Lamplight on the Ball Project:Toy Story 1995

The Next Step in Animation History and Technology

It all started in 1983, when a young man named John Lasseter was shown the light-cycle scene from Tron, made only the previous year. It was an eye-opening experience that awakened Lasseter to the possibilities offered by the new medium of computer-generated animation. He later tried to pitch The Brave Little Toaster as a fully computer-animated film to Disney, but the idea was rejected and Lasseter was fired. He then went on to work at Lucasfilm and in 1986, he became a founding member of Pixar. In 1986, Pixar was purchased by the late Steve Jobs. At Pixar, Lasseter created short, computer-animated films to show off the Pixar Image Computer's capabilities. In 1988, Lasseter produced the short film Tin Toy, which was told from the perspective of a toy, referencing Lasseter's love of classic toys. Tin Toy won the 1989 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, the first CG film winner.

THE PLOT

A group of sentient toys, who pretend to be lifeless when humans are around, are preparing to move into a new house with their young owner Andy Davis, his infant sister Molly, and their single mother. Learning that Andy's birthday party has been unexpectedly moved to an earlier date, several toys — including Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex the dinosaur, Hamm the piggy bank, and Bo Peep the porcelain doll — become concerned that Andy might receive something that will replace them. To calm them, Sheriff Woody, Andy's favorite toy and their de facto leader, sends Sarge and his green soldiers to spy on Andy's birthday party with a baby monitor. Andy receives a Buzz Lightyear action figure, who believes he is an actual Space Ranger and does not know he is really a toy. Buzz impresses the others with his high-tech features and becomes Andy's new favourite toy, provoking Woody's jealousy...

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Tin Toy gained Disney's attention, and the new team at Disney, CEO Michael Eisner and Chairman Katzenberg, sought to get Lasseter to come back. Lasseter, grateful for Jobs' faith in him, felt compelled to stay with Pixar, telling co-founder Ed Catmull, "I can go to Disney and be a director, or I can stay here and make history." Katzenberg realized he could not lure Lasseter back to Disney and therefore set plans into motion to ink a production deal with Pixar to produce a film. Disney had always made all their movies in-house and refused to change this. But when Tim Burton, who used to work at Disney, wanted to buy back the rights to TheNightmare Before Christmas, Disney struck a deal allowing him to make it as a Disney film outside the studio. This allowed Pixar to make their movies outside Disney.

Both sides were willing. Catmull and fellow Pixar co-founder Alvy Ray Smith had long wanted to produce a computer-animated feature, but only by the early 1990s were the computers cheap and powerful enough to make this possible. Additionally, Disney had licensed Pixar's CAPS, and that made it the largest customer for Pixar's computers. Jobs made it apparent to Katzenberg that although Disney was happy with Pixar, it was not the other way around: "We want to do a film with you," said Jobs. "That would make us happy."

Catmull, Smith, and head of animation Ralp Guggenheim met with the Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider in the summer of 1990 to discuss making a feature film, but they found the atmosphere to be puzzling and contentious. They later learned that while Katzenberg was pushing the idea of working with Pixar, Schneider did not want to bring in a non-Disney animation studio. Katzenberg arranged to meet directly with the Pixar contingent, this time including Lasseter and Jobs. The Pixar team proposed three separate ideas for their first major project, including an original idea entitled Bob the Dinosaur, an adaptation of James and the Giant Peach, and a Christmas TV special called A Tin Toy Christmas. Disney greenlit the third idea, but Katzenberg countered that as long as they were gearing up to transition from 30-second commercials to a half-hour special, they might as well go all the way and make a feature-length film. 

Katzenberg also made it clear that he was only working with Pixar to get access to Lasseter's talents, and that the Pixar team would be signing up to work with a self-described "tyrant" and micro-manager. However, he invited them to talk with Disney's animators and get their opinions on working under him and Lasseter was impressed with what he heard. The two companies began negotiations, although they disagreed on key points including whether Disney would get the rights to Pixar's animation technology or whether Pixar would retain partial ownership of the films, characters, and home video and sequel rights. As Pixar was nearing bankruptcy and desperate for funds, they settled on a deal that would allow Disney to have complete ownership and control of the films and characters, including the rights to make sequels without Pixar's involvement, while Pixar would get approximately 12.5% of ticket sales. These early negotiations became a point of contention between Jobs and Eisner for many years. An agreement to produce a feature film based on Tin Toy with a working title of Toy Story was finalised, and production began soon thereafter.

Katzenberg approved the script on January 19, 1993, at which point voice casting began. Paul Newman, who subsequently accepted another Pixar role, was considered for the role of Woody. Robin Williams and Clint Eastwood were also considered for Woody, but Lasseter always wanted Tom Hanks, claiming Hanks "has the ability to take emotions and make them appealing. Even if the character, like the one in A League of Their Own, is down-and-out and despicable.” To gauge how an actor's voice might fit with a character, Lasseter adopted a common Disney technique: to animate a vocal monologue from a well-established actor to meld the actor's voice with the appearance or actions of the animated character. This early test footage, using Hanks' voice from Turner & Hooch, convinced Hanks to sign on.
Billy Crystal was approached to play Buzz, and was given his own monologue, utilizing dialogue from When Harry Met Sally. However, he turned down the role, believing the film would be unsuccessful due to its animation. Crystal regretted this upon seeing the film; again, he subsequently accepted a later Pixar role In addition to Crystal, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Jim Carrey, along with a number of other actors, were considered for the role of Buzz. Lasseter took the role to Tim Allen, who was appearing in Disney’s Home Improvement, and he accepted. Crystal later stated in an interview that he would not have been right as Buzz, and that Allen was "fantastic" in the role. Before Wallace Shawn and Jim Varney were cast as Rex and Slinky Dog, Though Rick Moranis and John Cleese were originally considered.
To cast Andy, Pixar held an open call for young male actors to bring a toy with them. John Morris brought multiple toys, specifically 45 X-Men figures, contrary to the instructions of bringing just one, and Pixar reacted to his dumping of the toys with laughter.

MY VERDICT

I can’t remember how old I was when I first saw this film, but I did see it in the cinema; and of course it was a huge shock to someone who was used to handrawn movies from Disney. But I think around the point of Buzz’s first flight, I was officially hooked. I wll admit that the animation looks dated compared to later Pixar films, but I never let that detract from my enjoyment. And neither should anyone else. And as for the rest of this trilogy? We’ll get to that awesomeness in due course.

Is Toy Story a Pixar Classic? Just like Snow White before it, it was the first of it’s kind. And just like Snow White, it has aged like fine wine.