Led by Woody, Andy’s toys live happily in his room until Andy’s birthday brings Buzz Lightyear onto the scene. Afraid of losing his place in Andy’s heart, Woody plots against Buzz. But when circumstances separate Buzz and Woody from their owner, the duo eventually learns to put aside their differences.
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It’s kind of hard to believe now, but when Toy Story first released, it introduced viewers to computer animated films in a big way. Sure, Disney had started to add computer animated bits to their hand-drawn animation (like the lava in Aladdin), but they mostly were still doing hand-drawn animation. So, to have a fully computer animated movie was something pretty special. Then, when people actually saw it, they were blown away by this new innovation, which proved itself at the box office. So, 30 years later, would it still be worth watching, or had time ruined this once great film?
Getting Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to play the parts of Woody and Buzz respectively was a smart idea for Pixar. They work very well together in Toy Story, with Hanks playing the cowboy with “aw shucks” charm, while Allen is the full-of-himself Space Ranger. The two compliment each other, with one playing off the other (and back again) the entire film. It’s The Odd Couple for a younger generation.
The rest of the cast brings back some old memories. Jim Varney (Ernest Goes to Camp), Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride), John Ratzenberger (Cheers (TV)), Annie Potts (Ghostbusters) and R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) all seem like perfect casting choices to voice their particular toys, while Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne (TV)) brings a familiar voice to the human element.
The animation is top-notch in Toy Story – at least when it comes to the toys and inanimate objects. They seem spot on, and older fans will recognize a lot of toys from their younger days, including Mr. Potato Head, Etch-A-Sketch, Mr. Spell and more. With all the detail given to the toys and the environment, it’s actually surprising how fake the humans of the film look. Apparently, Pixar animators got so stuck on doing the plastic sheen to everything, they managed to transfer that to the humans too. It’s such an oddity that viewers will assume the filmmakers did that for a reason – maybe to showcase the importance of the toys, and downplay the human element? Who knows. Still, the humans look as plastic and unrealistic as toys usually do in our world.
What if the toys were actually alive? Sounds like a horror movie plot, doesn’t it? Still, it’s an interesting idea, and Pixar manages to turn what might have been scary into something that seems more heartwarming. So much so, in fact, that when the horror aspect is brought up later on in Toy Story, viewers will chuckle at the sheer absurdity that toys coming alive could be a bad thing. That’s pretty impressive. Especially from a studio that hadn’t released a major motion picture before.
The viewer can tell that Toy Story was a passion project for the people over at Pixar. Combining an interesting premise, a bit of nostalgia for older viewers (as well as some humor that is obviously aimed at a more grown-up audience), this first blockbuster fully computer animated movie has something for everyone to enjoy – and It hasn’t lost a step since the day it was released. Sure, we are now more used to computer animation, but there is a reason that people still quote this film to this day. And who can forget the Randy Newman score?
