Toy Story

Title: Toy Story (1995)
Director: John Lasseter
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Jim Varney, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger
Rank: 99



Change is inevitable, as we all know. Yet, even though we know change cannot be stopped, we often still fear change. It can be scary when the life you are used to and love suddenly changes, just as Woody's life changed. He was always Andy's favorite toy, until Buzz Lightyear arrives and captures Andy's playtime affections, threatening to leave Woody in the toy chest to collect dust. It doesn't matter if a king suddenly loses his wealth and becomes a peasant, or if a poor man wins the lotto and has riches beyond his dreams: change can be difficult for anyone. As humans, we tend to get used to things and like what we are familiar with, which is why it is so easy to fall into routines. But, as Woody learned, change isn't always a bad thing.

Through an amazing toy-journey, Woody and Buzz both discover new things about themselves. Change can be, and often is, a good thing. Woody and Buzz become the greatest of friends because of change. If we always stay in our comfort zones, we will never develop or evolve as people. My life is vastly different from what it was five years ago, and I know my life will be greatly different five years from now. To me, this is an exciting thing. I love life, I love where my life is right now, but if I thought that I was going to be here for the rest of my life it would make me sad. Change comes either by force or by choice, and adapting to change can be greatly rewarding, if we face the things that we fear about change. Life is not frozen- it's constantly moving, constantly growing and developing. It's a beautiful thing, really. Life without change would be uninteresting and nothing new would ever happen.

Toy Story may be about change, but it also made changes to the face of animation. It was the first full-length feature film to be completely computer animated. Toy Story paved the way for films like the Shrek tetralogy, the Ice Age trilogy, Kung-Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, How To Train Your Dragon, and of course all of the other gems PIXAR has given to the world (A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and coming June 30th is Toy Story 3). Even Beowulf could fall into this category, as well as a slew of others that have already been made and are being released in the coming years. Toy Story gave birth to a new generation of films, ones which the entire family can enjoy: kid-friendly, but just as appealing to adults, with a few adult-aimed jokes hidden throughout the films (I noticed this time that at one point Woody mockingly calls his friend "Buzz Light-Beer" instead of "Lightyear"). These films are admired by fans of all ages, bringing families and friends together once again. See? Change isn't always a bad thing.

Trivia:
•Every PIXAR movie has four things in common: 1) A visual reference somewhere in the film to another one of their projects. 2) A list of "Production Babies" (babies that were born to people who contributed to the film while it was in production). 3) A short film that accompanies it in the theaters. 4) John Ratzenberger does the voice of one character.
•In Toy Story, the visual reference to another PIXAR project is in Andy's room: among the books on his bookshelf (can be particularly seen when Woody is hosting the toy-meeting) there are books whose titles are PIXAR shorts, one of them having John Lasseter (the director) listed as the author. Also, the gas station Buzz and Woody fight at is Dinoco- the company that Lightening McQueen hopes to be sponsored by in PIXAR's Cars (2006).
•Toy Story was the first film to be completely computer animated. Each frame took between four to thirteen hours to render. (There are 24 frames in each second, the film is an hour an twenty minutes- you do the math.)
•There's a nod to Disney on Andy's wall: he has a Mickey Mouse clock.


Movies to Go: 82