Toy Story (1995)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, Erik von Detten, R. Lee Ermey, and Penn Jillette
Grade: Classic

In 1995, a new standard was set for animated movies with the release of Toy Story.

Summary

A young boy named Andy (Morris) loves playing with his toys. He’s got a bunch of them and plays with them all the time. Out of all his toys, his favorite is his pull-string cowboy sheriff, Woody (Hanks). After another fun playtime session on the morning of Andy’s birthday, he takes his baby sister Molly downstairs to help his mother. With no humans in Andy’s room, the toys do what they usually do when no one is around: come to life, talk, and hangout. However, business is first. After overhearing Andy and his mother (Metcalf) talk when he was taken to play downstairs, Woody is made aware of Andy’s birthday party being moved to today. Now, being the lead toy in charge and Andy’s favorite, Woody realizes he has to call for a staff meeting. He finds Slinky Dog (Varney) and tells him to gather everyone for the meeting but to act happy to not arouse suspicion. The toys start to gather for the meeting including Mr. Potato Head (Rickles), piggy bank Hamm (Ratzenberger), dinosaur toy Rex (Shawn), and every other toy in the room. After Molly’s Bo Peep (Potts) doll flirts with Woody for a bit, Woody heads over to begin the meeting. He opens by reminding everyone they need to pick a moving buddy since Andy’s family is moving next week. It’s important to have one to make sure no toy is left behind. After talking about the success of the Plastic Corrosion Awareness meeting led by Mr. Spell, Woody tries to downplay the fact that Andy’s birthday party was moved to today instead of next week. The family is doing this so they could have it before they move.

This sends the toys into a frenzy because anytime there’s a birthday, a new toy gift could potentially show up and steal playtime for others or could get them replaced altogether. This doesn’t worry Woody because as Mr. Potato Head points out, he’s been Andy’s favorite since kindergarten. Woody tries to calm everyone down, but it doesn’t help matters much when the toys start seeing guests arrive for the party with large gifts.

To calm everyone’s nerves and because he’s curious himself, Woody sends out a group of small plastic army men, led by Sarge (Ermey), to inspect the gifts from a distance in a “Code Red” covert operation. While hiding in a plant and observing from afar all the gifts being opened at the party, Sarge relays the message back through a toy radio to the one in Andy’s room for all the toys to listen. Thankfully, all the gifts are safe, until Andy’s mom gives him the last present that was initially hidden in the closet. Everyone starts panicking in Andy’s room, and a freaked-out Rex starts shaking the nightstand that the radio is on. It falls, and the batteries inside of it pop out. Woody has to come over to help but once they finally get the batteries back in, Sarge tells them to hide because Andy and his friends are coming upstairs. All the toys run to their positions, with Woody jumping on the bed because he was there last. The excited kids run into the room and one package is placed directly onto the bed, knocking Woody off it accidentally and to the ground. Once the kids leave, the insecure toys try to panic Woody and question whether he’s been replaced, but he assures everyone it was a mistake. To give this new toy a big welcome, Woody climbs up on the bed to meet him. It’s the awesome new action figure, space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Allen). Right away, we see that Buzz is not aware he’s a toy and actually thinks he’s a space ranger for the Galactic Alliance who’s crash-landed on an alien planet. The others don’t seem to care because they are impressed with all of the buttons Buzz has and how advanced he is for a toy. Because of this, Woody’s jealousy starts to show through as everyone exchanges pleasantries.

Woody tries to explain to the others how Buzz is made and downplays his gadgets, including the wings of Buzz’s spacesuit. Buzz insists he can fly, so Woody challenges him to do it. Undeterred, Buzz jumps off the post of the bed and onto a ball, swings off a racecar track onto a toy hanging from the ceiling who’s only objective is to fly in circles, and he launches himself back onto the bed. No, he didn’t actually fly (it was more “falling with style”) but because of this miraculous aerial stunt, everyone is convinced Buzz is “The Man”. Woody tries to tell himself things will be back to normal in no time, but he doesn’t foresee Andy starting to favor Buzz too. This starts to enrage Woody who’s never been challenged in Andy’s pecking order of toys, and the problem is that he can’t do anything about it.

…or maybe he can.

My Thoughts:

With computer-animated films being a foreign concept in 1995 and Pixar being an unknown entity, a lot was riding on Toy Story. Despite the risk, Toy Story smashed expectations and became the fire-starter that helped Disney/Pixar go on a fifteen-year run where they couldn’t miss. This isn’t just one of the best animated films ever, it’s on the list of the greatest movies in general. It’s one of those rare, animated movies that hits on every aspect. The innovative animation, an intelligent and entertaining screenplay with one of cinema’s most creative stories ever told, a musical score for the ages, and an excellent cast that embody our characters like they were meant to play it, Toy Story changed the game. It made Pixar a force to be reckoned with to this very day, gave Disney another classic, and gave us a film that would change animation forever after.

I’m going to say something I very rarely say in these reviews because it may cause controversy, but here it goes: Toy Story may very well be one of the few flawless films in existence.

The world that is created in this breezy and eventful runtime is incredible. From the liveliness of Andy’s bedroom and all of the colorful personalities that inhabit it, to the open world of the neighborhood that (to a toy) seems like the unknown of the bottom of the ocean, Toy Story is able to create an unforgettable world out of some of the most basic settings. A mundane gas station turns into a desert landscape for these toys who don’t know how to get home. The terrifying insides of Sid’s house feels like a prison in a post-apocalyptic world, filled with monstrosities of mutant makeshift toys created from the twisted mind of Sid breaking them and reconstructing them like a mad scientist. Inside this maximum-security-like house, complete with a menacing dog who could surely ragdoll any of the toys and that’s why they haven’t been able to escape, there’s a serious level of suspense and genuine terror in this twisted kid’s home that we’d never feel if we weren’t looking at it from the perspective of a toy. Everything changes when we look through this film from the point of view of our main characters, and it gives us new levels of excitement and heart-stopping, goosebump-filled scenes because of how well these moments are handled by our characters and director John Lasseter. Again, it’s crazy to see how colorful the film manages to be when using such basic locations, but when you see it through the eyes of a toy, it’s a whole different world.

Pizza Planet, which looks like the coolest restaurant ever, truly feels like the alien world that makes Buzz believe he’s reached the location his spaceship is at. We know it’s a restaurant, but we can see why it would fool someone like Buzz because of the circumstances. We also can see why it would excite someone like Andy. Ask any kid who’s seen this film if they would rather go to the fictional Pizza Planet or Chuck E. Cheese. Pizza Planet wins every time. It looks like so much fun. No matter how many times I’ve seen this movie, it will always be a favorite sequence of mine.

Can we talk about Sid’s house for a second? This was bona fide horror! This is something the Toy Story franchise is underrated for. They can produce some scary ass toys, characters, and moments. The “cannibals” in Sid’s house were legitimately frightening. It really felt like this messed up kid was destroying these toys for fun, and they’re all silent creatures who have been tortured, destroyed, and put back together again for years. The uncertainty and nightmarish angst regarding everything within Sid’s house, as Buzz and Woody interact with the unknown entities that inhabit the place, produces a level of anxiety you didn’t think you’d see in a film like this. You have no idea what’s going to happen. It all leads to the legendary plan to escape Sid’s, giving us an unforgettable moment surely inspired by 1932’s Freaks (along with a few other horror classics), and it helps shoot the third act into the stratosphere.

Sid himself was a freak too. He’s exactly the kid everyone would stay away from in middle school. I’ve met a few “Sid’s” in my time and let me tell you, this was a fantastic, creative, and strangely realistic villain.

Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are phenomenal. It has been said that since it was their first animated film, they recorded their voiceovers together to get their chemistry going and to time everything perfect. Saying that this worked is an understatement. You would think these two are classically trained voice actors with how much they put into their performances. From Buzz’s pure delusion and conviction regarding his rendezvous with Star Command to Woody’s annoyance with Buzz (“YOU ARE A TOY!“), desperation regarding the reality of what’s going on, and his quick-thinking in high pressure situations, their performances are two of the best you’ll ever see in a Disney film or animated film of any kind. There’s a reason they bring back both men to reprise their roles no matter the cost. Tom Hanks is Woody. Tim Allen is Buzz. They’re irreplaceable. Going along with this, John Ratzenberger and Wallace Shawn were also perfectly cast as well. I can’t imagine anyone else playing Hamm or Rex other than these two. They deserve much more credit than what they get.

Don Rickles playing the asshole that is Mr. Potato Head is ideal casting as well.

What makes Toy Story so timeless is the writing. Penned by a few different screenwriters and going through countless rewrites, the film manages to give us an animated children’s film with layered characters who are toys dealing with existential crises, ego death, jealousy, and all the entanglements that involve being a leader in charge. Here, Woody is the unchallenged, confident, designated team captain who deals with the stresses of being the main toy in Andy’s room. Everything goes back to him because he’s the favorite and though it’s not an easy job, he revels in the fact that everyone looks to him to lead them. It’s not bullshit either. He’s a natural at it. He thinks like a leader. We see how he inspires his friends in Andy’s house with words of encouragement to calm their worries and how he’s able to bring the ragtag group of silent mutants together in Sid’s house. Woody has that ability to take control of a room. Even when he’s at odds with Buzz throughout the movie, he’s the one that inspires Buzz when he needs him most. It’s a part of who he is, and why Woody is someone all the toys look up to as the franchise moves on. He cares about his fellow toys, even the one’s he doesn’t get along with right away. This is the mark of a true leader, and why Woody is such a great protagonist to get behind, despite his flaws of jealousy and insecurity. When it comes down to that final hour, his true colors show that he’s a natural leader and a good-natured toy.

Woody likes being the team captain and he likes having the responsibility of keeping everyone together emotionally. He knows everyone’s personality and motivations like the back of his hand, he plays to their strengths, and gets every shred of confidence out of them to give them a boost. It’s reminiscent of a general who gets the most out of his soldiers after years of working with them. When a new birthday party happens or Christmas comes around, all the toys worry like it’s D-Day or something because they can be shoved aside for the newest toy. They’re right to be afraid. We know how kids can be. As soon as they get that shiny new toy or game, it becomes their first priority, and the old stuff gets shoved aside. It’s the circle of life for toys. Woody has to be the levelheaded one to calm everyone down, but it’s well-known he should be the last one that’s worried because he’s Andy’s favorite. When the ultra-cool Buzz Lightyear is brought in, Woody’s unshaken confidence is finally disrupted, and the depth and multi-dimensional personality of Woody starts to show through. We get to see the humanlike qualities of the cowboy sheriff doll as he sees himself not only being shoved aside by his beloved owner Andy, but his fellow toys too. They think Buzz is just as cool as Andy does, and they all befriend Buzz and ask him for help when this responsibility use to fall on Woody. Despite being the unquestioned leader of the room, Woody starts to feel useless, and his internal insecurities can’t help but show after his spot at the top is challenged for the first time.

Him not knowing how to handle this is an internalized feeling many have felt before and we start to resonate with the character in short time. Woody is very easy to like and understand. As human beings, we can’t help but feel for him as he gets lower and lower on the totem pole when beginning the film at the tip top. You can tell he despises the attention Buzz is getting and when he wants to sabotage Buzz before the Pizza Planet trip, but accidentally causes Buzz to get knocked out the window, you can see he immediately regrets things because he didn’t intend on going that far with it. If he did it straight-up, it would be tough for the character to recover. It’s a make-or-break moment for Woody and the trajectory of the film, but it was handled very well with how the scene plays out, as well as the genuine regret in the voice of Tom Hanks. Everyone knows he had a problem with Buzz, but he didn’t want to almost kill him. That was never the intention, and we can see that because of the shocked look on his face. Watching the toys attempt a mutiny until Andy busts in the room was a great moment too, as was Mr. Potato Head threatening to hang Woody via a drawing on Etch A Sketch. With a memorable scene like this, we see how exciting and funny Toy Story can be for all ages because the humor works for everyone, without being too dark considering the circumstances.

Buzz Lightyear is cool off the bat. No one can deny it. A space ranger character with a detailed backstory is enough for any child or viewer of any kind to latch onto. It’s how we are, and very few characters are as entertaining to watch as those in science fiction. Honestly, it’s not surprising how fascinated the other toys are with Buzz and his style. They’ve never seen anything like him. It represents Andy and the millions of kids across the world who get a newly released toy.

The comedy of the film stems from Buzz not knowing he’s an action figure, completely believing in his backstory written on the package he came out of. He’s so entrenched in who he’s supposed to be, he doesn’t take off his helmet because he’s unsure the air he’s breathing on this potential “alien planet” is safe. Seeing him completely overreact when Woody presses the button to open it is still a funny ass scene to this very day. His confidence and belief in himself as the mighty “Buzz Lightyear” are undeterred in any sequence throughout the film, until when they get to Sid’s house. In a wonderfully executed scene, Buzz sees his own commercial on a TV and he’s shaken to his core, especially when he sees the disclaimer on the screen saying he’s “Not a flying toy“. He tries to bring himself back to where he was before by attempting to fly out the window, but when he hits the ground and breaks off his arm, you can see he’s shattered inside and out. The camera zooms out on the staircase, as we see Buzz stare at the ceiling feeling more alone now than ever before. Now, he doesn’t know who he is because he’s spent this whole time believing he was someone else. He’s just a toy? A child’s plaything? What is this? Up until this point, he thought his mission was to help the Galactic Alliance fight the Evil Emperor Zurg, but he sees now that he’s just a fictional character and a toy for his owner to play with.

It’s a world-shattering moment and a scene handled so carefully, you don’t feel like you’re watching a children’s movie. All in all, Toy Story is a triumph of storytelling, filmmaking, and acting. This is why it’s so transcendent and surpasses the pigeonholed, traditional beats of its genre. It doesn’t dumb things down to bring children in, it forces them to understand the stakes and motivations for their animated toy characters and makes children feel for them and understand what it means to be a toy. This is why it’s not looked at as a regular old kid’s movie. It’s a film that will entertain all ages. They didn’t try to make it for one specific group. They wrote these characters and this story for everyone, and that’s why it’s a generational movie.

The aliens from Pizza Planet were hilarious (“I have been chosen!”). They’re just as crazy as Buzz is, but it makes sense since they’ve never been outside of the claw machine from the restaurant. Watching Woody have to deal with those morons while trying to save Buzz to escape was pure entertainment, as was Buzz losing it in the “Mrs. Nesbitt” sequence.

Randy Newman’s score for this film is iconic too. How he lost “Best Original Song” AND “Best Original Musical or Comedy Score” to fucking Pocohontas hurts me to my very core. There aren’t many songs in the history of cinema more recognizable than “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”. It’s an absolute travesty this film didn’t win either award.

Though I don’t like that the success of this film and its sequel indirectly helped contribute to the demise of traditionally hand-drawn animated films, I can’t hate on the movie because of it. It was so amazingly executed that it opened the eyes to animation filmmakers forever. If both sides of this coin may be a part of Toy Story‘s legacy, then I suppose it’s okay because that’s just how the evolution of cinema goes. If Toy Story didn’t do it, another film would’ve eventually been blamed for it. Then again, you could argue the last crop of traditionally animated films just weren’t that good and that could’ve contributed as well.

Let’s put it this way: I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone that doesn’t like Toy Story. It’s a perfect film and should be recognized as such. If you don’t get goosebumps during the climax of the movie when Buzz and Woody try to make it to the moving truck, something is wrong with you. It’s a cinematic feel so pure, I can’t help but smile and cheer every time I see it. Along with Toy Story 2, these are two films that are just as entertaining, thought-provoking, and ground-breaking as the first time you watch it. With richly detailed characters, a story for the ages, a score that perfectly complements every event that unfolds, and Tom Hanks and Tim Allen giving their absolute all to bring this story to life, there’s no doubt in my mind that Toy Story will strike a chord with anyone that watches it. It’s a film crafted so well, there’s not a single second or moment I would add to it. The story is told to perfection from start to finish, and it’s entertaining every step of the way.

Fun Fact: Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, and Robin Williams were considered for the role of Woody. Billy Crystal, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Dan Aykroyd, John Travolta, Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Michael Keaton, Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox, David Hasselhoff, Dennis Quaid, Jason Alexander, Wayne Knight, Bill Paxton, and Richard Gere were all considered for the role of Buzz, with Crystal getting the closest. He was offered it but turned it down because he didn’t see it being a success. Because he regretted it after seeing the film become an international phenomenon, it pushed him to accept the offer for Monsters, Inc. when the time came. Rick Moranis was considered for Rex, and John Cleese was considered for Slinky Dog.

Honestly, I could see Rick Moranis working out in this type of role.