“You are a TOY!”
This month marks the 20th anniversary of John
Lasseter’s TOY STORY.
A computer-animated, buddy-comedy adventure film, TOY STORY
was the first feature-length film from Pixar Animation Studios. Following the
adventures of toys, specifically the relationship between a cowboy-doll named
Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), and a space-ranger action-figure named Buzz
Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen), TOY STORY was a landmark film in not only
computer-animation but the overall industry.
The road to TOY STORY began in the late 1980’s, when John
Lasseter, then a young animator, was working for Walt Disney Feature Animation;
a studio with a rich history of animated film from SNOW WHITE to BEAUTY AND THE
BEAST. An innovator, Lasseter was inspired by Disney’s own film TRON from 1982,
which used computer-generated animation intermixed with live-action. Lasseter
pitched the idea of a full feature-length film done completely by computers,
which was seen as a threat by Disney, which had built an empire by producing
traditional, hand-drawn animated films.
Lasseter was dismissed from Disney, and then went to work at
Lucasfilm and later as a founding member of Pixar, which was purchased by Apple
Inc. founder Steve Jobs. Lasseter would produce a handful of animated
short-films, and his TIN TOY, a short which told a story from the perspective
of a toy, would become the first computer-animated short-film to win an Oscar
in 1988. Disney then re-entered the picture and became a working partner with
Lasseter and Pixar.
Inspired by TIN TOY, Lasseter, along with Andrew Stanton and
Pete Docter, would begin work on TOY STORY, which would become Pixar’s first
full-length film. The screenplay went through many revisions, and would employ
the talents of Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, and Joss Whedon to craft the script
into a family adventure. After several starts and stops, TOY STORY finally went
into production in early 1994. A team of 27 animators began work using clay
models and Lasseter’s storyboards, with every shot in the film passing through
eight different teams working on color, lighting, modeling, framing, and
motion. To keep things cinematic, the animators decided to stay within the
limits of what a traditional movie camera could do. This would give TOY STORY,
despite its new stunning visuals, a very classic cinematic look and feel.
With a well-respected cast of Hanks, Allen, Don Rickles, Jim
Varney, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, and R. Lee Ermey, TOY STORY came
together nicely. Randy Newman composed the score, and developed the film’s
signature song, You’ve Got A Friend In Me.
As suggested by Steve Jobs, TOY STORY was released in November; a break from
the tradition of animated films being released in the summer months.
The results were spectacular. TOY STORY was the highest
grossing film of the year, easily beating out BATMAN FOREVER and Ron Howard’s
Oscar-darling APOLLO 13. Among the many awards it won, it was nominated for two
Golden Globes and three Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay; the first
animated film to be nominated in that category. John Lasseter would receive an
Academy Special Achievement Award in 1996. The film would interest many other
studios in computer-generated movies, and would sadly begin the end of the
hand-drawn era. TOY STORY would begin an industry boom for animated films,
which were now seen as legitimate cinema and not just for kids, and would
prompt the eventual creation of the Best Animated Feature category at the
Oscars in 1991.
The film’s success
would put Pixar on the map of movie-making giants, and become the pillar of the
now famed studio’s large catalog of films and characters. TOY STORY would live
on in massive merchandising, two sequels, and various spinoffs…and Woody and
Buzz would become instant pop-culture icons.
*
In the fall of 1995, this Blogger was only a few months out
of college and into his professional career in broadcasting and the creative
services. TOY STORY arrived in this Blogger’s life like a space-ranger landing
from another galaxy, instantly inspiring and re-enforcing how wonderful the
power of creativity can be. This Blogger may have been launched with STAR WARS,
but it was TOY STORY which helped it along. It is a film which works with
adults and kids; telling a familiar story in a new setting, and it explores
themes that everyone can relate to.
Its legacy is ongoing, and will for many years to come.
“To infinity, and beyond!”
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