It’s Film Strip
Friday!
Toy Story
Release Date November
22nd, 1995
As of last Friday I completed the
list of Disney animated movies. Now, for the next 13 Fridays I will be sharing
what I find out about the Pixar Movie.
SYNOPSIS:
When Andy's away his toys lead a life of their own,
guided by Woody, a cowboy doll who's the head honcho of Andy's room. Excitement
begins when laser-totin' space ranger Buzz Lightyear arrives, threatening to
replace Woody as Andy's favorite toy. Competing for the top spot stirs up more
trouble and misadventures than anyone bargains for. If order is to be restored
in Andy's room, then these two toys will have to team up and realize that the
one thing you can always count on is a friend.
FUN FACTS:
Toy
Story is a 1995
American computer-animated comedy film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's
first feature film, as well as the first ever feature film to be made entirely
with CGI. The film was directed by John Lasseter and featured the voices of Tom
Hanks and Tim Allen. It was written by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Joel
Cohen, Alec Sokolow, and Joss Whedon, and featured music by Randy Newman. Its
executive producer was Steve Jobs with Edwin Catmull. Toy Story follows
a group of anthropomorphic toys who pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are
present, and focuses on Woody, a pullstring
cowboy doll (Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut action figure (Allen).
The
top-grossing film on its opening weekend, Toy Story went on to earn over
$361 million worldwide. Reviews were generally positive, praising both the
technical innovation of the animation and the wit and sophistication of the
screenplay, and it is now widely considered, by many critics, to be one of the best
animated films.
In
addition to DVD and Blu-ray releases, Toy Story-inspired material has
run the gamut from toys, video games, theme park attractions, spin-offs, and
merchandise. View-Master released a three-reel set in 3D in 1995, prior to
release of 3D films. The film was so successful it prompted two sequels: Toy
Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010). Both sequels were instant
hits and earned very positive reviews, similar to the first; Toy Story 3
is, to date, the highest-grossing film in Pixar's canon, as well as the
highest-grossing animated film. 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. The
film was selected into the National Film Registry as being "culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2005, its first year of
eligibility
Plot
Woody is
a pull-string cowboy doll and leader of a group of toys that belong to a boy
named Andy Davis, which act lifeless when humans are present. With his family
moving home one week before his birthday, the toys stage a reconnaissance mission
to discover Andy's new presents. Andy receives a space ranger Buzz Lightyear action
figure, whose impressive features see him replacing Woody as Andy's favorite
toy. Woody is resentful, especially as Buzz also gets attention from the other
toys. However Buzz believes himself to be a real space ranger on a mission to
return to his home planet, as Woody fails to convince him he is a toy.
Andy
prepares for a family outing at the space themed Pizza Planet restaurant with
Buzz. Woody attempts to be picked by misplacing Buzz, but accidentally knocks
him out the window, attracting anger from the other toys. With Buzz missing,
Andy takes Woody to Pizza Planet, but Buzz climbs into the car and confronts
Woody when they stop at a gas station. The two fight and fall out of the car, which
drives off and leaves them behind. Woody spots a truck bound for Pizza Planet
and plans to rendezvous with Andy there, convincing Buzz to come with him by
telling him it will take him to his home planet. Once at Pizza Planet, Buzz
makes his way into a claw game machine shaped like a spaceship, thinking it to
be the ship Woody promised him. Inside, he finds squeaky aliens who revere the
claw arm as their master. When Woody clambers into the machine to rescue Buzz,
the aliens force the two towards the claw and they are captured by Andy’s
neighbour Sid Phillips, who finds amusement in destroying toys.
At Sid's
house, the two attempt to escape before Andy's moving day, encountering Sid’s
nightmarish toy creations and his vicious dog, Scud. Buzz sees a commercial for
Buzz Lightyear action figures and realizes that he really is a toy. Attempting
to fly to test this, Buzz falls and loses one of his arms, going into
depression and unable to cooperate with Woody. Woody waves Buzz’s arm from a
window to seek help from the toys in Andy’s room, but they are horrified
thinking Woody attacked him, while Woody realizes Sid's toys are friendly when
they reconnect Buzz's arm. Sid prepares to destroy Buzz by strapping him to a rocket,
but is delayed a night by a thunderstorm. Woody convinces Buzz life is worth
living because of the joy he can bring to Andy, which helps Buzz regain his
spirit. Cooperating with Sid's toys, Woody rescues Buzz and scares Sid away by
coming to life, warning him to never torture toys again. Woody and Buzz then
wave goodbye to the mutant toys and return home through a fence, but miss
Andy’s car as it drives away to his new house.
Down the
road, they climb onto the moving truck containing Andy’s other toys, but Scud
chases them and Buzz tackles the dog to save Woody. Woody attempts to rescue
Buzz with Andy's RC car but the other toys, who think Woody now got rid of RC, toss
Woody off onto the road. Spotting Woody driving RC back with Buzz alive, the
other toys realize their mistake and try to help. When RC's batteries become
depleted, Woody ignites the rocket on Buzz's back and manages to throw RC into
the moving truck before they soar into the air. Buzz opens his wings to cut
himself free before the rocket explodes, gliding with Woody to land safely into
a box in Andy’s car. Andy looks into it and is elated to have found his two
missing toys.
On
Christmas Eve at their new house, Buzz and Woody stage another reconnaissance
mission to prepare for the new toy arrivals, one of which is a Mrs. Potato Head,
much to the delight of Mr. Potato Head. As Woody jokingly asks what might be
worse than Buzz, the two share a worried smile as they discover Andy's new gift
is a puppy.
Voice
cast
Main cast
- Tom Hanks as Woody
- Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear
- Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head
- Jim Varney as Slinky Dog
- Wallace Shawn as Rex
- John Ratzenberger as Hamm
- Annie Potts as Bo Peep
- John Morris as Andy Davis
- Erik von Detten as Sid Phillips
- Laurie Metcalf as Mom
- R. Lee Ermey as Sarge
- Sarah Freeman as Hannah Phillips
- Penn Jillette as TV Announcer
Additional voices
- Joe Ranft as Lenny
- Jeff Pidgeon as Squeeze Toy Aliens/Mr.
Spell/Robot
- Jack Angel as Shark/Rocky Gibraltar
- Debi Derryberry as Squeeze Toy Aliens/Pizza
Planet Intercom
Cast
notes
- Non-speaking characters include Scud,
Barrel of Monkeys, Etch A Sketch, Snake, Clown, and Buster.
Production
Development
John
Lasseter's first experience with computer animation was during his work as an
animator at Disney, when two of his friends showed him the lightcycle scene
from Tron.
It was an eye-opening experience which awakened Lasseter to the possibilities
offered by the new medium of computer-generated animation. Lasseter tried to
pitch the idea of a fully computer animated film to Disney, but the idea was
rejected and Lasseter was fired. He then went on to work at Lucasfilm
and later as a founding member of Pixar. Pixar's Oscar-winning short film Tin
Toy (directed by Lasseter) and its CAPS project were among works that
gained Disney's attention and, after meetings in 1990 with Jeffrey Katzenberg,
Pixar pitched a television special called A Tin Toy Christmas. By July
1991, Disney and Pixar signed an agreement to work on a film, based on the Tin
Toy characters, called Toy Story. The deal gave Pixar a three-film
deal (with Toy Story being the first) as well as 10% of the films'
profits.
Toy
Story's script was strongly
influenced by the ideas of screenwriter Robert McKee. The script went through
many changes before the final version. Lasseter decided Tinny was "too
antiquated", and the character was changed to a military action figure,
and then given a space theme. Tinny's name changed to Lunar Larry, then Tempus
from Morph, and eventually Buzz Lightyear (after astronaut Buzz Aldrin).
Lightyear's design was modeled on the suits worn by Apollo astronauts as well
as G.I. Joe action figures. Woody the second character, was inspired by a Casper
the Friendly Ghost doll that Lasseter had when he was a child. Originally Woody
was a ventriloquist's dummy with a pull-string (hence the name Woody). However,
character designer, Bud Luckey suggested that Woody could be changed to a
cowboy ventriloquist dummy, John Lasseter liked the contrast between the Western
genre and the Sci-Fi genre and the character immediately changed. Eventually
all the ventriloquist dummy aspects of the character were deleted, because the
dummy was designed to look "sneaky and mean". However they kept the
name Woody to pay homage to the Western Actor Woody Strode. Unlike other Disney
films of the time, Lasseter did not want the film to be a musical, saying it
was a buddy film featuring "real toys", with the story department
drawing inspiration from films such as Midnight Run, The Odd Couple,
48 Hrs. and The Defiant Ones. Joss Whedon agreed saying, "It
would have been a really bad musical, because it's a buddy movie. It's about
people who won't admit what they want, much less sing about it. ... Buddy
movies are about sublimating, punching an arm, 'I hate you.' It's not about
open emotion." Disney also appointed Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow and, later,
Whedon to help develop the script. In addition, Disney wanted the film to
appeal to both children and adults, and asked for adult references to be added
to the film. Disney gave approval for the film on January 19, 1993, at which point
voice casting could begin.
Lasseter
always wanted Tom Hanks to play the character of Woody. Lasseter claimed Hanks
"... has the ability to take emotions and make them appealing. Even if the
character, like the one in A League of Their Own, is down-and-out
and despicable." Early test footage, using Hanks' voice from Turner
& Hooch, convinced Hanks to sign on to the film. Billy Crystal was
approached to play Buzz, but turned down the role, which he later regretted,
although he would voice Mike Wazowski in Pixar's later success, Monsters,
Inc.. Katzenberg took the role to Tim Allen, who was appearing in Disney's Home
Improvement, and he accepted. Toy Story was both Hanks and Allen's
first animated film role.
Pixar
presented an early draft of the film to Disney on November 19, 1993. The result
was disastrous. It presented Woody as a "sarcastic jerk." This was
because Katzenberg kept sending notes to Pixar saying that he wanted more edge.
Katzenberg took Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider in the
hall during the screening and asked him why it was so bad. Schneider responded
that it "wasn't their movie anymore." Schneider wanted to immediately
shut down production, fire all recently hired animators and move the key
writers (John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Joe Ranft) into the
Disney Studio, pending a new script approved by Disney. Pixar refused and said
that the entire story will be changed in two weeks. As promised, two weeks
later a new script had been written that made Woody a more likable character.
It also included a more adult-oriented staff meeting amongst the toys rather
than a juvenile group discussion that had existed in earlier drafts. Buzz
Lightyear's character was also changed slightly "to make it more clear to
the audience that he really doesn't realize he's a toy" as John Lasseter
remarked. After the second screening Katzenberg restarted production. The voice
actors returned in March 1994 to record their new lines.
It was
Whedon's idea to incorporate Barbie as a character who would rescue Woody and
Buzz in the film's final act. The idea was dropped after Mattel objected and
refused to license the toy. Producer Ralph Guggenheim claimed that Mattel did
not allow the use of the toy as "They [Mattel] philosophically felt girls
who play with Barbie dolls are projecting their personalities onto the doll. If
you give the doll a voice and animate it, you're creating a persona for it that
might not be every little girl's dream and desire." Barbies did, however,
appear in the film's sequels, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Hasbro
likewise refused to license G.I. Joe (mainly because Sid was going to blow one
up), but they did license Mr. Potato Head. The only toy in the movie that was
not currently in production was Slinky Dog, which was discontinued since the
1970s. When designs for Slinky were sent to Betty James (Richard James's Wife)
she said that Pixar had improved the toy and that it was "cuter" than
the original. The film's related toys were produced by Thinkway Toys, who
secured the worldwide master toy license in 1995.
According to Lee Unkrich, one of the original editors of Toy Story, a scene was cut out of the original final edit. The scene features Sid, after Pizza Planet, torturing Buzz and Woody violently. Unkrich decided to cut right into the scene where Sid is interrogating the toys because the creators of the movie thought the audience would be loving Buzz and Woody at that point. Another scene, where Woody was trying to get Buzz's attention when he was stuck in the box crate, was shortened because the creators felt it would lose the energy of the movie. Two more deleted scenes, abandoned at the story reel stage, were actually seen as active scenes in Toy Story 2. The first scene was an opening sequence as a Buzz Lightyear cartoon, which ended up as a video game, and the second was the famed "Woody's Nightmare" scene, where Woody is thrown out, as he fails to glow in the dark and destroyed by cockroaches, but in Toy Story 2, he was thrown out because his arm was broken, and he was sucked in by other broken toys.
Animation
“We couldn’t have made the movie in traditional animation. This is a sstory that can only be really told with three-dimensional toy characters….Some of the shots in the film are so beautiful.”
~~Tom Schumacher, Vice President Walt Disney Feature Animation
Toy
Story was completed on a
$30 million budget, using a staff of 110; in comparison, The Lion King,
released in 1994, required a budget of $45 million and a staff of 800. Lasseter
spoke on the challenges of the computer animation in the film: "We had to
make things look more organic. Every leaf and blade of grass had to be created.
We had to give the world a sense of history. So the doors are banged up, the
floors have scuffs." The film began with animated storyboards to guide the
animators in developing the characters. 27 animators worked on the film, using
400 computer models to animate the characters. Each character was either
created out of clay or was first modeled off of a computer-drawn diagram before
reaching the computer animated design. Once the animators had a model,
articulation and motion controls were coded, allowing each character to move in
a variety of ways, such as talking, walking, or jumping. Of all of the
characters, Woody was the most complex as he required 723 motion controls, including
212 for his face and 58 for his mouth. To sync the characters mouths and facial
expressions to the actors' voices, animators spent a week per 8 seconds of
animation. After this the animators would compile the scenes, and develop a new
storyboard with the computer animated characters. Animators then added shading,
lighting, visual effects, and finally used 300 computer processors to render
the film to its final design. During post-production, the film was sent to Skywalker
Sound where sound effects were mixed with the music score. In total, the film
required 800,000 machine hours and 114,240 frames of animation, with 2–15 hours
spent per frame.
Release
Theatrical
release
Toy
Story premiered on
November 19, 1995, in Hollywood, California, paired alongside a rerelease of a Roger
Rabbit short called Rollercoaster Rabbit. Select Prints Contained The
Adventures of André and Wally B.. For its theater run, it was released on
November 22, 1995, at the beginning of a 5-day Thanksgiving weekend. The film
opened in 2,281 theaters (before later expanding to 2,574 theaters). The film
remained in theaters for 37 weeks.[1]
The film was also shown at the Berlin Film Festival out of competition from
February 15 to 26, 1996.[39]
It then came out in the UK on March 22, 1996.
Upon its
release, Toy Story was the only Pixar film that was branded with only
the Disney logo above its title despite the film's dual collaboration. However,
after the complete acquisition of Pixar by the Walt Disney Company in 2006, the
film along with the rest of the films produced by Pixar now feature the Disney·Pixar
brand.
Prior to
the film's release, executive producer and Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs
stated "If Toy Story is a modest hit—say $75 million at the box
office—we'll [Pixar and Disney] both break even. If it gets $100 million, we'll
both make money. But if it's a real blockbuster and earns $200 million or so at
the box office, we'll make good money, and Disney will make a lot of
money." Upon its release on November 22, 1995, Toy Story managed to gross
more than $350 million worldwide. Disney chairman Michael Eisner stated "I
don't think either side thought Toy Story would turn out as well as it
has. The technology is brilliant, the casting is inspired, and I think the
story will touch a nerve. Believe me, when we first agreed to work together, we
never thought their first movie would be our 1995 holiday feature, or that they
could go public on the strength of it." Marketing for the film includes
$20 million spent by Disney for advertising as well as advertisers such as Burger
King, Pepsico,
Coca-Cola, and Payless ShoeSource paying $125 million in tied promotions for
the film. A marketing consultant reflected on the promotion: "This will be
a killer deal. How can a kid, sitting through a one-and-a-half-hour movie with
an army of recognizable toy characters, not want to own one?"
3-D
re-release
On
October 2, 2009, the film was re-released in Disney Digital 3-D. The film was
also released with Toy Story 2 as a double feature for a two-week run
which was extended due to its success. In addition, the film's second sequel, Toy
Story 3, was also released in the 3-D format. Lasseter commented on the new
3-D re-release:
"The
Toy Story films and characters will always hold a very special place in
our hearts and we're so excited to be bringing this landmark film back for
audiences to enjoy in a whole new way thanks to the latest in 3-D technology.
With Toy Story 3 shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz,
Woody and the gang from Andy's room, we thought it would be great to let
audiences experience the first two films all over again and in a brand new
way."
Translating
the film into 3-D involved revisiting the original computer data and virtually
placing a second camera into each scene, creating left-eye and right-eye views
needed to achieve the perception of depth. Unique to computer animation,
Lasseter referred to this process as "digital archaeology." The
process took four months, as well as an additional six months for the two films
to add the 3-D. The lead stereographer Bob Whitehill oversaw this process and
sought to achieve an effect that affected the emotional storytelling of the
film:
"When
I would look at the films as a whole, I would search for story reasons to use
3-D in different ways. In 'Toy Story, for instance, when the toys were
alone in their world, I wanted it to feel consistent to a safer world. And when
they went out to the human world, that's when I really blew out the 3-D to make
it feel dangerous and deep and overwhelming."
Unlike
other countries, the United Kingdom received the films in 3-D as separate
releases. Toy Story was released on October 2, 2009. Toy Story 2
was instead released January 22, 2010. The re-release performed well at the box
office, opening with $12,500,000 in its opening weekend, placing at the third
position after Zombieland and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
The double feature grossed $30,714,027 in its five-week release.
Reception
“Yes, we worry about what the critics say. Yes, we worry about what the opening box office is going to be. Yes, we worry about what the final box office is going to be. But really, the whole point why we do what we do is to entertain our audiences. The greatest joy I get as a filmmaker is to slip into an audience for one of our movies anonymously, and watch people watch our film. Because people are 100 percent honest when they’re watching a movie. And to see the joy on people’s faces, to see people really get into our films…to me is the greatest reward I could possibly get.”
~~John Lasseter, reflecting on the impact of the film
Ever
since its original 1995 release, Toy Story received positive reviews
from critics; Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes (which gave the movie an
"Extremely Fresh" rating) reports that 100% of critics have given the
film a positive review based on 74 reviews, with an average score of 9/10. The
critical consensus is: As entertaining as it is innovative, Toy Story kicked
off Pixar's unprecedented run of quality pictures, reinvigorating animated film
in the process. The film is Certified Fresh. At the website Metacritic,
which utilizes a normalized rating system, the film earned a "universal
acclaim" level rating of 92/100 based on 16 reviews by mainstream critics.
Reviewers hailed the film for its computer animation, voice cast, and ability
to appeal to numerous age groups.
Leonard
Klady of Variety commended the animation's "... razzle-dazzle
technique and unusual look. The camera loops and zooms in a dizzying fashion
that fairly takes one's breath away."
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times compared the film's innovative
animation to Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, saying "Both movies
take apart the universe of cinematic visuals, and put it back together again,
allowing us to see in a new way." Due to the film's animation, Richard
Corliss of TIME claimed that it was "... the year's most inventive
comedy."
The
voice cast was also praised by various critics. Susan Wloszczyna of USA
Today approved of the selection of Hanks and Allen for the lead roles.
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times stated that "Starting with
Tom Hanks, who brings an invaluable heft and believability to Woody, Toy
Story is one of the best voiced animated features in memory, with all the
actors ... making their presences strongly felt." Several critics also
recognized the film's ability to appeal to various age groups, specifically
children and adults. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote:
"It has the purity, the ecstatic freedom of imagination, that's the
hallmark of the greatest children's films. It also has the kind of
spring-loaded allusive prankishness that, at times, will tickle adults even more
than it does kids."
In 1995,
Toy Story was named eighth in TIME's list of the best ten films
of 1995. In 2011, TIME named it one of "The 25 All-TIME Best
Animated Films". It also ranks at number 99 in Empire magazine’s
list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time, and as the highest ranked animated
movie.
In 2003,
the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the greatest animated film
of all time. In 2007, the Visual Effects Society named the film 22nd in its
list of the "Top 50 Most Influential Visual Effects Films of All
Time". In 2005 the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry, one of five films to be selected in its first year of
eligibility. The film is ranked ninety-ninth on the AFI's list of the hundred
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. It was also
sixth best in the animation genre on AFI's 10 Top 10.
Director
Terry Gilliam would praise the film as "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 performance
Toy
Story's first five days
of domestic release (on Thanksgiving weekend), earned the film $39,071,176. The
film placed first in the weekend's box office with $29,140,617. The film
maintained its number one position at the domestic box office for the following
two weekends. Toy Story was the highest grossing domestic film in 1995,
beating Batman Forever and Apollo 13 (also starring Tom Hanks).
At the time of its release, it was the third highest grossing animated film
after The Lion King (1994) and Aladdin (1992). When not
considering inflation, Toy Story is 96th on the list of the highest
grossing domestic films of all time. The film had gross receipts of
$191,796,233 in the U.S. and Canada and $170,162,503 in international markets
for a total of $361,958,736 worldwide. At the time of its release, the film
ranked 17th highest grossing film (unadjusted) in domestic money, and worldwide
it was the 21st highest grossing film.
Accolades
The film
won and was nominated for various other awards including a Kids' Choice Award, MTV
Movie Award, and a BAFTA Award, among others. 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." The film was nominated for three Academy Awards,
two to Randy Newman for Best Music—Original Song, for "You've Got a Friend
in Me", and Best Music—Original Musical or Comedy Score. It was also
nominated for Best Writing—Screenplay Written for the Screen for the work by
Joel Cohen, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Alec Sokolow, Andrew
Stanton, and Joss Whedon making Toy Story the first animated film to be
nominated for a writing award.[
Toy
Story won eight Annie
Awards, including "Best Animated Feature". Animator Pete Docter,
director John Lasseter, musician Randy Newman, producers Bonnie Arnold and
Ralph Guggenheim, production designer Ralph Eggleston, and writers Joel Cohen,
Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton, and Joss Whedon all won awards for "Best
Individual Achievement" in their respective fields for their work on the
film. The film also won "Best Individual Achievement" in technical
achievement.
Toy
Story was nominated for
two Golden Globes, one for "Best Motion Picture—Comedy/Musical", and
one for "Best Original Song—Motion Picture" for Randy Newman's
"You've Got a Friend in Me". At both the Los Angeles Film Critics
Association Awards and the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the film won
"Best Animated Film". Toy Story is also among the top ten in
the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14, and the highest
placed (at #99) animated film in Empire's list of "500 Greatest
Movie of All Time". In 2005 Toy Story, along with Toy Story 2 was
voted the 4th greatest cartoon in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Cartoons poll,
behind The Simpsons, Tom and Jerry and South Park.
Home
media
Toy
Story was released on VHS
and Laserdisc on October 29, 1996, with no bonus material. In the first week of
release VHS rentals totaled $5.1 million, debuting Toy Story as the
number one video for the week. Over 21.5 million VHS copies were sold in the
first year. Disney released a deluxe edition widescreen LaserDisc 4-disc box
set on December 18, 1996. On January 11, 2000, it was released on VHS in the
Gold Classic Collection series with the bonus short, Tin Toy, which sold
two million copies. Its first DVD release was on October 17, 2000, in a
two-pack with Toy Story 2. This release was later available individually
on March 20, 2001. Also on October 17, 2000, a 3-disc "Ultimate Toy
Box" set was released, featuring Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and
a third disc of bonus materials. The DVD two-pack, The Ultimate Toy Box set,
the Gold Classic Collection VHS and DVD and the original DVD were put in the Disney
Vault. On September 6, 2005, a 2-disc "10th Anniversary Edition" was
released featuring much of the bonus material from the "Ultimate Toy
Box", including a retrospective special with John Lasseter, a home theater
mix, as well as a new picture. This DVD went back in the Disney Vault on
January 31, 2009, along with Toy Story 2. Also on September 6, 2005, a
bare-bones UMD of Toy Story was released for the Sony PlayStation
Portable.
The film
was available on Blu-ray for the first time in a Special Edition Combo Pack
which included two discs, one Blu-ray copy of the movie, and another DVD copy
of the movie. This combo-edition was released on March 23, 2010, along with its
sequel. There was a DVD-only re-release on May 11, 2010. Another "Ultimate
Toy Box," packaging the Combo Pack with those of both sequels, became
available on November 2, 2010. On November 1, 2011, along with the DVD and
Blu-ray release of Cars 2, Toy Story and the other two films were
released on each Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack (4 discs each
for the first two films, and 5 for the third film). They will also be released
on Blu-ray 3D in a complete trilogy box set.
Soundtrack
Lasseter
was against making the film a musical, similar to prior Disney films such as Aladdin
and The Lion King. However, Disney favored the musical format, claiming
"Musicals are our orientation. Characters breaking into song is a great
shorthand. It takes some of the onus off what they're asking for."
However, Disney later agreed with Lasseter and decided to select Randy Newman
to score the film, which would be Newman's first animated film. Lasseter
claimed "His songs are touching, witty, and satirical, and he would
deliver the emotional underpinning for every scene." Newman developed the
film's signature song "You've Got a Friend in Me" in one day although the tune is closely based on his song
"I love to See You Smile" from the 1989 film Parenthood
The
soundtrack for Toy Story was produced by Walt Disney Records and was
released on November 22, 1995, the week of the film's release. Scored and
written by Randy Newman, the soundtrack has received praise for its
"sprightly, stirring score". Despite the album's critical success,
the soundtrack only peaked at number 94 on the Billboard 200 album
chart. A cassette and CD single release of "You've Got a Friend in Me"
was released on April 12, 1996, in order to promote the soundtrack's release.
The soundtrack was remastered in 2006 and although it is no longer available
physically, the album is available for purchase digitally in retailers such as iTunes.
Tracklisting
All songs written and composed by Randy Newman.
No.
|
Title
|
Length
|
|
1.
|
"You've Got a Friend in Me" (performed by Newman)
|
2:04
|
|
2.
|
"Strange Things" (performed by Newman)
|
3:18
|
|
3.
|
"I Will Go Sailing No More" (performed by Newman)
|
2:57
|
|
4.
|
"Andy's Birthday"
|
5:58
|
|
5.
|
"Soldier's Mission"
|
1:29
|
|
6.
|
"Presents"
|
1:09
|
|
7.
|
"Buzz"
|
1:40
|
|
8.
|
"Sid"
|
1:21
|
|
9.
|
"Woody and Buzz"
|
4:29
|
|
10.
|
"Mutants"
|
6:05
|
|
11.
|
"Woody's Gone"
|
2:13
|
|
12.
|
"The Big One"
|
2:51
|
|
13.
|
"Hang Together"
|
6:02
|
|
14.
|
"On the Move"
|
6:18
|
|
15.
|
"Infinity and Beyond"
|
3:09
|
|
16.
|
"You've Got a Friend in Me (Duet Version)" (performed by Newman, Lyle Lovett)
|
2:42
|
|
Total length:
|
51:44
|
Charts
Chart (1995)
|
Peak
position |
U.S. Billboard 200
|
94
|
Impact
and legacy
Toy
Story had a large impact
on the film industry with its innovative computer animation. After the film's
debut, various industries were interested in the technology used for the film.
Graphics chip makers desired to compute imagery similar to the film's animation
for personal computers; game developers wanted to learn how to replicate the
animation for video games; and robotics researchers were interested in building
artificial intelligence into their machines that compared to the lifelike
characters in the film. Various authors have also compared the film to an
interpretation of Don Quixote as well as humanism. In addition, Toy
Story left an impact with its catchphrase "To Infinity and
Beyond", sequels, and software, among others.
"To
Infinity and Beyond"
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.
Lucia Hall of The Humanist linked the film's plot to an interpretation
of humanism. She compared the phrase to "All this and heaven, too",
indicating one who is happy with a life on Earth as well as having an
afterlife. In 2008, during STS-124 astronauts took an action figure of Buzz
Lightyear into space on the Discovery Space Shuttle as part of an
educational experience for students while stressing the catchphrase. The action
figure was used for experiments in zero-g. It was reported in 2008 that a
father and son had continually repeated the phrase to help them keep track of
each other while treading water for 15 hours in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sequels,
shows, and spin-offs
Toy
Story has spawned two
sequels: Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010). Initially,
the first sequel to Toy Story was going to be a direct-to-video release,
with development beginning in 1996. However, after the cast from Toy Story
returned and the story was considered to be better than that of a
direct-to-video release, it was announced in 1998 that the sequel would see a
theatrical release. The sequel saw the return of the majority of the voice cast
from Toy Story, and the film focuses on rescuing Woody after he is
stolen at a yard sale. The film was equally well-received by critics, earning a
rare 100% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 125 reviews. At Metacritic,
the film earned a favorable rating of 88/100 based on 34 reviews. The film's
widest release was 3,257 theaters and it grossed $485,015,179 worldwide,
becoming the second-most successful animated film after The Lion King at
the time of its release.
Toy
Story 3 centers on the
toys being accidentally donated to a day-care center when their owner Andy is
preparing to go to college. Again the majority of the cast from the prior two
films returned. It was the first film in the franchise to be released in 3-D
for its first run, though the first two films, which were originally released
in 2-D, were re-released in 3-D in 2009 as a double feature. Like its
predecessors, Toy Story 3 received enormous critical acclaim, earning a
99% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes. It also grossed more than $1 billion
worldwide, making it the highest-grossing animated film to date.
In
November 1996, the Disney on Ice: Toy Story ice show opened which featured the
voices of the cast as well as the music by Randy Newman. In April 2008, the Disney
Wonder cruise ship launched Toy Story: The Musical shows on its
cruises.
Toy
Story also led to a
spin-off direct-to-video animated film, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The
Adventure Begins, as well as the animated television series Buzz Lightyear
of Star Command. The film and series followed Buzz Lightyear and his
friends at Star Command as they uphold justice across the galaxy. Although the
film was criticized for not using the same animation as in Toy Story and
Toy Story 2, it sold three million VHS and DVDs in its first week of
release. The series ran for 65 episodes.
There
were also short films before Cars 2 titled Hawaiian Vacation,
centering around Barbie and Ken on vacation in Bonnie's room, and the The
Muppets entitled Small Fry, centering on Buzz being left in a
fast-food restaurant.
Software
and merchandise
Disney's
Animated Storybook: Toy Story and Disney's Activity Center: Toy Story were released for Windows
and Mac. Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story was the best selling
software title of 1996, selling over 500,000 copies. Two console video games
were released for the film: the Toy Story video game, for the Sega
Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, and PC as well as Toy
Story Racer, for the PlayStation (which contains elements from Toy Story
2). Pixar created original animations for all of the games, including fully
animated sequences for the PC titles.
Toy
Story had a large
promotion prior to its release, leading to numerous tie-ins with the film
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
film's release, demand continued to expand, eventually reaching over 25 million
units sold by 2007.
Theme
park attractions
Toy
Story and its sequels
have inspired multiple attractions at the theme parks of Walt Disney World and Disneyland:
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at
the Magic Kingdom casts theme park guests as cadets in Buzz's Space Ranger
Corps. Guests ride through various scenes featuring Emperor Zurg's
henchmen, firing "laser canons" at their Z symbols, scoring
points for each hit.
- Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters at Disneyland,
is very similar to Space Ranger Spin, except that the laser canons are
hand-held rather than mounted to the ride vehicle.
- Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters at DisneyQuest
in Walt Disney World, despite the nearly identical name to the Disneyland
attraction, is a bumper car style attraction in which guests compete
against each other not only by ramming their ride vehicles into each
other, but also by firing "asteroids" (playground balls) at each
other.
- Toy Story Mania at both Disney's
Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and Disney's California Adventure
Park in Disneyland features a series of interactive carnival-type games
hosted by the Toy Story characters. Guests ride in vehicles while wearing
3D glasses, and using a pull-string canon to launch virtual rings, darts,
baseballs, etc. Disney announced an update to the attraction to add
characters from Toy Story 3 several months before the film's
release date.
- World of Color at Disney California
Adventure is a large night time water and light show. Some of the scenes
projected on the water screens feature animation from the Toy Story films.
- Toy Story Playland at Disneyland
Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, opening in August 2010 and 2011
respectively. The area is designed to create the illusion of
"shrinking the guest" down to the size of a toy, and to play in
Andy's backyard in several themed rides.
- Toy Story Character Greetings are
located at almost all Disney Parks. Three of the main characters, Buzz
Lightyear, Woody and Jesse are normally the characters you would meet.
Sometimes you can even meet Bullseye, the Green Army Men and Mr. Potato
Head.
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