short essay about toy story

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Essay on Toy Story: A Film That Transcends Time

One of the most successful film franchises of all time is Toy Story. Toy Story (1995), directed by John Lasseter, is about a cowboy doll named Woody (Tom Hanks) who becomes jealous of his owner’s new toy, a space toy, named Buzz (Tim Allen), and fears he will take his spot as the favorite toy. Toy Story was groundbreaking in so many ways not only because of the computer animation aspect but also because of how successful it was. This essay will be on the history, creation, and societal impact of the film Toy Story.

“On January 19, 1993, production begins on Toy Story, the first full-length feature film created by the pioneering Pixar Animation Studios” (Production Begins on ‘Toy Story’). The film took two years to make since the concept of a full-length CGI film had never been done before. They also did not want to lose the story amidst all the computer animation so they wanted “the conversations [to] bring the characters to life as much as the unprecedented curves and planes” (Zorthian). After a very long creation process, the movie hit theaters. The movie was a huge hit as, “[children] and adults flocked to theaters when Toy Story opened, making it the highest-selling film for three weeks in a row” (Zorthian). After the success of Toy Story the company, Pixar, went on to make three more Toy Story movies and short films based on its characters. 

Creating the first all-computer-animated movie was not an easy task for Pixar and they had a lot to do before Toy Story could be released. With any film, the first thing you have to do is come up with the story. All of the Pixar members, working on the film, brought in their favorite toys from childhood. The idea of Woody having a pull-string came from a Casper doll (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”). There were many different drafts and ideas for the film, including having the main characters be a ventriloquist dummy and Tin Toy, a character from another Pixar work (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”). The team at Pixar are great about their attention to detail when creating the movements for the green army men Supervising Animator Pete Docter said, “[he] got some old sneakers, [he] got a piece of plywood and [he] nailed the shoes down to the board and we tried walking” (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”). They also burnt the head of a doll with a magnifying glass to see how it should look when Sid does it to Woody in the film. After 3 years of storyboarding shot by shot, they were ready to begin the computer animations (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”).

Once they had decided on the storyboards they would have the voice actors record their lines so they could go ahead and see how the scenes would look (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”). To get the objects they needed in the film, such as Buzz’s box, the animators had to draw them out and then have the computer animators make the models on the computer. For the characters, they had to create a 3D model of them and use that to create the computer model. They used a 3D model so the computer animators could see how the characters are supposed to look from different angles (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”). Pixar did not want Toy Story to be a musical like other Disney films, so they decided to have Randy Newman do the songs over the scenes and the songs would be about what’s happening or how the characters are feeling (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”). Lastly, they put it all together and added lighting, shadows, and color, and made one of the most successful children’s movies of all time (“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes”).

Toy Story has been around for twenty-six years now and has touched the lives of many. Like many children’s movies, it has a moral to its story. The overall theme of Toy Story is friendship; hence, why the theme song of the film is called “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”. Every film in the Toy Story franchise has a deeper meaning to it but the complete story is about the friendship between the toys and the kids that play with them “[no] matter where the toys ended up…they knew they’d be okay because they’d have each other” (“What We Learned From Toy Story”). The theme of friendship is very important to society as it reminds people that it is okay to ask for help and people shouldn’t struggle in silence. Everybody needs somebody to lean on when they are down, even sentient toys. 

Toy Story is an incredible feel-good film that everyone should see. While it is a kid’s movie it is also very entertaining for adults which makes it great for families to bond over. There is a reason this franchise has been so successful over the past two decades. It is well cast and each movie looks better than the last as the computer animations get more advanced. Toy Story will make you laugh, smile, and cry at times. While the first movie doesn’t look great at times and isn’t as good as the rest it is still worth multiple watches. Toy Story is truly one of the greatest films ever made.

Toy Story. Directed by John Lasseter, performances by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, Pixar Animation Studios, 1995.

“Toy Story: Behind the Scenes” YouTube, uploaded by Extra Music Hours, 10 July 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCgaMI84qYo&t=230s.

“Production Begins on ‘Toy Story.’” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/production-begins-on-toy-story. 

“What We Learned From Toy Story.” Oh My Disney, 15 Apr. 2016, ohmy.disney.com/news/2013/03/23/what-we-learned-from-toy-story/. 

Zorthian, Julia. “Toy Story at 20: How the Pixar Film Changed Movie History.” Time, Time, 19 Nov. 2015, time.com/4118006/20-years-toy-story-pixar/.

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Movie Reviews

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"Toy Story" creates a universe out of a couple of kid's bedrooms, a gas station, and a stretch of suburban highway. Its heroes are toys, which come to life when nobody is watching. Its conflict is between an old-fashioned cowboy who has always been a little boy's favorite toy, and the new space ranger who may replace him. The villain is the mean kid next door who takes toys apart and puts them back together again in macabre combinations. And the result is a visionary roller-coaster ride of a movie.

For the kids in the audience, a movie like this will work because it tells a fun story, contains a lot of humor, and is exciting to watch. Older viewers may be even more absorbed, because "Toy Story," the first feature made entirely by computer, achieves a three-dimensional reality and freedom of movement that is liberating and new. The more you know about how the movie was made, the more you respect it.

Imagine the spectacular animation of the ballroom sequence in "Beauty and the Beast" at feature length and you'll get the idea. The movie doesn't simply animate characters in front of painted backdrops; it fully animates the characters and the space they occupy, and allows its point of view to move freely around them. Computer animation has grown so skillful that sometimes you don't even notice it (the launching in "Apollo 13" took place largely within a computer). Here, you do notice it, because you're careening through space with a new sense of freedom.

Consider for example a scene where Buzz Lightyear, the new space toy, jumps off a bed, bounces off a ball, careens off of the ceiling, spins around on a hanging toy helicopter and zooms into a series of loop-the-loops on a model car race track. Watch Buzz, the background, and the perspective -- which stretches and contracts to manipulate the sense of speed. It's an amazing ride.

I learn from the current Wired magazine that the movie occupied the attention of a bank of 300 powerful Sun microprocessors, the fastest models around, which took about 800,000 hours of computing time to achieve this and other scenes -- at 2 to 15 hours per frame. Each frame required as much as 300 MBs of information, which means that on my one-gigabyte hard disk, I have room for about three frames, or an eighth of a second. Of course computers are as dumb as a box of bricks if they're not well-programmed, and director John Lasseter, a pioneer in computer animation, has used offbeat imagination and high energy to program his.

But enough of this propeller-head stuff. Let's talk about the movie. Lasseter and his team open the film in a kid's bedroom, where the toys come to life when their owner is absent. Undisputed king of the toys is Woody, a cowboy with a voice by Tom Hanks . His friends include Mr. Potato Head ( Don Rickles ), Slinky Dog ( Jim Varney ), Hamm the Pig ( John Ratzenberger ) and Bo Peep ( Annie Potts ). The playroom ingeniously features famous toys from real life toys (which may be product placement, but who cares), including a spelling slate that does a running commentary on key developments (when Mr. Potato Head finally achieves his dream of Mrs. Potato Head, the message is "Hubba! Hubba!).

One day there's a big shakeup in this little world. The toy owner, named Andy, has a birthday. Woody dispatches all of the troops in a Bucket of Soldiers to spy on developments downstairs, and they use a Playskool walkie-talkie to broadcast developments. The most alarming: The arrival on the scene of Buzz Lightyear ( Tim Allen ), a space ranger.

Buzz is the most endearing toy in the movie, because he's not in on the joke. He thinks he's a real space ranger, temporarily marooned during a crucial mission, and he goes desperately to work trying to repair his space ship -- the cardboard box he came in. There's real poignancy later in the film when he sees a TV commercial for himself, and realizes he's only a toy.

The plot heats up when the human family decides to move, and Woody and Buzz find themselves marooned in a gas station with no idea how to get home. (It puts a whole new spin on the situation when a toy itself says, "I'm a lost toy!") And later there's a terrifying interlude in the bedroom of Sid, the dreadful boy next door, who takes his toys apart and reassembles them like creatures from a nightmare. (His long suffering sister is forced to hold a tea party for headless dolls.)

Seeing "Toy Story," I felt some of the same exhilaration I felt during " Who Framed Roger Rabbit ." Both movies take apart the universe of cinematic visuals, and put it back together again, allowing us to see in a new way. "Toy Story" is not as inventive in its plotting or as clever in its wit as "Rabbit" or such Disney animated films as "Beauty and the Beast"; it's pretty much a buddy movie transplanted to new terrain. Its best pleasures are for the eyes. But what pleasures they are! Watching the film, I felt I was in at the dawn of a new era of movie animation, which draws on the best of cartoons and reality, creating a world somewhere in between, where space not only bends but snaps, crackles and pops.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Toy Story (1995)

Annie Potts as Bo Peep

Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear

Tom Hanks as Woody

John Morris as Andy

Based on a story by

• John Lasseter
• Randy Newman
• Andrew Stanton
• Joss Whedon
• Lee Unkrich
• Robert Gordon

Produced by

• Ralph Guggenheim
• Bonnie Arnold

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Toy Story 1: An animation legend Research Paper

Before Toy Story 1, Pixar previously worked on commercials and individual sequences of feature films and produced such short pieces as the 1988 Oscar-winner Tin Toy, which John Lasseter took on behalf of Pixar.

When it turned out that he was the one to direct Toy Story, it became a legend and revolutionized an industry. As a production director, he advanced the animation technology to produce an animation movie in a period of two years, integrating skills of more than 110 people, including 28 animators and 30 technical directors. (Robertson “A Triumph of Animation”)

Animation development is done through several techniques including stop motion, computer generated imagery (CGI) and hand-rendered art, among others. Stop motion involves the use of physical objects, photographing them and creating an illusion of movement through moving the object over a series of separate photography frames and then playing these frames sequentially.

Computer generated imagery involves the use of computer graphics, while hand-rendered art involves drawing scenes physically. An animation can be performed through a combination of such techniques. Exclusive production of Toy Story 1 is done by Computer Generated Imagery. Computer Generated Imagery involves three basic steps.

First, it is necessary to develop a wire frame geometric model for every object of the animation. Secondly, defining surface appearances, such as textures, color and reaction to light, is needed. The last step to perform is to execute the scenes, which is done by animating objects, integrating sound and light (Mitchel “Impact of CGI on Animation”).

Considering animation production of Toy Story 1, it should be noted that it is performed completely by computers, then computing power is of top priority. Pixar developed a unique computing room for Toy Story 1. The 24-hour operating room, named Sun farm after its excessive use of Sun Microsystems hardware, was created.

It had 294 processors running from Sun SPARC station 20s–87 dual-processor and 30 quad-processor SPARC stations. With the use of exceptional software for modeling, creating texture and colors, animating objects, integrating sound and lighting, the production included 1700 shots. It is the running of these frame animations which creates this computer-animated film, Toy Story 1.

The first step in Computer Generated Imagery animation is generating animated objects. With over 366 objects, it required a dedicated team of artists to use this proprietary shelf software.

With the exception of the digitization of the clay model of dog Scud, all other objects were designed by sole use of Alias and Men V software. The latter is procedural modeling environment fourth generation Pixar software, which was used to create a five-block neighborhood with immense details, so that each house has its own driveway and landscape or even the cars and telephone poles.

The software used revolutionized the way of creating animated characters, such as designing a manufactured look for Woody. In creating some objects, modelers used some parts of the objects to make other ones; this practice came into play in creating things and humans through appropriating sizes and magnitudes. To create hair in animations, such as Andy’s hair, is quite a complex task; it took Pixar 6 years, after finishing Toy Story 1, to perfect this technique to produce Monster Inc in 2001. (Robertson “A Triumph of Animation”)

After modeling the underlying object skeleton; step two is the next to be followed. In this step of computer generated imagery animators, it is necessary to define the surface appearance of each object like color, texture and transparency. This involves the use of a specialized animation-computing tool, Shaders. Apart from describing outlook of object’s surfaces, it defines their reaction to light. An added twist to this mix was using top animation painters to paint splotches to incorporate into the software set.

This created a realistic effect of surface change in the occurrence of actions on the object and creating a background disparity and depth. An integral development of this software enabled the Pixar team to reduce the number of models needed, instead of creating models for providing minor details on existing objects; the result of complex software development was ability of Shaders to create a rich texture, such as scuffmarks on the walls. Further modification of this software was crucial to handle close-ups.

Third step was in parts animating the objects, lighting, inclusion of sound and finally, film shooting. In Toy Story 1, the animation of all the 50 characters including main characters, other toys and humans was needed. Human toys were complex to animate, especially due to clothes, which require a lot of details to be taken into account.

Characters’ animation was accomplished by Men V, implementing animation controls into the models, such as Buzz’s 800 animation controls. This software uses an inverse standard animation toolset. The assignment of characters was to multiple animators, each animator was working on a movie frame. (Robertson “A Triumph of Animation”)

Animation is quite a tedious yet still stimulating activity. The first step was analysis of the characters make-up, such as rigidity, then repeatedly listening to the dialog track in order to grow an imagination of their expectations of character’s movement in a given frame. After character’s animation is done, facial animation and lip sync came in; it included the development of character faces with pull points for facial muscles, which were essential to depict emotions and lips’ move in tandem with voice. (Calhoun “Toy Story”)

With animated models and sound built in, one detail was missing, lighting. Galyn Susman, a long standing Pixar employee, was the lighting director. With Man V, modelers created objects’ reaction to the light, which was quite essential development for this stage.

Importance of lighting cannot be underestimated because this is what creates drama, interaction, environments as well as hides animation flaws. The dramatic environment, such as a shower of rain and light streaming out, is a good example where lightning plays the major role. Animation of humans was a challenge; covering any of their animation flaws in shadow was a necessary action.

For Pixar, much used to just creating commercials, movie production required a different form of management. A team of Heidi Stettner and Peter Nye led by Karen Robert created a tracking system for the production. The system had complete information of everything in the movie. It was an all-inclusive system, which had versions of all details of the production work and the updates. The string tied the production all together.

The Pixar team succeeded in turning imagination of children’s book to a real movie. In the process, it built a new world for us, a world filled with animated humans and living toys. On November 22, 1995, launch of Toy Story 1 took an industry by storm by becoming a clear box office winner through gaining $361 million.

Years later, 2010 to be exact, after much tweaking with the software in areas, such as lighting and Shaders, though not under Lasseter’s wing, Toy Story 3 became the tenth all time grossing animated film and the most grossing animation, with unfathomable $1 billion at the box office (Mitchel “Impact of CGI on Animation”).

Works Cited

Calhoun, John. “Toy Story”. TCI. February 1996. Print.

Mitchel, David. “Impact of CGI on Animation” zenoshrdlu, 2002. Web.

Robertson, Barbara. “A Triumph of Animation” . Computer Graphics World Magazine – August 1995. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2018, December 19). Toy Story 1: An animation legend. https://ivypanda.com/essays/toy-story-1-an-animation-legend/

"Toy Story 1: An animation legend." IvyPanda , 19 Dec. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/toy-story-1-an-animation-legend/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Toy Story 1: An animation legend'. 19 December.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Toy Story 1: An animation legend." December 19, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/toy-story-1-an-animation-legend/.

1. IvyPanda . "Toy Story 1: An animation legend." December 19, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/toy-story-1-an-animation-legend/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Toy Story 1: An animation legend." December 19, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/toy-story-1-an-animation-legend/.

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Toy Story Movie Analysis Essay

“Toy Story” Movies have been a big hit for many years. Billions of dollars have been spent by people just to watch these fascinating moving pictures. “Toy Story”, which came out in 1995, is an excellent example of one of these movies that appeared in theaters. It is an animated representation of what toys do when no one is in the room watching them. Woody, the cowboy, is Andy’s favorite toy and the leader of all the other toys. On Andy’s sixth birthday his parents got him a Buzz Lightyear doll.

The addition of a new toy both thrilled and scared the toys, but with Buzz stuck in factory mode trying to return to his home planet problems started to present themselves to the toys. As the family packs to move the evil neighbor boy Sid gets ahold of both Buzz and Woody after they fell out the open window, it is up to them to escape and return home to Andy before they get left behind. Most critics agree that this was an exceptional film, and gave it great reviews. The plot is one of the many aspects that criticises found to be positive.

Delingpole states that “When I say that this is one of the finest Disney films ever made, I’m only adding to the accolades Toy Story has already received” (par 10). Disney and Pixar fans had expected “Toy Story” to have the sing and dance numbers that Disney is so famous for. “…. a parent-tickling delight, is a work of incredible cleverness in the best two-tired Disney tradition” (Maslin par 1). Both critics agree that the break from the songs is nice and so is the subliminal adult content, making it enjoyable for both children and their parents. “… is a magically witty and humane entertainment.

It has the purity, the elastic freedom of imagination, that’s the hallmark of the greatest children’s films” (Gleiberman par). Not only has it received great reviews and ratings, but also the approval of both parents and their children. Another aspect of “Toy Story” that reviewers found to be great is the graphics. Delingpole said “Disney’s wondrous, computeranimated adventure.. ” (par 1). Delingpole enjoyed the quality of work and the effort put into the making of “Toy Story”. He goes on to say, “That said, Toy Story’s virtual world is breathtakingly realised.

The shadows fall in the right places. The humans move like real people” (Delingpole par 5). Disney’s team really wanted to make the movie look realistic while still being animated and eye catching. The centerpiece of this movie is the graphics, but they are not to much that it takes away from the storyline and adventure. “The computer-generated effects are a marvel. Rich in unexpected detail… ” (Berardinelli par 2). Berardinelli goes on to list specific details of the film, things such as: reflections, fingerprints, chipped paint, the grain on the wood floor, and so on.

All of these details in the animation help add to the dept that pulls in the viewer, making it appealing to the eyes. The cast or voice actors is another aspect of “Toy Story” that was highly liked by critics. Gleiberman says “Hanks, believe it or not, gives a more arresting dramatic performance here than he did in Apollo 13” (par 4). Tom Hanks voices the character of Woody, making him likeable and emotional. Seeing as Woody is one of the main characters Hanks had high expectations to live up to. “With a voice supplied wonderfully by Tom Hanks… Woody is instantly sympathetic” (Maslin par 3).

Critics agree that Hanks was perfect for the job of voicing Woody. Hanks was not the only voice actor that did his job wonderfully, in fact the whole cast played their part very well. “Some of the jokes – cracked by a splendid voiceover team led by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen” (Delingpole par 9). “Toy Story” had a very strong cast, that helped bring life into this wonderful family Disney movie. Another aspect of the film that has helped it become highly liked by the critics are the characters and the development they go through. Maslin states “It’s a lovely joke that the film’s toy characters are charmingly plain” (par 2).

After saying that Maslin goes on to list some of the characters the viewers will find in “Toy Story”. There are many characters and most were played with by children all over the world making the movie even more enjoyable and relatable, toys such as: monkeys in a barrel, etcha-sketch, toy soldiers, and so on. “Buzz, with his Lionel Barrymore smirk and fatuous chin… is a hilarious and touching character” (Gleiberman par 4). Each characters have their own unique personalities, giving them depth and causing viewers to love them. Who does not like a good civilized competition between characters? As for the rivalry between Woody and Buzz, it too keeps the film sparkling in believable ways” (Maslin par 6).

Their competition to be Andy’s favorite never goes too far as to tear apart the toys or to hurt anyone. The rivalry of course results in them being the best of friends, but not before putting them through a multitude of challenges not only causing them to be friends but dragging the viewer in and and holding their attention until the very end. In conclusion, “Toy Story” was a big hit among viewers of all ages. Disney had avoided its too tired tradition of song and dance but still kept the attention of children.

The adult content flys over the heads of younger children but is understood by the adults making the movie enjoyable for all ages. The eye catching computer animations and perfectly picked background music helped add to the adventure and thrill of the story. They had magnificent voice actors that matched every character to a tee. The movie just would not have been the same if they used different voice actors. The plot of the movie was very easy to follow and was also very humerous for people of all ages. Viewers would suggest this movie to anyone because it was amazing. Critics all agree that “Toy Story” was wonderful in the making.

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• User reviews

• A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's bedroom.
• A little boy named Andy loves to be in his room, playing with his toys, especially his doll named "Woody". But, what do the toys do when Andy is not with them, they come to life. Woody believes that his life (as a toy) is good. However, he must worry about Andy's family moving, and what Woody does not know is about Andy's birthday party. Woody does not realize that Andy's mother gave him an action figure known as Buzz Lightyear, who does not believe that he is a toy, and quickly becomes Andy's new favorite toy. Woody, who is now consumed with jealousy, tries to get rid of Buzz. Then, both Woody and Buzz are now lost. They must find a way to get back to Andy before he moves without them, but they will have to pass through a ruthless toy killer, Sid Phillips. — John Wiggins
• Woody, a good-hearted cowboy doll who belongs to a young boy named Andy, sees his position as Andy's favorite toy jeopardized when his mom buys him a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Even worse, the arrogant Buzz thinks he's a real spaceman on a mission to return to his home planet. When Andy's family moves to a new house, Woody and Buzz must escape the clutches of maladjusted neighbor Sid Phillips and reunite with their boy. — Jwelch5742
• The film takes place in a world where toys come to life whenever their owners are not looking. It is in this world where we focus on the toys belonging to one Andy Davis. Andy's favourite toy is a cowboy doll named Woody, who often acts as the leader or "man with a plan" for the other toys. During an early birthday celebration, Andy receives an action figure of the famous Buzz Lightyear. However, trouble arises when this new toy begins attracting the attention of not just Andy, but the other toys as well; making Woody jealous. Things get way out of hand when both Woody and Buzz are snatched away from Andy and end up in the hands of his maniacal neighbour. Together, the two toys must set aside their differences and escape. — Affan Jamsari
• Without a doubt, the most popular toy in young Andy's room is gangling Woody, a dated pull-string sheriff doll basking in the glory of his success. But all good things must come to an end. And when intrepid space ranger Buzz Lightyear--a modern, battery-operated action figure--finds its way into the house as a birthday present, Woody realises nothing lasts forever. And then, as the sophisticated newcomer sparks the annoyed cowboy's jealousy, an unforeseen complication separates the two rivals from their owner. As a result, Woody and Buzz have no choice but to set aside their differences and venture into the great unknown with reunion etched on their minds. But it's a jungle out there. Will the clashing companions discover what they're made of, survive the real world, and pull off a surprise victory for Andy's sake? — Nick Riganas
• A boy called Andy Davis (voice: John Morris ) uses his toys to act out a bank robbery. The bank is a cardboard box, the robber is Mr. Potato Head (voice: Don Rickles ) assisted by Slinky Dog (voice: Jim Varney ), and the bystanders include Bo Peep (voice: Annie Potts ) and her sheep. The day is saved by cowboy doll Woody (voice: Tom Hanks ) playing the sheriff, with help from Rex the dinosaur (voice: Wallace Shawn ). Woody is the only toy who gets to say his own lines because he has a pull-string that makes him say things like "Reach for the sky!" and "You're my favorite deputy!" During the opening credits (soundtrack: Randy Newman 's "You've Got a Friend in Me"), Andy takes Woody downstairs to find his mother (voice: Laurie Metcalf ) decorating the dining room for his birthday party. He asks if they can leave the decorations up until they move, and his mom agrees. She says the guests will arrive soon and sends him back upstairs to get his baby sister Molly (voice: Hannah Unkrich ), whose crib is in his room. Andy tosses Woody onto his bed before he pulls Molly out of her crib and carries her away. Woody and the other toys have seemed limp and inanimate up to this point, but as soon as Andy leaves the room, Woody sits up and expresses surprise that the birthday party is today. He calls "Ok, everybody, the coast is clear," and the other toys come to life too. Woody calls a staff meeting and tells Slinky Dog to spread the word. Within a few minutes (during which Bo Peep makes a date with Woody for that evening), all the toys are assembled. Woody starts by reminding them all to find a moving buddy so they don't get lost when the Davis family moves to their new house, which will happen in a week. Then he tries to downplay the news that Andy's birthday party is happening today, but it causes a commotion as the toys know that Andy's actual birthday isn't till next week. Rex worries that someone will give Andy another dinosaur, and many of the toys have similar concerns. Woody points out that it makes sense to have the party before the move, then tries to calm them down. He's interrupted when Hamm (voice: John Ratzenberger ) the piggybank, stationed near the window, announces that the guests are arriving. The toys rush to the window to see the presents the kids are bringing; the bigger boxes make them especially nervous. Hamm predicts "we're next month's garage sale fodder for sure." Woody finally says, "If I send out the troops, will you all calm down?" Sending out the troops means that the little green plastic soldiers, led by Sarge (voice: R. Lee Ermey ), lower the baby monitor to the first floor and hide with it in a potted plant, where they can observe the opening of the gifts and report back to the toys in Andy's room. At first, the presents seem nonthreatening — a lunchbox, bed sheets ("who invited that kid?" wonders Mr. Potato Head), a Battleship game. But Andy's mom pulls a surprise present from the closet. Andy's very excited about it, but before they hear what it is, Rex knocks the speaker off the table and the batteries fall out. Sarge warns that the kids are headed upstairs, but the toys barely have time to resume their previous positions before the stampede thunders in. One of the kids (Andy?) sweeps Woody off the bed, saying "make a space, this is where the spaceship lands!" They put something down where Woody was, then Andy's mom calls them back down to play games and suddenly the room is empty again. The toys creep out of their hiding places to see the new toy, pausing in surprise when Woody crawls out from under the bed. The new toy has taken Woody's place on the bed, which causes consternation. Woody reminds them that no one is being replaced, and they look up to see what's on the bed. It's Buzz Lightyear (voice: Tim Allen ), space ranger, Universe Protection unit. Buzz believes he's crash landed on a strange planet on the way to sector 12, and his ship (his box) is damaged. Woody welcomes Buzz to Andy's room and tries to explain that Buzz has landed in Woody's usual spot. The other toys climb up on the bed to meet Buzz and ask him about the buttons and gadgets on his space suit. They're impressed with Buzz's voice recordings — "a quality sound system" — not like Woody's pull-string-activated voice, which "sounds like a car ran over it." Buzz also has a laser ("a little light bulb that blinks," grumbles Woody), and wings. Buzz takes exception to being called a toy, and when Woody says he can't really fly, Buzz climbs the bedpost, shouts "to infinity and beyond!", and dives. He bounces off a rubber ball, does a loop-de-loop on the racetrack, and gets stuck for a few rotations on the toy plane tethered to the ceiling before flipping down and landing neatly back on the bed. All the toys are dazzled except Woody, who says "that wasn't flying, that was falling with style!" In the montage that follows (soundtrack: Randy Newman's "Strange Things Are Happening to Me"), Andy has Buzz shoot Woody, then puts on a cardboard replica of Buzz's helmet and wings. A western-themed poster in Andy's room is replaced by two Buzz Lightyear posters, and drawings of Woody on the bulletin board are covered with drawings of Buzz. The western-style bedspread disappears; the new one is emblazoned with Buzz's image and his name. In the final indignity, Andy takes Buzz to bed and leaves Woody in the covered wagon toy chest. Some alarming noises draw the toys to the open window, where they can see the neighbor kid, Sid (voice: Erik von Detten ), who's about to blow up a Combat Carl action figure. Sid's dog Scud, a brown and white bull terrier, is tied up nearby and barking like crazy. Buzz thinks Sid, who's laughing maniacally, is "a happy child;" the others explain that he tortures toys. Buzz wants to help the doomed toy soldier, but Sid lights the fuse and Andy's toys duck as debris goes flying. When they look again, there's no sign of Carl. "The sooner we move, the better," says Bo Peep. Andy's mom suggests dinner at Pizza Planet (a space-themed restaurant) and tells Andy he can bring one toy. Doubting that Andy will choose him unless Buzz is unavailable, Woody plans to trap Buzz in a gap behind Andy's desk. The plan backfires and Buzz falls out the window into the bushes below. The other toys accuse Woody of pushing Buzz out the window out of jealousy, but as they are about to punish him, Andy returns. Failing to find Buzz, he grabs Woody and the family drives off — but not before Buzz crawls out of his bush and climbs on the back of the minivan. While Andy's mother refuels the car at a Dinoco station, Woody wonders how he can convince the other toys that Buzz's fall was an accident. Suddenly Buzz appears. Woody is delighted, though more for his own sake than Buzz's ("I'm saved!"), but Buzz is very bitter over what Woody did to him. The two fight and roll out of the car, which drives off and leaves them stranded. Luckily, Woody sees another vehicle heading for Pizza Planet and knows that they can meet Andy there. He tricks Buzz into coming with him (but only because if he came home without Buzz, the other toys would attack him). Buzz insists on riding in the "cockpit" (the front seat) so he can wear a seatbelt; Woody climbs in the back and gets thrown about by the driver's erratic maneuvers. They reach Pizza Planet and hide in discarded food packaging so they can sneak through the front door. Woody quickly spots the Davises, but Buzz climbs into a claw-crane machine shaped like a spaceship, thinking it's the ship home Woody promised him. The machine is filled with three-eyed green aliens (voices: Debi Derryberry , Jeff Pidgeon ) who believe the claw is a god. Woody climbs in to get Buzz out, but Woody and Buzz are captured by Sid, along with one of the little aliens. Sid takes them back to his house and immediately gives the three-eyed alien to Scud, who starts chewing on it. Then Sid takes a doll away from his little sister Hannah (voice: Sarah Rayne ) and runs upstairs to operate on her. ("No one's ever attempted a double-bypass brain transplant before!") Woody and Buzz, still in Sid's backpack, look on in horror as Sid replaces the doll's head with the head of a toy pterodactyl and gleefully gives it back to Hannah, who shrieks for her mother and runs away. Sid follows. Woody tries to get out of Sid's room, but the door's locked. He's frightened by Sid's nightmarish mutant toys, which Sid has butchered and reconstructed a la Frankenstein. There's an erector-set spider with a one-eyed baby head, a jack-in-the-box whose jack has been replaced by a green rubber hand, a fishing pole with legs, and other horrors. Buzz thinks they're cannibals. Meanwhile, Andy's toys are searching for Buzz from Andy's window. They have to stop when the car pulls into the driveway. Andy can't find Woody and many of the toys think he ran away, which they interpret as evidence of his guilt. But Bo Peep hopes he's ok. Next morning, Sid interrogates Woody about the location of a "rebel base." When Woody remains silent, Sid uses a magnifying glass to concentrate the sunlight on a spot between Woody's eyebrows, which starts to smoke. Woody is saved when Sid is called away to eat his Pop-tarts. Buzz compliments Woody for not succumbing to Sid's torture. Woody notices that Sid has left the door open, but before he and Buzz get out, the mutant toys block the way. Buzz tries his laser on them and is puzzled when it doesn't work. Woody pushes the button that activates Buzz's karate-chop action and frog-marches him through the crowd of toys, which parts to let them through. Woody drops Buzz as soon as they reach the door and runs down the stairs saying "there's no place like home, there's no place like home," a la Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939) . On the landing, he finds Scud, scary even in his sleep. He backs up, then Buzz grabs him and leads him down the hall past the head of the stairs. But the ring on Woody's pull-string catches on the wrought-iron stair railing, and he says (involuntarily) "Yee-haw! Giddyap, partner — we got to get this wagon train a-movin!" Of course the dog wakes up and comes to investigate. Buzz says "Split up!" and runs through an open door; Woody pulls another door closed behind him. Buzz sees someone asleep in a recliner and notices that the television is on. A voice is saying "Come in, Buzz Lightyear! This is Star Command!" At first Buzz thinks Star Command is really trying to reach him, and fiddles with the radio on his suit. But as the commercial enumerates his features and adds a disclaimer that Buzz is not a flying toy, Buzz begins to believe that he really is, as Woody keeps telling him, only a child's plaything. He's despondent. Then he spots an open window in the stairwell (apparently nobody in this neighborhood bothers with window screens) and tries to prove himself wrong by flying through it. He bounces off the stairs and lands in the hall, losing an arm in the process (soundtrack: Randy Newman's "I Will Go Sailing No More"). Hannah picks Buzz up and carries him off to her room, where Woody finds him playing the part of Mrs. Nesbitt at a tea party. ("What a lovely hat, Mrs. Nesbitt. It goes quite well with your head.") Woody imitates Hannah's mother's voice to lure Hannah out of the room so he can rescue Buzz. Buzz is raving and depressed, but when he wails that he can't even fly out the window, it gives Woody an idea. He opens the window in Sid's room and calls over to Andy's room, where Hamm is beating Mr. Potato Head at Battleship. Most of the toys seem glad to see him. He tosses a string of Christmas lights across and tells them to tie it to something, but Mr. Potato Head says "How 'bout we don't?" and tries to convince the other toys that they should leave Woody where he is. Woody tells them Buzz is with him, but Buzz won't come to the window where the toys in Andy's room can see him, though he does throw Woody his detached arm. Woody uses the arm to make the toys think Buzz is standing next to him, but eventually slips up and they see that the arm isn't attached to Buzz. They react pretty much the way people would react to a severed human arm, with horror and disgust. They let go of the string of lights, which falls to the ground. When Woody begs them to listen, they leave the window, except for Slink, who closes the blinds. Woody cries. Down on the floor, Sid's mutant toys have surrounded Buzz. When Woody tries to drive them off, the baby-headed spider comes at him and takes away Buzz's arm. Woody can't break through the group around Buzz, but he's sure they're killing him until the crowd of toys breaks up and reveals Buzz with his arm re-attached. "But they're cannibals," Woody says; "we saw them eat those other toys" ... then he looks at Sid's toys again, and notices that Hannah's doll and the pterodactyl have their own heads back. Realizing hes misjudged them, he's trying to apologize when they all disappear under the bed and Sid comes back. Sid has a rocket. His first thought is to use it on Woody, but Woody's hiding, so he picks up Buzz instead. "I've always wanted to put a space man into orbit," he says malevolently. A rainstorm forces him to delay the rocket launch until morning. Next door, it's Andy's bedtime and he's mourning the loss of his two favorite toys. His mom comes in and says she's looked everywhere, and all she can find is his hat, which she gives him. (This is the white-laced red cowboy hat that looks like the had worn by Jessie, a character we meet in the next movie. ) Andy's mom reassures him that they'll find Woody and Buzz before they move out — tomorrow. That night, Woody convinces Buzz that even if he's not a space ranger, life as Andy's toy is still worth living, though Woody himself despairs that he'll ever be Andy's favorite toy again. Buzz regains his spirit in time to see the moving truck pull up to Andy's house. But before they can escape, Sid wakes up and takes Buzz (still strapped to the rocket) out into the back yard. He starts working on something ominous with a big empty water jug while doing newscaster-style narration of the preparations for the approaching rocket launch. Woody pleads with the mutant toys to help him rescue Buzz and they hesitantly join him. (None of Sid's toys talk.) Woody outlines a plan and assigns tasks to each toy. Ducky and Legs go into the heating ducts to avoid Scud, who saw Woody trying to follow Sid and is still growling outside the bedroom door. Ducky and Legs get outside by removing the light fixture on the front porch, then ring the doorbell. When he hears the doorbell, Woody releases a wind-up frog from Sid's room; the frog scoots under Scud and zooms down the hall. Scud gives chase and follows the frog downstairs, where Hannah's answering the door. The frog goes out, Ducky grabs it, and they're both reeled up by Legs (who's part fishing pole) before Scud catches up. Hannah, exasperated, shuts the door, leaving Scud outside. The porch light fixture drops back into place before anyone notices it's gone. As soon as Hannah's out of the front hall, Woody and his cadre of toys come down the stairs, roll through the kitchen, and exit through the cat flap in the back door. They land in the bushes, where they have a good view of the launch site. Sid's newscaster voice is asking his mission control voice if launch pad construction is complete; mission control says it is. Sid himself is out of sight, apparently rummaging around in the shed looking for matches. Ducky, Legs, and the wind-up frog pop out of a down-spout as Sid prepares to start the count-down. The launch pad looks very strange. Buzz and his rocket are standing on a dart board on a milk crate. Nearby is an orange-striped traffic horse with a rake leaning on it and the empty water jug propped underneath. The jug is connected with vacuum-cleaner hose to a red funnel, which is aimed at Buzz's feet. Woody approaches Buzz, who's happy to see him and asks for help getting loose. Woody says "Everything's under control," and falls to the ground in the manner of a toy expecting a human on the scene. Sure enough, Sid comes out of the shed using his mission control voice ("all systems are go, requesting permission to launch") — and then notices Woody. He tosses Woody on the charcoal grill and says "You and I can have a cookout later." He puts a match in Woody's holster and turns back to his rocket launch, where he lights another match and starts counting down from 10. While he's focused on this, toys are taking up positions all around the yard. Before Sid can light Buzz's fuse, Woody's voice recordings start playing, one after another: "Reach for the sky! This town ain't big enough for the two of us! Somebody's poisoned the waterhole!" Sid is distracted and comes over to pick Woody up off the grill. His string hasn't been pulled. "It's busted!" he says disgustedly. "Who are you callin' busted, buster?" says Woody. "That's right, I'm talking to you, Sid Phillips. We don't like being blown up, Sid." Sid begins to look terrified. "... or smashed, or ripped apart," continues Woody. "W-we?" Sid stutters. "That's right!" replies Woody. "Your toys!" A rag doll climbs out of the sandbox and walks across the yard saying "ma-ma ... ma-ma." A large toy pickup truck emerges from a pile of sand while a couple of partially dismembered soldier action figures rise out of a puddle. They all advance on Sid, who backs away and jumps when the three-eyed alien from Pizza Planet pops out from under Scud's red water bowl. Sid backs toward the clothes line and the baby-headed spider drops down on his head. He shrieks and shakes it off, but the toys have him surrounded now. Woody says, "You must take good care of your toys, because if you don't, we'll find out, Sid. We toys can see everything!" Woody's head spins all the way around (think The Exorcist (1973) ). "So play nice." Sid is panic-stricken. He screams, throws Woody in the air, and runs into the house, where he tells Hannah the toys are alive. When he sees the doll she's carrying, he says "nice toy," and backs away. She waves the doll at him. He screams again and runs upstairs crying; she chases him. Outside, Woody and other toys are celebrating. "We did it!" As Buzz thanks Woody, they hear a honk from next door. Andy's mom tells the kids to say goodbye to their old house and the minivan starts to move. Woody and Buzz rush over and Woody climbs on the back of the car, but Buzz, still burdened with the rocket, can't get through the fence. He tells Woody he'll catch up, but Woody comes back for him. They manage to get on the back of the moving van, but Scud runs after them and gets hold of Woody's leg. Woody can't hold on to the truck and tells Buzz to take care of Andy for him. Buzz, sacrificing himself to save Woody, jumps on Scud's head, making him let go of Woody. Woody climbs back on the truck and pries open the cargo door as the truck comes to a stoplight. Woody pulls out RC, the remote controlled car, and sends him to get Buzz, who's under a parked car where Scud can't reach him. The toys in the van think Woody is murdering another toy and try to stop him. This is a problem because Woody's controlling RC. The angry toys pick up Woody and Rocky, the strong-man, spins him around, which causes RC to drive in circles around Scud (who's still barking furiously). They throw Woody against a box; RC's path straightens out. Hamm jumps on Woody. RC, with Buzz still precariously aboard, approaches a busy intersection. The traffic light is not in their favor. RC scoots under a moving car, but two other cars collide while trying to avoid Scud. The wrecked cars cut the dog off from his quarry and RC pulls away. On the truck, Woody tries to tell the toys that Buzz is out there and they have to save him, but Mr. Potato Head isn't buying it. "Toss him overboard," he says, and they do — but Woody holds on to RC's controller. RC sweeps Woody off his feet and Woody turns RC up to turbo so they can catch up to the moving truck. Lenny (voice: Joe Ranft ), the binoculars, notices RC and his passengers gaining on them and alerts the other toys. Bo Peep confirms that Buzz is there — "Woody was telling the truth!" "What have we done?" wail the toys. Bo Peep tells Rocky to lower the truck's cargo ramp. Slink stretches out and Woody is able to grab his paw just as RC's batteries begin to lose strength. In the Davises' car, they're listening to "Hakuna Matata." Molly can see RC in the side mirror and laughs, but she can't talk, so no one else notices. RC is swerving dangerously. Slink, stretched past his limit, loses his grip and RC coughs to a stop in the middle of the road as the moving van disappears in the distance. Then Buzz remembers he still has a rocket strapped to his back, and Woody remembers he still has the match Sid put in his holster. He strikes it and is about to light Buzz's fuse when the wind of a passing car puts out the match. Despair. But when Woody's hand starts to smoke, he realizes that Buzz's helmet concentrates the sunlight just as Sid's magnifying glass did. They use it to light the fuse. The rocket catches them up to the truck and lifts them off the ground. As they go by Woody drops RC, who lands in the truck. Buzz and Woody go straight up with the rocket. Buzz opens his wings, which apparently break the tape holding him to the rocket, and zooms downward. He's still clutching Woody, who says "Buzz, you're flying!" "This isn't flying, this is falling with style!" retorts Buzz, repeating Woody's earlier line. They pass the truck again and fall through the minivan's sunroof, landing neatly in the box next to Andy, who finds them and gleefully tells his mom. She assumes they've been in the car the whole time. On Christmas Eve at the new house, Andy, Molly, and their mom are gathered around the Christmas tree. The army men are hiding in the tree with the baby monitor; the other toys are in Andy's room gathered around the speaker. Bo Peep pulls Woody under some mistletoe (held by her sheep) and kisses him. Andy's bed still sports a Buzz Lightyear bedspread, but one of the pillowcases and the comforter at the foot of the bed are western style. Drawings of Woody are again prominent on the bulletin board. There are two Buzz Lightyear posters, but also a cowboy poster. Balance and harmony reign. All the toys seem happy and relaxed; instead of fretting that Andy might get another dinosaur, Rex hopes for a leaf-eater so he can play the dominant predator. The first report comes in from Sarge: Molly's first present is a Mrs. Potato Head, to Mr. Potato Head's delight. He says he'd better shave and yanks off his mustache. Woody, a bit lipstick-stained and woozy, joins Buzz on Andy's bed. They're still friends. Sarge announces that Andy's opening his first present, but there's a burst of static and Buzz whacks the speaker a few times. Woody asks Buzz if he's worried and Buzz denies it, then says, "Are you?" "Now Buzz," Woody teases, "what could Andy possibly get that is worse than you?." Then they hear a bark downstairs, and Andy's joyous cry of "wow, a puppy!" Woody and Buzz exchange nervous smiles. The credits roll to the reprise of "You've Got a Friend in Me," a duet featuring Randy Newman and Lyle Lovett .

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Change and evolution of the creation process of pixar movies since toy story, toy story 1 and toy story 4: how do the techniques in both texts influence the audience, pixar and disney animation: pixar’s toy story versus disney’s moana, animation roundup: wonder park, toy story’s andy redesign, and hotel transylvania 4, top similar topics.

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Home / Essay Samples / Entertainment / Toy Story / The Influence Of Toy Story On The Film Industry

The Influence Of Toy Story On The Film Industry

• Category: Entertainment
• Topic: Movie Analysis , Toy Story

Pages: 4 (1760 words)

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Bibliography

• Booth, C. (1998). The Wizard Of Pixar. TIME Magazine, 152(24), 100. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=1339631&site=ehost-live
• Brown, B. (1998). How to Do Things with Things (A Toy Story). Critical Inquiry, 24(4), 935-964. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1344113
• The Pixar-Disney Animated Films. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2019, from https://www.filmsite.org/pixaranimations.html
• The Real Toys of 'Toy Story'. (2017, December 8). Retrieved April 20, 2019, from https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/the-real-toys-of-toy-story
• The 'toon titles that redefined the Walt Disney brand. (2012, Nov 01). USA Today Retrieved from https://library.semo.edu:2443/login?url=https://library.semo.edu:4836/docview/1125264057?accountid=38003
• Singh, A. (n.d.). Technology Behind the Magical World of Pixar. Retrieved April 20, 2019, from http://sites.psu.edu/avidesigns/2013/11/22/technology-behind-the-magical-world-of-pixar/

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