“One minute you're defending the whole galaxy, and, suddenly, you find yourself sucking down darjeeling with Marie Antoinette... and her little sister.” – Toy Story Mission log: you are about to enjoy a superb countdown of incredible facts about all things Toy Story. To infinity and beyond!
Toy Story Facts
33. Computer-generated pioneer
It may be common practice now, but the original Toy Story was the very first full-length computer-generated feature.
32. And the Russian judge scores it...
Toy Story 3 is the only film in the series to not receive a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes – receiving a score of 99%. Definitely, the runt of the Toy Story franchise…
31. Woody wasn't always a cowboy
The character was planned as a ventriloquist’s dummy at first, but since dummies have become associated with horror films, he was remade into a cowboy doll. If M Night Shyamalon had it his way, Woody would have turned out to be an evil ventriloquist dummy, scarring millions of children for life.
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30. Pizza Planet
The rundown Pizza Planet truck appeared in every Pixar film except for The Incredibles – including all three Toy Story films.
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29. A butt-kicking Barbie
During the revision process, Joss Whedon was brought on to go through the script to add a Barbie character modelled after Sarah Connor in Terminator 2. Alas, Mattel didn’t want to include their doll in the animated feature, because they wanted her to be neutral. Of course, Barbie was eventually included in both sequels.
28. Working hard?
In their most productive week, the Pixar team completed 3.5 minutes of animation.
27. The logo on the aliens
If you look closely at the adorable green aliens in the Toy Story films, you’ll notice that the insignia on their uniform is actually a pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms surrounded by a planetary ring.
26. Practice makes perf...oh how long?
The screenplay for Toy Story 3 took two and a half years to make, and storyboard. We must say, it was well worth the wait.
25. The voice of Buzz Lightyear
Before Tim Allen was cast as Buzz Lightyear, John Lasseter approached Billy Crystal about the part and the comedian turned it down. To this day, Crystal cites this as his only career regret, which he tried to remedy by nabbing the part of Mike Wazowski in Monsters Inc.
24. Editing to tears
The production of Toy Story 2 was on such a tight schedule that the editors would sometimes work 36-48 hour shifts. There have been instances, when editors would just burst into tears from exhaustion.
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23. No Joes here
When Pixar wanted the diabolical Sid to blow up a G.I. Joe toy in Toy Story, Hasbro denied them the rights to use the name. So, the creative team used toy soldiers instead.
22. Change is good
Not that Toy Story is a revolutionary movie title, but at least it’s catchy. Pixar’s initial idea was to call the film You Are a Toy. We’re glad they sidestepped that mine.
21. She's a lady
It was John Lasseter’s wife, Nancy, who convinced the director to include a female character in Toy Story 2 with more substance than Bo Beep. Initially, the character was going to be a Mexican lady named Señorita Cactus, but eventually was changed to Jessie.
20. Andy's a Pixar fan
Many of the books on Andy’s shelf are actually named after the short films Pixar has created over the years and the authors are Pixar staff.
19. Zurg's a long way from home
For fans of the Buzz Lightyear universe, his arch nemesis Zurg is from a planet named Xrghthung. It is a desolate and uninhabitable place. We think Bear Grylls will be doing a survival there in the next season of Man vs. Wild.
18. Outfit choices
In Toy Story 3, Barbie’s blue outfit is based on the 1984 “Great Shape” edition of the doll and Ken’s funky outfit is inspired by the “Animal Lovin’” edition of the doll from 1988.
17. The story behind Sid Phillips
Sid Phillips was inspired by a former Pixar employee with the same name, who used to spend his time disassembling toys to make strange new creatures using the parts.
16. Buzz Tinny
Originally, Buzz Lightyear was drafted as Tinny – the character from Pixar’s 1988 short film Tin Toy. As the planning went on, it become clear that Tinny would be too out-dated for the 90s and they needed a toy that would be exciting for a young boy. When Tinny was converted to a spaceman, his name was changed to "Lunar Larry", then changed to "Tempus from Morph", before finally becoming "Buzz Lightyear" – as an homage to astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
15. Get in formation!
The animation team perfected the movement of the toy soldiers by nailing a pair of runners to a board and trying to walk in them. Nothing like real-life practice!
14. It's all about the Benjamins
Toy Story 3 was the first animated feature to break the $1 billion mark.
13. An Oscar first
Toy Story 3 is the only of the three Toy Story films to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award.
12. Did you bring enough for the whole class?
Toy Story 3 boasts 302 characters. Every member of the cast get an Oscar so that is quite the collection!
11. Dust in the wind
In Toy Story 2, the dusty scene where Woody meets Wheezy set a record for number of particles (not pixels) animated by a computer for a film.
10. Sounds familliar
John Ratzenberger, who voices Hamm in Toy Story, has done voice work in some capacity in every Pixar film.
9. A little help eh?
Pixar was having trouble getting their character toys manufactured on time. Hasbro and Mattel both turned down the offer, because they didn’t think it was feasible to get the toys on the shelves in the 11 months before the film’s release. It was a small Canadian company Thinkway Toys that nabbed the license and made the Woody, and Buzz Lightyear toys.
8. Miracle movie
Toy Story was miraculously made on a $30 million budget with a staff of only 110. To compare, the Disney classic The Lion King had a budget of $45 million and a staff of 800 individuals!
7. Close enough
The voice for the Woody doll (as in the merchandise, not the film character) was provided by Jim Hanks – Tom’s brother.
6. Googly eyes
This may be strange, but whenever a character in Toy Story blinks, the eyes never blink together – they do so about one frame apart.
5. More outfit changes than Cher
Ken changes his outfit 21 times in Toy Story 3.
4. Third time's a charm
Toy Story 2 was a first sequel for both Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, but not their last! The two also voiced Buzz and Woody in Toy Story 3.
3. Gilded
Toy Story 2 is one of only three Disney films to win a Golden Globe for Best Picture, the others being The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
2. Reunited and it feels so good
For Toy Story 3, Tim Allen and Tom Hanks insisted they record their lines together. The duo has done so only once before, for one day, during the making of the first Toy Story.
1. Bad good guy
In the humble beginnings of Toy Story, Woody was supposed to be a selfish character, tormenting the other toys and injuring Buzz by tossing him out of a window. Pixar quickly realized that kids would not want to watch a movie with such a horrible lead and turned Woody into the sweetheart we’ve grown to love today.