Moviegoers on November 22, 1995 had no idea what they were in for when they lined up to see Toy Story for the first time. They were going to be the first people in the world to see a feature length animated film made entirely on computers. Leading up to Toy Story's release, executives at both Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios were nervous about how people would respond to a film unlike anything that had been produced before.
Earlier in 1995, Casper marked a cinematic milestone by featuring the first fully CGI character in a lead role. But Toy Story was going to be different. Not only were all of the characters CGI, their entire world would be created solely through the use of computer based animation.
For Disney, a company that pioneered and mastered the art of traditional hand-drawn animation, Toy Story was a bold step in a new direction. For Pixar, a young animation company with roots in Lucasfilm's Computer Division before being purchased and spun off as an independent company by Steve Jobs in 1986, the film was a chance to prove that the technology they used to produce 3-D animated short films and TV commercials had reached a level of maturity capable of handling the processing power to create a full length movie.
As it turned out, no one should have worried. Toy Story opened at #1 that weekend and went on to become the highest grossing animated film of the year with a worldwide total of $362 million. The film was later recognized with Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song, Best Original Score, and Best Original Screenplay. It was the first time an animated film of any sort had been recognized for screenwriting. Director John Lasseter also won a special Oscar for the technical achievement Toy Story represented.
The success of Toy Story sent shockwaves through the movie industry, forever changing the way animated movies were made. By the end of the next decade, nearly all animation studios, including Disney, had switched to full CGI to produce their films. The benefits of animating solely on computers are tremendous. Up to this point, animated films were basically gigantic flip books - series of individual frames one after the other with everything having to be redrawn for each successive frame. Static elements like backgrounds could be carried over, but anything that changed shape had to be adjusted even if the changes were miniscule. With a computer, all elements of a scene - characters, background elements, props, etc. - are stored as separate assets, and can be replicated infinitely without any loss of quality.
This is particularly beneficial for franchise building if the studio wishes to spin off its movie characters into sequels, television shows, or video games. Take for example the 2001 animated film, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Originally, Nickelodeon envisioned Jimmy Neutron as a TV series with an accompanying theatrical movie later down the road, but series creator, John A. Davis, suggested that the film be made first, so that the development team could create all assets at theatrical quality, and then reuse them for the TV series. The Jimmy Neutron TV series could then be made relatively cheaply since everything was pretty much already in place.
Toy Story also furthered the burgeoning trend of getting A-list celebrities to lend their voices to animated projects. Disney films of the 1990s were slowly beginning to feature well-known actors in voice over roles, the most famous of which being Robin Williams as the Genie in 1992's Aladdin. But Toy Story raised the bar by featuring a cast made up almost entirely of celebrity performers and character actors whose voices were immediately recognizable to adult viewers. Even so, there was still a stigma among actors about not being able to show their faces in a movie role. Tom Hanks only signed up for his now iconic role as Woody after seeing some animation synced to his voice from Turner & Hooch. Tim Allen on the other hand signed on instantly for the role of Buzz Lightyear. Allen was approached after Pixar's first choice, Billy Crystal, dubious of the potential of the project declined to participate, a decision he later regretted. Crystal would later take on the role of Mike Wazowski in Pixar's 2001 film Monsters, Inc.
But perhaps Toy Story's greatest achievement was establishing a blueprint that all Pixar films since have stuck to, putting the story first. While audiences were undoubtedly wowed by the impressive technology behind the film, it was the story of Woody and Buzz learning to work together and make their way back home to their owner, Andy, that kept audiences coming back for more. Future Pixar films continued this theme. By not talking down to children, but instead talking up to adults, the people at Pixar created movies that the whole family could enjoy.
Moviegoers certainly lined up to support Pixar, with Pixar films outgrossing Disney animated films on a regular basis. Realizing Pixar's prowess at filmmaking, Disney purchased the animation studio outright in 2006 for $7.4 billion in 2006 and installed Steve Lasseter as Chief Creative Officer. Even so, it would take until the release of Frozen in 2013 for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film to earn more money than a Pixar film released the same year. It is also worth noting that Toy Story 3 released in 2010 became the first animated film to gross more than a billion dollars worldwide.
Twenty five years later, the effects of Toy Story continue to be felt throughout the movie industry. Constant advances in computer technology make it easier than ever to produce animated movies with incredible attention to detail. Voicing an animated character is no longer something to be ashamed of, but rather a prestigious addition to an actor's resume. And animated movies no longer just exist in the realms of children's entertainment, they can be enjoyed and beloved by adults as well.
Happy Anniversary, Toy Story!
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