Movie Info
Movie Name: Toy Story
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Genre(s): Animated/Family/Comedy
Release Date(s): November 22, 1995
MPAA Rating: G
To Infinity and Beyond!!!
Woody is Andy’s favorite toy…where ever Andy goes, Woody goes. When Andy’s birthday rolls around, Woody finds a challenge. Andy’s got a new toy named Buzz Lightyear who doesn’t even know he’s a toy. As Woody’s jealousy grows, he makes a rash decision and pays the price. Now, Woody is hated by the other toys and must try to rescue Buzz to save his reputation, but Buzz and Woody are going to face a toy’s greatest challenge…a destructive boy named Sid.
Directed by John Lasseter, Toy Story was Pixar’s big premiere feature length film. Teamed with Disney, the computer animated film was released to positive reviews and extremely good box office returns. The movie won a Special Achievement Academy Award for John Lasseter for its design and nominations for Best Writing—Original Screenplay (which was written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow), Best Music—Original Song (“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”) and Best Music—Original Score. The film was also selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Sid’s toys are coming for you!!!
I have to say Toy Story really started to make me make decisions about my animated films. Until Toy Story, CGI films were pretty weak or just short films. With Toy Story, the animated film really changed…for better or worse.
The plot for Toy Story on the surface might seem pretty original. The writing is strong and I particularly like the scenes showing how Andy plays with toys…it is how kids plays with toys. Though it is sharp and witty, it is almost completely derivative of the 1986 Jim Henson production called The Christmas Toy. Even the idea of Buzz Lightyear is touched upon by Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids who is a similar toy. If you see The Christmas Toy, you will think a little less about Toy Story’s writing even if they improved it (and I do love the scene involving “The Claw”).
I’ve been chosen!!!
Toy Story also followed Disney’s trend of hiring some of the biggest voice actors. In 1995, both Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were pretty big property. You add to it the voices of Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, and Pixar go-to-guy John Ratzenberger.
Visually, I prefer traditional art and Toy Story and Pixar helped decide this. Yes, the movie looks good (newer movies look even better), but it just does feel like it has the life and love that the old style of art possessed. It is a big improvement from the previous CGI art, but still feels too clean too sterile for me to fall in love with it. I do love the horrific Sid creations who could have had their own movie.
Toy Story isn’t a bad movie, and it does have its moments. It is less sappy and sentimental than later entries, but I also feel it goes way too heavy on the irritating Randy Newman music. Toy Story was followed by Toy Story 2 in 1999.
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