Toy Story

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Toy Story
Promotional poster for Toy Story
Directed byJohn Lasseter
Written byStory:
John Lasseter
Pete Docter
Andrew Stanton
Joe Ranft
Screenplay:
Joss Whedon
Andrew Stanton
Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow
Produced byBonnie Arnold
Ralph Guggenheim
Ed Catmull
Steve Jobs
StarringTom Hanks
Tim Allen
Don Rickles
Jim Varney
Wallace Shawn
John Ratzenberger
Annie Potts
John Morris
Erik von Detten
Music byRandy Newman
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release dates
November 22, 1995[1][2]
Running time
81 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$354,300,000

Toy Story is a 1995 American CGI animated comedy feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. It was directed by John Lasseter, had a screenplay written by Joss Whedon et al., and featured music by Randy Newman. It starred Tom Hanks, who was the voice of Woody, an old-fashioned stuffed cowboy doll, the favorite of human-owner Andy and the leader of the other toys; and Tim Allen as the voice of Buzz Lightyear, a "Space Ranger from Star Command" action figure and prized new arrival in Andy's room.

The top-grossing film on its opening weekend,[1] Toy Story went on to gross over $191 million in the United States during its initial theatrical release[3] and took in more than $356M worldwide.[1] Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, praising both the technical innovation of the animation and the wit and sophistication of the screenplay.[4][5] Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman said, " The first animated feature produced entirely on computer is a magically witty and humane entertainment, a hellzapoppin fairy tale about a roomful of suburban toys who come to life when humans aren't around."[4]

In addition to DVD releases, Toy Story-inspired merchandise has run the gamut from video games and Halloween costumes to model trains and shoes.[6] Buzz Lightyear's classic line "To infinity and beyond!" has seen usage not only on T-shirts, but among philosophers and mathematical theorists as well.[7] The film was so successful it prompted a sequel, Toy Story 2. Toy Story is set for re-release in 3D on October 2 2009, and Toy Story 3 is already slated to open on June 18 2010.[8]

In July 2008, it was announced that a series of comic books featuring the characters of Toy Story will be published by BOOM! Studios in collaboration with Disney Publishing.[9]

Plot

Cowboy doll Woody (Tom Hanks) is coordinating a reconnaissance mission around his owner Andy's birthday party in the days before Andy's family move to their new house. To Woody's dismay, Andy receives a new action figure in the form of space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), whose impressive features soon see Buzz replacing Woody as Andy's favorite toy. Woody - the former de facto leader of Andy's toys - is dismayed by his replacement and resentful towards Buzz. Buzz, for his part, does not understand that he is a toy: he believes himself to be an actual space ranger, and sees Woody as an interference in his mission.

Woody's plan to trap Buzz in a gap behind Andy's desk, thus allowing him to replace Buzz on a family outing with Andy, goes disastrously wrong and Buzz is knocked out of Andy's room into the driveway outside. The other toys accuse Woody of attempting to murder Buzz out of jealousy, but are unable to punish him before Andy leaves the house with Woody for the outing at the space-themed Pizza Planet restaurant. Buzz sees Andy getting into his mother's car with Woody and manages to climb aboard, where he confronts Woody while Andy's mother refuels the car. The two fight, and accidentally land outside the car, which drives off and leaves the two stranded.

Woody spots a truck bound for Pizza Planet and plans to rendezvous with Andy there. He convinces Buzz that the truck will take them to a spaceship. Once at Pizza Planet, Buzz makes his way into a claw game, thinking it to be an actual spaceship. He and Woody are subsequently captured by Andy's neighbour, the toy-destroying child Sid Phillips (Erik Von Detten), who plays the claw game and pulls both out.

The two attempt to escape from Sid's house before Andy's family's moving day. Buzz stumbles into the living room, where he sees a television commercial for Buzz Lightyear dolls. In denial of his true nature, Buzz attempts to fly but falls and breaks his arm from its socket. Woody is unable to get a despondent Buzz to participate in their rescue, even as Sid prepares to destroy Buzz with a firework rocket. In the movie's turning point, Woody admits that Buzz is a 'great toy' and that he stands no chance of being Andy's favourite. Buzz changes his mind and decides that life is worth living even if he's not a space ranger, but Sid wakes up before they can escape and takes Buzz, strapped to the rocket, to his backyard launchpad.

In cooperation with the nightmarish toys inhabiting Sid's room, Woody stages a rescue of Buzz and simultaneously terrifies Sid into running away in fear of his own toys. Woody and Buzz miss Andy's car as it drives away to his new house. Chasing the removalists' truck, they attract the attention of Sid's vicious dog Scud. Buzz saves Woody by tackling Scud but dooms himself. Woody attempts to rescue Buzz with Andy's radio-controlled car. At first, the other toys in the moving van mistakenly believe Woody is attempting to murder the car and throw him off the truck, but then they see Woody was trying to help Buzz. Buzz and Woody attempt to catch up, but their car's batteries run out. Woody realizes that he can ignite Buzz's rocket, and all three toys make their way back to Andy safely.

At Christmas, a reconciliated Buzz and Woody are staging another reconnaissance mission to determine the threat, if any, presented by the new arrivals - one of whom is revealed to be a puppy.

Production

Development

The first time John Lasseter saw computer animation of any kind was when he was working as an animator at Disney, and two of his friends were working on the CGI film Tron. He was amazed, realizing that these were new tools in the medium of animation and immediately desiring to become involved. He believed the key to making computer-animated productions successful was in their story and their characters. CGI technology was then very primitive by modern standards, and the studio wanted to make a new production every year, constantly expanding on what they could do.

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, who was the child's favorite toy. Ultimately, Tinny was found to be too immobile for the storyline and he was developed as a "space toy", first named Lunar Larry, then Tempus from Morph, and 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.

Woody was based on John Lassetter's favorite childhood toy, Casper the friendly ghost: a plain brown doll with a plastic face and a pull string[citation needed]. He was designed to be a little antiquated, and does not look like a stereotypical "favorite toy." They first considered making Woody an old ventriloquist's dummy with a top hat. Bud Lucky was the first to suggest that they make Woody a cowboy. John Lasseter liked the idea, envisioning a conflict between "the frontier of space and the frontier of the West."

The animators experimented on computers with several models of Buzz and Woody's appearances, considering what the characters were about and whether the studio could use these models effectively and expressively throughout a feature-length film. Andrew Stanton said, "[We] just did what we felt was right, regardless if it bucked the system."

During production, Robin Williams was in a heated battle against Disney (for more details see Aladdin's article) and agents everywhere were advising their clients not to do the film.


Casting

Tom Hanks saw a early design scene of Woody saying one of Hanks' lines from the Disney film Turner and Hooch. Said Hanks, "It fit....If I had come in and seen something that didn't make quite as much sense, I don't know if I'd be doing the movie. But I saw Woody, and he talked like I did, so it all made perfect sense."

The producers considered many actors for the role of Buzz Lightyear:

  • Billy Crystal was first offered the role of Buzz, but turned it down. However, he later 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, believing that had he done the movie it would have been him inducted into the Disney Hall Of Fame and not Tim Allen.
  • Chevy Chase turned down the role of Buzz because his agent advised him to; he had been very interested in doing the movie. When the movie became a runaway success, he seriously considered firing his agent, but did not because his agent was only looking out for his best interest.
  • Jim Carrey and Paul Newman were originally to voice Woody and Buzz Lightyear, respectively, but the studio did not have the budget to employ them. Instead, Tim Allen and Tom Hanks accepted the offer. Newman would eventually play Doc Hudson in Cars.

Direction

Music

Technological innovation/achievements

The film underwent several other changes during development:

  • Woody's girlfriend was originally intended to be a Barbie doll, but Mattel refused to consent to her use. However, when Playskool's Mr. Potato Head sales went through the roof after the first film, Mattel changed its mind. Barbie dolls appeared in the sequel, Toy Story 2.
  • Disney required several re-workings of the film, even going so far as to threaten to shut the production down.
  • A scene of Woody having a nightmare over losing his position as "favorite toy" was cut from the first movie, but was later incorporated into Toy Story 2 and briefly referenced in the video game adaptation.
  • Two songs did not make it into the film. The song "Strange Things" replaced "The Fool", and "I Will Go Sailing No More" replaced "Plastic Spaceman".

The Pizza Planet truck, an old, yellow Toyota pickup which, by tradition, appears in every other PIXAR movie, made its first appearance in Toy Story. On the back of truck, instead of "Toyota" it says "Yo".

References to other Pixar films

Main article: List of Pixar film references

Cast and characters

Toys

Humans

Additional voices

Crew

In popular culture

  • 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.
  • The Star Command salute displayed by Buzz closely resembles the Vulcan salute introduced by Leonard Nimoy during his portrayal of Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek TV series.
  • Conversely, Toy Story makes at least one reference to Tim Allen's sitcom. Sid's tool box, which Buzz and Woody struggle to remove from the milk crate which imprisoned Woody, was adorned with the Binford Tools logo on its side, referencing the fictional tool manufacturer that sponsored the Tool Time program on Home Improvement.
  • A 2008 advertisement for the Pixar film WALL-E that aired in the United States during the televised broadcast of Super Bowl XLII on FOX features Buzz and Woody talking about the film as they see an ad for it on TV.

Real-world toys that appear in Toy Story

Release

Theatrical

Home video

  • Toy Story was released on VHS and LaserDisc on October 15, 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.

Video games

There were several video games based on Toy Story, including:

Computer Software

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 of these titles are significant, because Pixar created original animations for all of them, including fully animated sequences for the PC titles.


Reception

Critical reception

The film was met with critical acclaim, garnering a 100% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[10] All 43 reviews on the site were positive. It had an average score of 8.8/10. The film's successor Toy Story 2 also has a 100% fresh rating.[11]

In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the greatest animated film of all time.[12] In 2005 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, one of three films to be selected in its first year of eligibility[citation needed]. In 2007, the film was ranked #99 on the American Film Institute's 10th Anniversary Edition special on the 100 greatest American films of all time. It was one of only two animated films on the list, the other being Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—its list of the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Toy Story was listed as the 6th best film in the animation genre.[13][14]

Awards

Academy Awards

Won:

Nominated:

Annie Awards

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.

Golden Globes

Nominated:

  • Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
  • Best Original Song - Motion Picture, Randy Newman for "You've Got a Friend in Me".

Saturn Awards

Nominated:

  • Best Family Film
  • Best Writing: Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton & Joss Whedon

Influence

Ralph Eggleston said, "The biggest thing this film does to advance computer animation, I believe, is it tells a story."

Music

Main article: Toy Story (soundtrack)

Sequels

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Numbers:Toy Story". Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  2. ^ "Box Office Guru". Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  3. ^ "Box Office Guru". Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  4. ^ a b "Metacritic: Toy Story Reviews". Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  5. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes: Toy Story Movie Reviews". Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  6. ^ Scally, Robert (1996-10-07). "'Toy Story rivals 'The Lion King' for merchandising muscle - home video". Discount Store News. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  7. ^ Dusek, Val (2006). Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing. p. 59. ISBN 1405111631.
  8. ^ Graser, Marc (2008-01-24). "'Toy Story' gets 3D makeover". Variety. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  9. ^ "The Pixar Blog: Pixar comic books coming". Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  10. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes: Toy Story Movie Reviews". Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  11. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes: Toy Story 2 Movie Reviews". Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  12. ^ Top 100 Animated Features of All Time at the Online Film Critics Society website.
  13. ^ American Film Institute (2008-06-17). "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  14. ^ "Top Ten Animation". www.afi.com. Retrieved 2000-06-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links

Preceded by Pixar Animation Studios animated films
1995 		Succeeded by
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