the Buzz. Note that Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who plays Randy, voiced young Simba in The Lion King. The second time, Tim and his niece Gracie plays with a Buzz Lightyear doll. The last reference occurs in one of the outtakes during the credits, where Tim repeats Buzz's built-in phrases.
- In the Playstation 2 video-game Killzone, when main characters Rico and Hakha are fighting, the leading character Jan Templar says "play nice" in a similar way as Woody says to Sid.
- There are several Toy Story references in the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars.
- Lightning McQueen's number, 95, is a reference to the year of Toy Story's release.
- In the film, Lightning McQueen seeks the sponsorship of Dinoco, which is the name of the gas station that Woody and Buzz get lost at.
- Lightning uses "Lightyear Buzzard" tires, a reference to Buzz Lightyear and a parody of Goodyear Eagle tires.
- During the end credits, scenes from Toy Story are reenacted by toy car versions of Buzz, Woody and Hamm.
- The Pizza Planet truck makes an appearance in every other Pixar film
- Debian (a Linux distribution) releases are named after characters from this movie. (Sid, Buzz, Rex, Bo, Hamm, Slink, Potato, Woody, Sarge, Etch, Lenny).
- This movie has coined the (oxymoronical) phrase, "To Infinity and Beyond!" (though the term "Beyond the Infinite" was prominently used in 2001: A Space Odyssey of 1968). The phrase has been used in particular by set theoreticians, especially those who study large cardinals.
See also
- Toy Story 2
- Toy Story 3
- A113
- Tin Toy
- Cassiopéia, the 2nd computer-animated feature (the first to be animated entirely in the computer)
- List of Toy Story characters
- List of animated feature-length films
References
- ^ Top 100 Animated Features of All Time at the Online Film Critics Society website.
External links
- Pixar's official homepage for Toy Story
- Toy Story at IMDb
- Template:Bcdb title
- Toy Story at Rotten Tomatoes
- Toy Story at Metacritic
- Toy Story at Box Office Mojo
