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Pioneered and highlighted their then-new technological style:

Toy Story was not only Pixar’s debut animated feature film, it was also the first ever computer animated feature film, therefore this film is the one that pioneered and highlighted not only Pixar’s then-new technological style, but computer animation as a whole.

According to Wikipedia and IMDb, attracting animators to work on the film was surprisingly easy as the opportunity to work on the world’s first computer animated feature film was way too good for them to pass up. However, as excited as they were, the monumental task was not without its challenges.

According to Wikipedia, twenty-seven animators would go on to work on the film, using 400 computer models to animate the characters. Each character was first created out of clay or modelled from a computer-drawn diagram before reaching the computer animated design. From there, the articulation and motion controls of each character were coded to allow for a variety of movement. Eight teams were responsible for the different aspects of each shot, these teams included the art department, the layout department, the animation department, the lighting team, the camera team, the shading team, and the sound team. The film ended up requiring 800,000 machine hours and 114,240 animation frames in total.

According to IMDb, some of the 3D effects were too complex or just impossible to calculate at the time of the film’s production. It’s why certain explosions and water droplets aren’t seen on screen, and why everyone of the characters had shorter hair, or in Andy’s mother’s case, was tied back.

While I can appreciate Toy Story for the computer animated masterpiece that it is, especially for its time, watching it with a pair of 2023 eyes, it is now rather dated, but this was bound to happen. With the eventual sequels, Pixar had the rare chance of revisiting not only their characters but their animation and had the opportunity to evolve with new technology over time.

Made a film that focused on great attention to detail and story telling

Toy Story is based on a simple, yet relatable story of what toys could be like if they were anthropomorphic, and how a favourite toy could react and even feel threatened by a new toy given to their owner on a special occasion like a birthday or Christmas.

When Buzz arrives in Andy’s bedroom, Woody is clearly used to his position as Andy’s favourite toy, as well as the leader of the toys overall. Woody quickly and easily becoming jealous of Buzz was inevitable and relatable, almost like a child being jealous of the new kid in school who quickly makes friends, or yet becomes friends with the child’s own, long-time friends. Not only that, but according to IMDb, the theme of Andy favouring Buzz over Woody was reminiscent of the 1950s U.S. cultural phenomenon of kids wanting to be cowboys, however this phenomenon soon shifted to astronauts during the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the following decade.

One of the most interesting storytelling tools that I felt Pixar implemented with Toy Story was its back-and-forth in the film showing events from Andy’s and later Sid’s perspective, and Woody’s perspective. I felt that this choice made the story and its themes feel more immersive and authentic.

In regards to attention to detail, Pixar placed some Easter eggs for the audience, which included books on Andy’s bookshelf that had the same title as animated short films that Pixar made in the 1980s, the appearance of the Luxo/Pixar Ball, and Mr. Potato Head being based on the real-life toy of the same name, specifically the 1980s and 90s design.

Setting the precedent for future films:

As mentioned above, the Pixar team included many Easter eggs in Toy Story. Some of these Easter Eggs would go on to become staples in Pixar’s animated feature films, including but not limited to: featuring “A113” which is in reference to a room used by the animation department at CalArts, the Pizza Planet truck making appearances in future Pixar films, and references to settings and characters that would later play crucial roles in the Toy Story franchise (e.g. Al’s Toy Barn and Mrs. Potato Head).

The robot toy also has notable similarities to WALL-E, a protagonist that Pixar would bring to life in the film of the same name 13 years later (2008). Offscreen, John Ratzenberger, the voice of Hamm (the piggy bank) would go on to a voice a character in every Pixar film since, making Pixar the only animation studio to have a particular voice actor in every movie.

The theme of self-improvement would also become a key and signature feature in Pixar’s animated feature films, starting with Toy Story. In Toy Story, the self-improvement comes with Woody going from being jealous of Buzz and even feeling threatened by him, to accepting that he has to share the role of being Andy’s favourite toy.

Themes of hope, happiness, and togetherness:

Togetherness in particular is a strong theme in Toy Story, which is presented through both the toys’ bond with Andy and each other.

It’s established early on in the film that the toys are well-loved by Andy and that the toys are well-loved by each other. The toys gel well together at the beginning of the film, with Woody being the established and well-respected leader.

An interesting contrast of sorts to this group is Sid’s “mutant” toys.

Whilst they are set up to be antagonists due to Woody and Buzz jumping to conclusions about them, they are interestingly revealed to be kind and timid toys when they repair Buzz’s broken arm, a doll of Hannah’s, and a dinosaur of Sid’s. Despite their “mutant” appearance due to Sid constantly destroying or experimenting on them, Sid’s toys clearly have their own bond, work together like a cohesive team, and take to Buzz and Woody immediately, which is shown when they agree to Woody’s plan to teach Sid a lesson on taking care of his toys.

Happiness is another theme that is strong in Toy Story as Woody and Andy’s other toys’ overall goal is to make Andy happy. Happiness also plays a key part in the film when Buzz experiences an existential crisis when he discovers that he is a toy and not a real space ranger. Woody helps Buzz resolve this crisis by telling him his purpose is to make Andy happy.

The theme of hope played a smaller role, with Woody constantly having hope that he would eventually get back to Andy, and he did. However he nearly lost hope towards the end of the film, with Buzz ultimately restoring it by coming up with another way to get back to Andy, which succeeded.

My overall thoughts:

Full disclosure, I have seen Toy Story a few times since its release, however when I watched it for this Analysis series, it had been the first time I had watched the film in several years.

Overall, I enjoyed the film and its simple but relatable premise and story. I appreciated that each toy, whether they were anthropomorphic or not, had their own personality and some were based off real-life toys. I appreciated the realistic obstacles that Woody and Buzz faced on their journey back to Andy and I felt that they were well-paced. I also appreciated the subtle adult jokes that were placed here and there, such as the flirtation between Woody and Bo Peep, and Buzz getting drunk off imaginary tea.

However, some of the now-dated animation was a little jarring, knowing what the future holds when it comes to animation and the evolution in technology that will be seen in Pixar’s later films. Despite these inevitable and arguably unwitting flaws and weak spots, Toy Story was the best choice for Pixar’s debut animated feature film.

The next part of the Pixar Era Analysis series will be released next week and will focus on A Bug’s Life.

Fun Facts and Trivia:

• Toy Story was the first animated film in Oscar history to be nominated for a Best Screenplay Academy Award – Adapted or Original.
• The compiled animation files for this movie took up roughly 600GB of hard drive storage. This was quite a large amount for 1995, when the average consumer PC had a 250MB hard drive in it. Modern external hard drives hadn’t been invented yet. The 100MB Zip drive, which was basically a giant floppy disk, had just been introduced that year. Another note of comparison, the movie fits on an about 8GB DVD, and that is with extras.
• The shortest Toy Story movie in its franchise, and the shortest Pixar movie to date at 81 minutes in length.
• The highest-grossing movie of 1995.
• Randy Newman wrote the film’s signature song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” in one day.
• The name of the real estate agency selling Andy’s home is Virtual Realty, a malapropism nod to the computer term, “virtual reality.”
• One possible early title for the film was “You Are A Toy” the famous line that Woody screams at Buzz in frustration.
• None of the mutant toys can speak and no reason is given why. However, one of them, Ducky, can be heard making duck sounds.
• This is the only film in the Toy Story franchise where the main villain is not a toy.

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv
• https://pixar.fandom.com/wiki/Pixar_Ball