Toy Story
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Toy Story is a computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 22, 1995, and the United Kingdom on 22 March 1996.
Toy Story was the first feature-length completely computer-animated movie released by Disney. At least one earlier attempt to create a computer animated feature had been tried before Toy Story, the announced movie The Works, which was never finished. Toy Story was also Pixar's first feature film. It grossed $191,796,000 in the United States, making it the 71st highest-grossing movie in U.S. box office history and it took a grand total of $358,100,000 worldwide. The primary characters are toys in the room of the six-year-old boy Andy, and is mostly told from their point of view. Andy, his baby sister Molly and mother have smaller roles, as do the neighbor boy Sid, his dog Scud and sister Hannah.
Before Pixar's entry into the feature film-business with Toy Story, Pixar was known for developing the Pixar Image Computer.
Voice cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Tom Hanks | Woody |
| Tim Allen | Buzz Lightyear |
| Don Rickles | Mr. Potato Head |
| Wallace Shawn | Rex |
| Jim Varney | Slinky Dog |
| John Ratzenberger | Hamm the Piggy Bank |
| John Morris | Andy Davis |
| Erik von Detten | Sid |
| Annie Potts | Bo Peep |
| Sarah Freeman | Hannah |
| R. Lee Ermey | Sergeant "Sarge" |
| Laurie Metcalf | Andy's Mom |
| Jeff Pidgeon | Little Green Men |
| Joe Ranft | Lenny the Binoculars |
Characters
The main toy characters:
- Woody - an old-fashioned sheriff rag doll. He is Andy's favorite toy, with a special spot on the bed, and as such is the leader of the toys.
- Buzz Lightyear - a Space Ranger from Star Command. A new plastic toy with electronic voice, spring loaded wings, laser (a blinking LED) and a rocket ship box. Buzz was a gift at Andy's birthday party.
- Mr. Potato Head - a Mr. Potato Head doll by Hasbro, Inc. He is outspoken and sarcastic. The audio commentary on the 10th anniversary DVD jokes that he is an Irish-Cathlic.
- Rex - a Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur toy with a lot of anxiety from an inferiority complex (afraid he is not scary enough).
- Slinky Dog - a wiener dog with a slinky abdomen. Very loyal to Woody.
- Hamm - a wise-cracking piggy bank.
- Bo Peep - a shepherdess doll, Woody's romantic interest.
- Sarge - a gung-ho commander of an army of plastic toy soldiers. Sarge and his troops frequently help out their fellow toys.
- Little Green Men - toy aliens that you could win as a prize in a crane machine at Pizza Planet.
Human characters:
- Andy - owner of Woody and the rest of the toys.
- Sid - a boy who delights in torturing toys; he wears a black shirt with a human skull on the front similar to those which are produced by the company zero.
- Andy's Mom - typical "soccer mom".
- Hannah - Sid's little sister. Often gets her toys snatched away and tortured by Sid.
- Molly - Andy's baby sister.
Other Characters:
- Scud - Sid's Pit Bull
Plot
The movie starts with a meeting among the toys to discuss Andy's family's upcoming move, at the end of which Woody announces that Andy's birthday party is that day, resulting in pandemonium from the other toys. Everyone is afraid they will be replaced. Woody, of course, remains calm since he is Andy's favorite and expects to never be replaced by another toy.
To calm everyone Woody sends a reconnaissance group of green plastic soldiers using a baby monitor to scout the party. There are no new toys at the party until mom pulls out another box, but the soldiers are cut off and we don't hear what it is, only that the kids are coming upstairs. All the toys rush to their places before Andy returns.
When Andy arrives, Woody is brushed out of his place - the middle of the bed - and onto the floor to make space for the new toy. Once the kids leave to eat cake, Woody climbs back on the bed to see who this is that could have displaced him. The mystery toy is the famous Buzz Lightyear action figure.
A conflict between Woody and Buzz develops with Woody's jealousy that Buzz displaces him, and his irritation with the fact Buzz does not know he is a toy; Buzz believes himself to be "the real Buzz Lightyear," on a mission against the evil Emperor Zurg. Woody sets a trap for Buzz to knock him between Andy's desk and the wall, ensuring that Woody is picked to be taken to Pizza Planet. The plan goes awry and Buzz ends up falling out of the window. Woody is reviled by most of the toys, who refuse to believe that it was an accident, for this act of treachery, and Buzz sneaks into the car.
The two fight when Andy's mother stops at a Dinoco gas station (which is where Woody delivers his famous "YOU ARE A TOY" line), and realize that they must work together to get back to Andy. They sneak onto a truck and reach Pizza Planet, but Sid captures them in a crane game, and takes them home, where they see that Sid often took toys apart and put their parts onto others. For example, a baby doll head is on a robotic spider chassis. His plan for Buzz involves strapping him to a rocket and shooting him "into outer space."
However, rain delays the launch to the day of Andy's moving away. Woody recruits the help of the other toys to help Buzz. A plan takes effect- Sid's dog is distracted while Woody allows Sid to take him. Woody begins speaking to Sid, and tells him to take better care of his toys, at which point the toys reveal themselves from their hiding spots, scaring Sid away. Woody frees Buzz, and chases after the moving truck. Woody gets on, but while the toys are still angry with him for what he did to Buzz, they eventually have Andy's remote controlled car help the two catch up to the truck. The remote control car runs out of batteries, but Woody realizes that Buzz's rocket, still duct-taped to his back, can be used to reach the truck. Woody lights the rocket, and Buzz gains altitude with it before flying over the truck and into the car- Andy believes that he has just found the toys when he sees them.
The toys celebrate Christmas at Andy's new house, once again conducting reconnaissance. Buzz is dismayed to hear that Andy is getting a puppy.
Awards
Director John Lasseter received an Academy Special Achievement Award in 1996 for this film.In 2005 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It is the most recently-made film to receive this honor.
Sequels
- Toy Story 2 was released in 1999
- (spin-off movie to Toy Story)
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (spin-off TV show)
- Toy Story 3 (Pixar halted the solo Disney-production, but production resumed after Pixar took over) Expected to be released in 2008.
Toy Story in pop culture
- Debian (a Linux distribution) releases are named after characters from this movie. (Sid, Buzz, Rex, Bo, Hamm, Slink, Potato, Woody, Sarge, Etch).
- In one scene of Finding Nemo, another Pixar film, a Buzz Lightyear toy can be seen on the floor of a dentist's office.
- The line "You are a sad, strange little man," uttered by Buzz is referenced in The Santa Clause 2, where Tim Allen (the voice actor of Buzz Lightyear) says the same line.
- In The Warriors video game, a character can be heard muttering, "Mommy, I don't want to ride the pony," in his sleep. This is the same line Sid says in his sleep in Toy Story.
- In the Illbleed video game, one of the stages, Toy Hunter, heavily parodies Toy Story, among other movies and video games.
- This movie has also coined the (oxymoronical) phrase, "To Infinity and Beyond!" (though the term "Beyond the Infinite" was prominently used in of 1968).
- This movie was referenced twice on Tim Allen's sitcom Home Improvement. The first time, two trick-or-treaters come to the door of Tim's house, one dressed as Simba from The Lion King, and the other dressed as Buzz Lightyear. Randy answers the door, and gives the Simba more candy than the Buzz. Note that Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who plays Randy, voiced the young Simba in The Lion King and via archival footage, Kingdom Hearts II. The second time, Tim and his niece Gracie played with a Buzz Lightyear doll.
- During the end credits of Pixar's 2006 film Cars, a scene from Toy Story is reenacted by toy car versions of Buzz and Woody, playing a toy spaceship car and a Ford "Woody" Wagon, respectively. Tim Allen and Tom Hanks reprised their voices.
- *Woody: You are a toy...car!
- *Buzz: You are a sad, strange little wagon, and you have my pity. Farewell.
- Shortly after that in the credits of Cars, a scene with Hamm (voiced by John Ratzenberger, who has appeared in every Pixar film to date) is shown, and Mack (Ratzenberger's character in Cars) comments on how good the guy who voiced the piggy bank car is.
- Also in Cars, the Lightning McQueen's number 95 represents the year Toy Story came out.
- Also in Cars, the dream both Lightning McQueen and his ruthless competetor Chick Hicks are both chasing after is to sponsor the Dinoco gas station.
Trivia
- The Pixar logo with the hopping Luxo Jr. does not appear before the film. He appears at the very end of the credits instead.
- Sid's outfit is identical to that worn by Chris Cornell in the 1994 Soundgarden video "Black Hole Sun". To view this video, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWeW_8ljmCM. Both shirts resemble, if not are in fact, the skull logo used by Zero_Skateboards.
- Andy's father never appears in the movie.
- The "Hand" in the Box in Sid's room plays the same music that the toy did from Tin Toy (1988), the short movie that inspired Toy Story.
- When Woody jumps through the window of the Pizza Planet truck, there is a sticker on it that appear's to be Herbie's famous number 53.
- Billy Crystal was originally offered the chance to voice Buzz Lightyear.
- The toy shark, wearing Woody's hat, proclaims, "Look at me, I'm Woody! Howdy howdy howdy!" This references a cowboy-eating vulture in one of Gary Larson's "The Far Side" daily comic strips from the early 1980s: "Hey everyone, look at me, I'm a cowboy! Howdy! Howdy! Howdy!"
- The toolbox that Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) pushes off the milk crate bears the name "Binford Tools," the name of the company which sponsors Allen's character's show in Home Improvement (1991).
- "Hakuna Matata" from the Lion King can be heard in Andy's mother's car on the way to their new home.
- The original character for Woody was written to be sneaky, mean and borderline evil.
- During the staff meeting at the beginning of the movie, some of the books on the shelf behind Woody are named after some of Pixar's short films, such as Tin Toy and Knick Knack.
- When Buzz demonstrates flying, he bounces off the ball from Luxo Jr., and is later knocked out of Andy's bedroom window by Luxo, father of Luxo Jr.
- In the movie's opening scene, Mr. Potato Head says "What are you looking at, you hockey puck?" This is one of Don Rickles' (the voice of Mr. Potato Head) trademark insults. Joe Pesci insults Don Rickles this way on Rickles' previous film, Casino, saying "What are you staring at, you bald-headed Jew Prick?"
- In Hannah's tea party, her teapot is the Utah Teapot, famous in the computer graphics community.
- The license plate number on Andy's minivan is A113.
- This is the only Pixar film to not feature a previous Pixar short in the standard edition. However, the Toy Box and Gold Collection editions of this film feature Tin Toy.
Video games
Three video games based on the film came out on Sega Genesis, Super NES, Game Boy and PC.See also
External links
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