Toy Story

Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated buddy-adventure film directed by John Lasseter, and features the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. The film was co-produced by Ralph Guggenheim and Bonnie Arnold and was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow, and featured music by Randy Newman. It was the very first feature film released to use only computer-generated imagery and the first film released by Pixar Animation Studios. Toy Story follows a group of toys who come to life whenever their owner is not present, focusing on Sheriff Woody, a toy cowboy (Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut action figure (Allen). The movie was released in theatres November 22, 1995.

The top-grossing film on its opening weekend, Toy Story went on to earn over $191 million in the United States and Canada during its initial theatrical release and took in more than $361 million worldwide. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, praising both the technical innovation of the animation and the wit and sophistication of the screenplay.

In addition to DVD releases, Toy Story-inspired material has run the gamut from toys, video games, spin-offs, and merchandise. The film was so successful it prompted two sequels, Toy Story 2, which was released November 24, 1999 and became an even bigger hit than the original (Toy Story was re-released on a double feature with Toy Story 2 in 3D on October 2, 2009) and Toy Story 3, which was released June 18, 2010. It was selected into the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" on its first year of eligibility.

A third sequel, Toy Story 4 is currently in the works as of November 2014 and will be released in theatres June 16, 2017.

Plot
The film begins with a young boy named Andy Davis playing with his toys, such as a Mr. Potato Head toy, Slinky Dog, a plastic dinosaur named Rex and his favorite toy, Woody, a cowboy doll. 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 upcoming move to a new house. After playing with Woody, Andy starts helping his mother by carrying his baby sister Molly to her. While he's away, all of 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 led by Sarge downstairs to spy on the party. At the end of the party, Ms. Davis pulls out a surprise gift from behind her, which turns out to be a Buzz Lightyear action figure in spaceship packaging. Andy and his friends run upstairs to open him and in his hurry Andy knocks Woody off the bed. They quickly leave, and the other toys welcome the newcomer. Buzz however doesn't seem to be aware that he is a piece of plastic, believing himself to be the actual Buzz Lightyear 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. As time passes, Andy replaces many of his cowboy themed room decorations with space ones causing Woody's resentment to rise while Buzz attempts to fix his 'damaged spaceship' (in reality, a piece of the packaging had been torn).

Sometime later, Mrs. Davis takes Andy and Molly on a trip to the space-themed Pizza Planet restaurant. Andy asks if he can bring any toys, and she agrees to let him take one. Woody, knowing Andy will choose Buzz, plans to trap him in a gap behind Andy's desk by using RC so Andy won't find him. However the plan goes badly wrong and instead knocks him out the window by accident. When the other toys learn of Woody's actions, most of them think Woody tried to kill Buzz out of jealousy. They then try to attack him, but Woody is rescued when Andy, unable to find Buzz, takes Woody on the trip instead. At a stop at a Dinoco gas station to refuel the car, Woody (after pondering how he's going to convince the toys that the whole thing was an accident) finds that Buzz grabbed ahold of the family's minivan and is with them. After a conversation, the two toys 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 return to Andy.

Woody finds Andy there, but Buzz, still thinking he's a real space ranger, climbs into a toy crane game, thinking that it's a spaceship that will take him to Emperor Zurg's location. Woody goes in after him, but the two eventually are found by Sid Phillips, who lives next door to Andy and is known to torture and destroy toys just for fun.

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, Andy notices that Woody's gone. The other toys wonder what has become of the two. Some are worried for both Buzz and Woody, while others express their hope that Woody has met a bad end. The next day, at Sid's house, Woody and Buzz, having been mistreated by Sid (Sid burned Woody's forehead with a magnifying glass), try to escape, only to run into Sid's crazy Bull Terrier Scud. Eventually getting out of Sid's room, Buzz comes upon a TV where he sees a commercial for the Buzz Lightyear line of toys. Watching it, he realizes that Woody was right about him: He was a toy this whole time, not a real space ranger. However, in denial (and one last desperate attempt to prove he's 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 his arm in the process. He is found by Sid's little sister Hannah, who takes him away to put him in her tea party.

Woody finally finds Buzz in Hannah's room, dressed as "Mrs. Nesbit" 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; Woody tries to use Buzz's detached arm in a desperate attempt to convince Andy's toys that Buzz is with him, but when they see through this act, they take it as evidence that Woody truly did murder Buzz and leave him in disgust. The Mutant Toys then return and swarm over Buzz, and Woody finds that they have repaired him. However, before Woody can make friends with them, Sid returns with his new acquisition: A firework rocket. He decides to blow up Woody with it, but cannot find him as Woody hides in a milk crate. Sid then decides to blow up Buzz instead but is stymied by rainfall. He unknowingly traps Woody in the crate by putting a heavy toolbox on top, a plans to go ahead in the morning.

Overnight, Woody tries get Buzz to help him escape however is Buzz is still depressed that he's only a toy. Woody tries to convince him that being a toy and is much better than being a Space Ranger, and Andy still thinks he's the best thing in world. Buzz doesn't know why Andy would want him, and Woody explains while coming to terms with his own feelings of resentment:

''Why would Andy want you?! Look at you! You're a Buzz Lightyear. Any other toy would give up his moving parts just to be you. You've got wings, you glow in the dark, you talk, your helmet does that... that whoosh thing. You are a COOL toy... as a matter of fact you're too cool. I mean -- I mean what chance does a toy like me have against a Buzz Lightyear action figure?''

As Woody sadly states that he should be the one taped to Sid's rocket, Buzz looks at his boot where Andy has signed his name, helping his realize how much Andy loves him and how being a toy isn't too bad. The two try to escape (although Buzz accidentally knocks the toolbox on Woody when trying to get the milk crate off of him). Unfortunately, Sid wakes up and takes Buzz out to blow him up, leaving Woody alone in the room. Even worse, Andy and his family are getting ready to move, with Andy depressed over having seemingly lost Woody and Buzz having only been able to find Buzz's cardboard spaceship and his cowboy hat. Woody calls out to the Mutant Toys to tell them a plan to escape. After a daring escape through the house and past Scud, Woody and the mutants 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 through his voice box, telling him that his toys are sick of being tortured, then with his own voice tells him (in a sinister way) to play nice. This freaks Sid out and he runs into the house screaming, where his sister frightens him with her new doll Sally (a possible replacement for her original doll Janie, which was destroyed by Sid).

Now freed from Sid, Woody and Buzz try to catch Andy's moving van just as it is pulling away from the house. After saying farewell to the Mutant Toys, a harrowing chase follows, with Scud chasing them and Andy's toys not helping, since they still think that Woody intentionally got rid of Buzz. Luckily, Woody and Buzz get rid of Scud and the other toys, realizing their mistake, finally see that Woody was telling the truth and try to help them get in, but fail when RC's batteries run out (becoming depleted).

Eventually, with the help of RC, Andy's remote control car, and strategic use of Sid's rocket, Woody and Buzz return to Andy, whose mom assumes they were in the car all along.

At Christmas, we see a scene similar to the birthday party, with the toys less worried about the new ones. Mr. Potato Head is pleased to find out that Molly has been given a new 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 first present, a puppy (which makes Woody and Buzz feel quite uneasy).

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
 * Hannah Unkrich as Molly Davis
 * Erik von Detten as Sid Phillips
 * R. Lee Ermey as Sarge
 * Laurie Metcalf as Andy's Mom
 * Sarah Freeman as Hannah Phillips
 * Joe Ranft as Lenny
 * Jeff Pidgeon as Little Green Men/Mr. Spell/Robot
 * Jack Angel as Shark/Rocky Gibraltor
 * Debi Derryberry as Troll/Pizza Planet Intercom/Little Green Men
 * Penn Jillette as TV announcer
 * Mickie McGowan as Mrs. Phillips/Various Toys
 * Andrew Stanton as Commercial Chorus
 * Phil Proctor as Bowling Announcer/Pizza Planet Guard 2
 * Frank Welker as R.C./Scud
 * Brittany Levenbrown as Girl 1
 * Cody Dorkin as Boy 1
 * Greg Berg as Pizza Planet Guard 1
 * Bill Farmer as Mission Control Announcer

Addtional voices

 * Sherry Lynn
 * Shane Sweet
 * Scott McAfee
 * Lisa Bradley
 * Spencer Aste
 * Craig Good
 * Ryan O'Donohue
 * Jan Rabson
 * Patrick Pinney
 * Sam Lasseter

Script and 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 went on to work at Lucasfilm and later as a founding member of Pixar.

Pixar's Oscar-winning short film Tin Toy 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.> A second character, originally a ventriloquist's dummy, was changed to a stuffed cowboy doll with a pull-string, and named Woody for Western actor Woody Strode. The difference between the old and new toy led to a conflict between their personalities. Lasseter wanted the film to not be a musical, but a buddy film, with the story department drawing inspiration from films such as 48 Hrs. and The Defiant Ones. Joss Whedon claimed "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. In addition, Katzenberg also made repeated demands that they make the film more adult, cynical, and edgy, resulting in Woody being made into a sarcastic jerk with little redeeming value. Rejected titles for Toy Story included: The New Toy, The Cowboy & The Spaceman, The Favorite, and Toyz in the Hood.

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 and 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: Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider immediately shut down production pending a new script approved by Disney. Pixar survived the shutdown by falling back on its existing television commercial business while the script was rewritten. The new script made Woody a more likable character, instead of the "sarcastic jerk" he had been. Katzenberg restarted production in February 1994. The voice actors returned in March 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 sequel, Toy Story 2. Hasbro likewise refused to license G.I. Joe but did license Mr. Potato Head. The film's related toys were produced by Thinkway Toys, who secured the worldwide master toy license in 1995.

Animation
Toy Story was completed on a $30 million budget using a staff of 110, in comparison The Lion King, released in 1994, which 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 actors' voices with the characters, animators spent a week per 8-second frame detailing the characters' mouths and expressions. 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.

Allusions

 * The song Hakuna Matata is being played in the car when Molly is looking in the mirror.
 * A113 appears on Andy's mother's number plate on her car.

Theatrical release
Toy Story premiered on November 19, 1995 in Hollywood, California. 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. The film was also shown at the Berlin Film Festival out of competition from February 15 to 26, 1996. Pixar's first ever short film, "The Adventures of Andre and Wally B" played before the film was shown in theaters.

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 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." 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. In addition, the film's second sequel, Toy Story 3, will also be 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 3shaping 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 impacted 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 UK 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 $12,491,789 in its opening weekend, placing at the third position after Zombieland and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The double feature grossed $30,702,446 in its five-week release.

Reception
Toy Story has been universally successful ever since its release in 1995. The review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports that the film currently garners 65 positive reviews out of 78 reviews total, as indicated by a 100% "Certified Fresh" approval rating and an average critical score of 9/10. At the website Metacritic, which utilizes anormalized 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 Walt Disney's Peter Pan 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, [Time named the film 8th in their list of the best ten films of 1995. 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 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies 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.

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, besting Batman Forever and Apollo 13. At the time of its release, it was the third highest grossing animated film after The Lion King (1994) and Aladdin(1992). 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.

Awards
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.

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 inEmpire's list of "500 Greatest Movie of All Time".