Toy Story would mark a turning point in animation history as it was the 1st CGI-animated movie ever made. Directed by John Lasseter, it has become an instant classic everyone loves since its release back in 1995, and it‘s honestly not hard to see why it's so beloved. It was the first movie to come out of Pixar Animation Studios, which, in the years that followed, would bring us some of the best animation movies to offer. It was a huge hit and forever changed the animation landscape for better or worse, as many studios would try to emulate Pixar’s Success. Even Pixar’s leading distributor, Disney, tried to catch up with the new and trendy CGI technology to stay relevant in the animation market. Sure, the animation might not be as polished as the following pixar movies. Still, its great story, memorable characters, and outstanding soundtrack make this movie genuinely timeless.
Woody (Tom Hanks) is a cowboy toy doll loved by his owner, Andy (John Morris). When Andy leaves the room, Woody and the rest of his fellow toys, including Slinky (Jim Varney), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Bo Peep (Annie Potts) and Mr Potato Head (Don Rickles), come to life and have many adventures. One day, Woody finds himself in the shadows of Andy’s newest toy, a Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) action figure, which Andy got for his birthday. The other toys are impressed by Buzz, while Woody becomes jealous of how he steals his attention away from his fellow toys, especially Andy. To make things even stranger, Buzz believes he’s an actual space ranger instead of a toy, which makes things even more complicated between him and Woody. Woody decides he’s had enough of Buzz and (though accidentally) knocks him out the window. This makes the other toys furious, and they turn on him for trying to get rid of Buzz because of Woody’s jelousy. Eventually, while traveling with Andy to Pizza Planet, he and Buzz get separated from Andy and end up in the hands of Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten), the kid next door who tortures and creates almost zombie like toy creations. Woody and Buzz must put their differences aside to return to Andy before he and his family move to a new house.
The Story is the meat of the entire movie. If the story wasn’t written well, it wouldn’t have mattered if everything else, especially the visuals, were impressive in their own conditions. The initial idea of toys coming to life is nothing new, as it's a concept that has already been explored in many cartoons in the past. The brilliant minds at Pixar took the idea even further by giving the characters human traits and exploring different story threads that lead to themes of jealousy, friendship, and learning to put differences aside for what really matters to our characters. They also take advantage of live toys by putting the characters (who are toys) in many situations in which you wouldn’t expect toys to end up. One second, they might be running around Pizza Planet, trying to find Andy. In another second, they might be chasing down a moving van while confronted with a killer dog. The great thing is that there really is no villain. The conflict is about the toy characters (mostly Woody) and how they learn to change with their new dilemmas. The movie could have been way too mean-spirited, and believe me, it almost was, but the writers at Pixar found a nice balance to make characters or situations mean-spirited in some cases but make it absolutely clear that they are doing it out of fear and reasons that are simple to understand. They create many situations that our characters face emotionally and physically, each more exciting or impactful than the last. This tightly written story makes the best of its short runtime. It is the most outstanding example of why this movie still is relevant even to this very day.
The Characters have undergone many changes but finally came out as the icons we all know and love. Woody and Buzz work great together as characters, and the journey they face really tests their personalities as they have to learn to work together to survive. Even the side characters like Bo Peep Rex Hamm and Slinky Dog are likable and irresistible as they help make the world of Toy Story come alive. Mr Potato Head is my example of a mean spirited character done right. I know that not every animated character will alway be a goody two shoes. Still, they at least have a point of being mean to the other characters. The reasons why Mr Potato Head goes against Woody are totally understandable and not lazy (Heck, in my honest opinion, Woody deserves to be ridiculed after pulling some questionable stunts). Each of them has well-defined traits, along with the addition of great actors to voice them, such as Tom Hanks and Tim Allen playing the famous duo. Some of the human characters can even have exciting personalities. Andy is your average kid, but Sid, on the other hand, is a very twisted lunatic. How he plays with his toys is insanely weird but still very imaginative, even creepy. I wouldn’t call him a villain because Woody and Buzz's differing personalities are the central conflict. Sid is just an obstacle and is the only force stopping them from ever reaching Andy. These characters are well defined and even sometimes complex. They are also straightforward to remember, and that, in turn, makes them so much more than standard silly cartoon characters that entertain just kids.
The Animation is arguably the worst part of the movie. That honestly is not saying much because, For the first-ever CGI-Animated film made in 1995, it looks awe-inspiring for its time. Although I’d be lying if I said it’s completely timeless. There are definitely some dated bits that look rather ugly. Still, the good news is that the story and characters are so good that they made me forget some of the animation’s more awkward bits. It was a great move on the studio’s part to make the first CGI movie using toys since the technology at the time could only do so much, such as make simple glossy textures, which is perfect since most of the toys in the film are plastic. The character designs of the toys are great and instantly pleasing to the eyes. Still, the humans can look fake and move rather creepy sometimes. The level of detail is impressive, even for the studio's first movie. Pixar pulled no punches and made each location our characters visit immersive and colorful. Iconic locations such as Andy’s Room with its colorful cloud wallpaper backdrop, Sid’s room with its grungy and dirty look, or the out-of-this-world design of the Pizza Planet restaurant make such a lively impression. Even little things, such as the scratches of wood in Sid’s room or the rain dripping from the window, make the movie even more impressive in its attention to detail. While some of Pixar’s future films would hold up more than this movie, these visuals were groundbreaking for the time. They would further influence the animation industry for decades to come.
The Music score is composed by Randy Newman. Randy has scored many of the early Pixar films, and his style of music is very loose and has an almost Nostalgic-like feel. He also wrote a few songs for the movie. Disney originally wanted the movie to be a musical, just like the movies they released during the Disney Rennicase period. However, Pixar declined that idea, and the movie is so much better for it. Of course, all of us know the famous song “You Got A Friend In Me,” but some other bangers include “Strange Things” and “I Will Go Sailing No More”. Randy Newman is no stranger to intense or subtly soothing nostalgic music, and you can bet your horses that he pulls it off flawlessly in almost every way.
Even for their very first movie, Pixar’s Toy Story is a movie with clever comedy, impressive animation for its time, a great music score, an intriguing and adventurous story, and most of all, characters with human qualities that are both relatable and understandable. This movie has an incredible legacy and would further cement Pixar into becoming a beloved household name for many families across the globe. John Lasseter and his team told the story they always wanted to see. Thankfully, though the film faced many hiccups on the journey, the end result was a critically and financially successful movie. This movie would continue setting the stage for many other Pixar classics. No matter how many of them would do just as good, if not even better than the last, we’ll probably never forget the movie that started it all.
(Final Grade: A)