Happy Birthday to Toy Story! It’s been 20 years since Toy Story first premiered and it continues to entertain adults and children including my family. Toy Story taught animation to evolve and brought a whole new generation of artists to the world. I love this movie and have ever since I first saw it. In honor of its birthday (which was yesterday, November 22), here are the top 10 reasons, in my opinion, why Toy Story is awesome.
1. Toy Story – The first movie was historic for being the first computer-animated movie. It was the story that entertained audiences in 1995 and still does today. 20 years later, this movie has aged well. Even though I know what’s going to happen at every point in the movie, I still feel sad for Buzz when he falls down the stairs and breaks his arm and I can empathize with Woody at his frustration for being displaced by Buzz. The audience connects with the heart of the story, Woody and Buzz becoming friends.
2. Toy Story 2– It’s rare when sequels are not just carbon copies of the original and Toy Story 2 manages to outdo the original by creating a brand new story. After being kidnapped by Al McWhiggin, Woody meets Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete and struggles with whether he should escape with Buzz and the rest of the rescue team or stay with his new friends. Woody knows that Andy will outgrow him, so should he wait for that day or become a prized exhibit in a toy museum with his new pals? Audiences are prone to laughter and some tears throughout the movie. But we also get to meet new characters and watch them join the fold. Who wouldn’t want more toys to play with?
3. Toy Story 3– Andy has grown up and is off to college. What will happen to his beloved toys? The threat of being thrown out or put into storage leads all the toys to seek a new home at Sunnyside Daycare. Life is not all that great at the daycare, which is led by the brutal dictator Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear. Escaping the prison of the daycare, we watch in shock as the toys hold hands in the garbage incinerator, believing they are about to be destroyed, and shout for joy as they are saved by the little green aliens. The final scenes of Andy playing with his toys one last time before giving them to Bonnie always bring a tear to my wife’s eye.
4. Toy Story of Terror- I have to admit, when I first saw Toy Story of Terror, I wasn’t too impressed. It took my daughter choosing it on a shopping trip this past August that I finally discovered how great it was. It doesn’t have long to develop the story, but you get a great view of what it is like for toys when a family travels. Plus it’s a G-rated horror flick; only Pixar could make that a reality.
5. The Music- Who hasn’t heard the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me?” Randy Newman’s song about friendship is a song that will last for many decades to come bringing smiles to the faces of everyone. “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 will bring the tear to your eye as you listen and watch how Jessie is abandoned in a box. These movies are not musicals, but the music adds depth and emotion to the story. I couldn’t imagine Toy Story without its music.
6. Pizza Planet- In the first Toy Story, Andy and his family eat at Pizza Planet after a long day of packing. This imaginary restaurant looks amazing. In Hollywood Studios at Disney World there is a Pizza Planet and it is a favorite of my family. The Pizza Planet in Hollywood Studios is not a copy of the movie. In fact it’s a mixture of an abandoned Muppets restaurant with Toy Story. It doesn’t matter to me, I always eat at Pizza Planet. If any Imagineers are reading this, though, a replica Pizza Planet from the movie would be well received in the new Toy Story Playland.
7. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin- The yang to the yin of Woody, Buzz Lightyear cannot help but be loved. With his adventurous nature and massive ego, a viewer falls in love with Buzz from the moment he appears on screen. When Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin appeared in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, it quickly became a must-see on our family trips. Traveling along, you try to accumulate the highest score as you defend the galaxy against the evil Emperor Zurg. This is one of my top rides, and it seems everyone else; there is always a massive line.
8. Toy Story Midway Mania- The success of Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin guaranteed the creation of more Toy Story-themed attractions. When Toy Story Midway Mania opened it brought in a brand new chance for viewers to experience the world of their favorite toys. Park guests are “shrunk” to the size of a toy so they can play 3D classic carnival games set up by the toys. Blasting away at targets with a canon that shoots virtual projectiles the image changes depending on the scene. You may shoot darts at balloons or baseballs at plates. Make sure you book a FastPass, it’s always busy.
9. The Characters- The characters have become iconic with everything Disney. Even though most of them, like Mr. Potato Head, are owned by other companies, I identify these characters with everything Disney. Woody and Buzz are relatively new in the Disney character collection. Only 20 years old, they are as famous as Snow White and Cinderella. It’s hard to believe that they weren’t Disney creations.
10. Pixar- Pixar bet their future on this movie and they won. Thanks to the success of Toy Story, we now have movies like Finding Nemo and Inside Out. Pixar’s shattering of the established norm of animation forced other studios to change their approach too. Every animated movie is compared to the standard that Pixar started in 1995. This kind of quality makes me excited for Toy Story 4.