#74 Toy Story

In Summary

A landmark film on so many levels, Toy Story was the first fully computer-generated film, launching the Pixar animation studio while also being a genuinely moving child-oriented film that also speaks to adults.

The concept behind Toy Story is so iconic that it's hard to believe there wasn't a film before then that had used it. It's so simple, what do toys do when no-one is looking?

The answer is that they have incredibly complex internal politics and anxieties with their egos driven by how much they are played with. As such, it renders the introduction of new toys a fraught moment that disrupts pre-existing hierarchies. Toy Story sees the group of toys led by their owner, Andy's, favourite, Woody the cowboy introduced to the newer, sleeker, shinier spaceman, Buzz Lightyear.

That sudden change in the social pecking order hurts Woody the most, who becomes desperate to prove that Buzz is a fraud. The comedy and action of the film is often driven by Buzz's lack of self-awareness that he is in fact a toy, specifically, his belief that he can fly.

After waylaying themselves on a journey to a pizza restaurant, Buzz and Woody find themselves trapped inside the home of the troubled neighbour kid, Sid, and are set to become another one of his unusual experiments. It is at the moment where most is at stake that the two lead characters have crucial moments of realisation.

For Buzz it's that he is in fact a toy and must thus, literally, come back down to Earth. For Woody, it's that he must accept that he will not always be Andy's favourite toy.

Despite these revelations seeming only to apply to being a toy, they also seem to say a lot about the experience of growing up, that we might not be capable of achieving our dreams, that our friends may not stay the same, but that what is most important is being there for the people you love. Toy Story is as much about people as it is about toys.

A Memorable Quote

That wasn't flying! That was... falling with style!

Things You May Not Know

• This was the first animated film to receive an Oscar nomination for writing.
• Barbie was initially intended to be Woody's love interest in the film, however, Mattel refused to allow Pixar the rights to the character because they didn't think the film would be a success. Barbie would later appear in Toy Story 2 and the later films.
• Both Billy Crystal and Chevy Chase were offered the role of the voice of Buzz Lightyear before Tim Allen.

One of the Greatest of All Time?
As the first film that I ever watched in a cinema, Toy Story will always have a special place in my heart, that it is still a great film 25 years later is especially sweet.

While this first entry into the film series perhaps lacks the depth of emotions that later films - Toy Story 3 especially - it is its simplicity that is most impressive about Toy Story. Wrapped around a fairly straightforward adventure plot are layers of emotional resonance that should not be possible within the confines of a one-hour-and-twenty-minute children's film.