Toy Story (Exclusive Series Special) (Disney Plus)

*** Checking out the Toy Story franchise with Lightyear playing in theaters and currently at the Dietrich***

Initial release date: November 22, 1995

Studios: Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation

Tagline: Take off on an adventure beyond the imagination

Plot: 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 for his birthday. Even worse, the arrogant Buzz thinks he’s a real spaceman on a mission to return to his home planet. When Andy’s family begins to move to a new home, Woody and Buzz must escape the clutches of maladjusted neighbor Sid Phillips and reunite with their boy.

Cast

Tom Hanks - Woody

Tim Allen - Buzz Lightyear

Don Rickles - Mr. Potato Head

Jim Varney - Slinky Dog

Wallace Shawn - Rex

John Ratzenberger - Hamm

Annie Potts - Bo Beep

John Morris - Andy

Erik von Detten - Sid

Laurie Metcalf - Mrs. Davis

R. Lee Ermey - Sergeant

Writer(s): Joss Whedon (Justice League; HBO’s The Nevers)

Andrew Stanton (Toy Story 4; Finding Dory)

Joel Cohen (Daddy Day Camp; Evan Almighty; Garfield 1 and 2)

Alec Sokolow (Daddy Day Camp; Evan Almighty)

Director: John Lasseter (Cars 2)

With the return of Buzz Lightyear in theaters and at the Dietrich, I decided to give the ‘Toy Story’ franchise another look since most of us generally grew up watching the iconic Pixar character on the big and small screens.

The 1995 movie, ‘Toy Story,’ was one of the most ground-breaking achievements in cinema history. This beloved Pixar classic still holds up today with its really emotional moments and amazing animation.

No matter how many times you have seen this movie or how old you are, ‘Toy Story’ will always be one of the most cherished films you will ever see. Quite a few memorable moments scattered throughout and lots of funny bits as well!

You can check out this beloved 1995 classic, along with its three sequels, on the Disney Plus streaming platform.

Here are SEVERAL interesting tidbits for ‘Toy Story’:

• Sid Phillips is said to be inspired by a former Pixar employee of the same last name who was known to disassemble toys and use the parts to build bizarre creations.

• This was the first animated film in Oscar history to be nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar - Adapted or Original.

• The animation team perfected the movement of the toy soldiers by nailing a pair of sneakers to a sheet of wood and trying to walk around with them on.

• Tom Hanks recorded his dialogue during the breaks of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and ‘A League Of Their Own.’ He didn’t want to record during breaks of ‘Philadelphia’ or ‘Forrest Gump,’ because he felt he shouldn’t do comedic roles in between minutes of playing serious roles.

• The carpet in Sid’s house has the same hexagonal pattern as the carpet in the Overlook Hotel in ‘The Shining.’

• Randy Newman wrote the film’s signature tune “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” in just one week.

• An early possible title for the film was ‘You Are A Toy.’

• R. Lee Ermey’s character Sarge was inspired by his character Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in ‘Full Metal Jacket.’ Ermey was also a Gunnery Sgt. in the Marine Corps.

• Bill Murray, Jim Carrey and Chevy Chase were considered for the role of Buzz Lightyear.

• Woody was originally conceived as a ventriloquist’s doll.

• Lasseter’s first experience with computer animation was during his work as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation, when two of his friends showed him the light-cycle scene from ‘Tron.’ It was an eye-opening experience that awakened Lasseter to the possibilities offered by the new medium of CG animation.

• Lasseter tried to pitch ‘The Brave Little Toaster’ as a fully CG film to Disney, but the idea was rejected and Lasseter was fired. He then went to work at Lucasfilm and in 1986, became a founding member of Pixar.

• In 1986, Pixar was purchased by entrepreneur and Apple founder Steve Jobs. At Pixar, Lasseter created short, computer animated films to show off the Pixar Image Computer’s capabilities.

• In 1988, Lasseter produced the short film ‘Tin Toy’ told from the perspective of a toy, referencing Lasseter’s love of classic toys. It won the 1989 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, the first CG film to do so.

• At the beginning, every couple of weeks, Lasseter and his team showed Disney their latest storyboards or footage. Disney was impressed by Pixar’s technical innovation, but less-so of the plot. Then Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg discarded most of Pixar’s script ideas, giving his own extensive notes. Katzenberg wanted primarily to add “more edginess” to the two main characters.

• Pixar screened the first half of the film for Disney executives on November 19, 1993 - an event they later dubbed the “Black Friday Incident.” The results were disastrous and Disney’s head of feature animation, Peter Schenider, halted production.

• Pixar’s script rewrites took three months; Production resumed with the new script by February 1994, and the voice actors returned one month later to record their new lines.

• Editors worked on the film up until the September 1995 deadline to deliver a final cut for scoring and sound design. A test screening in July 1995 received encouraging responses from the audience, but the film wasn’t rated as highly as had been hoped, leading to another last minute round of edits.

• On October 2, 2009, the film was re-released in Disney Digital 3D. The film was also released with ‘Toy Story 2’ as a double feature for a two week run, which was extended due to its success.

• Upon its release on November 22, 1995, ‘Toy Story’ managed to gross more than $350 million worldwide. It went on to become the highest-grossing domestic film of 1995, beating ‘Batman Forever,’ ‘Apollo 13,’ ‘Pocahontas,’ ‘Casper,’ ‘Waterworld’ and ‘GoldenEye.’

• ‘Toy Story’ had a large impact on the film industry with its innovative computer animation. After its debut, various industries were interested in the technology used for the film.

• In 2005, the film was selected by the US Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry.

• Also spawned three sequels: Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019).

https://youtu.be/v-PjgYDrg70