Toy Story (1995)

Sorry for a late post!! Wix took AGES to post this one for some reason >:|

Toy Story (1995) made history. It was the first entirely computer-animated feature film and the first feature film from Pixar. It won John Lasseter the Special Achievement Award "for the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film" at the 1996 Oscars. It was nominated for three more Oscars: Best Writing-Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Music-Original Song, and Best Music-Original Musical or Comedy Score. Toy Story won 27 awards from 1995-2016, where it won two Felix Awards for Best Picture and Best Song ("You've Got A Friend In Me") at the 20/20 Awards. Toy Story's success places the film on the 81st spot on IMDb's Top 250 Movies list. The movie was directed by American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation, John Lasseter. After Lasseter was fired from Disney for "promoting computer animation," he joined Lucasfilm, where he worked on CGI animation. After Steve Jobs bought the Graphics Group of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm, Pixar was born in 1986 from said division. Toy Story was inspired by films like Midnight Run (1988), The Odd Couple (1968), and many Hayao Miyazaki movies made at Studio Ghibli.

The movie follows the story of the cowboy doll Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, who feels threatened when a spaceman figure replaces him as Andy's favorite toy. The movie features the voices of Tim Allen, Tim Allen, the late Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, the late Jim Varney, Annie Potts, the late R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, and Erik von Detten, who act alongside Hanks. Jealousy and anger play significant roles throughout the film, driving the story and the protagonist. What is the impact of Woody's jealousy, and how does it affect his image in the eyes of the other toys?

No one is immune to jealousy. It's perfectly human to wish you had something that another has or feel envy towards another's situation. Toys, as Pixar shows us, are no different. It's certainly true for our protagonist, Woody. It's natural for him to feel envious when he sees Andy's new toy: a techy space ranger, Buzz Lightyear. What isn't natural is Woody's response to his resentment. Instead of accepting that he's no longer the top dog, Woody lets his hatred for Buzz fester until he's pushed over the edge and pushes Buzz out of the window. Even if it was an accident. The confrontation happened after Andy's mom told Andy that he could only take one toy to Pizza Planet with him. Woody (knowing that Andy would choose Buzz) devises a plan to get Buzz to fall behind the dresser. The plan fails, and Buzz drops out of the open window. The other toys find out and begin to corner Woody. Their faith in their "leader" has been lost because of the incident. Andy comes in before the toys could do any harm to Woody. Andy takes him away to Pizza Planet. They stop at a gas station, and it's revealed that Buzz was hanging onto the car the whole time. Woody and Buzz have a scuffle, and the car drives off. Woody is heartbroken that Andy didn't realize he was missing from the car, telling the audience that he isn't jealous of Buzz because he's flashier and more advanced than Woody is. He's jealous because Buzz inadvertently takes away his best friend, Andy.

The rest of the movie consists of scenes showing their desperate attempt to return home to Andy. The two get "kidnapped" by Sid, a psychotic toy-destroyer, who tries to burn a hole through Woody's head and attempts to blow up Buzz on a rocket ship. The two finally band together, find a way out of Sid's evil lair, and return home. From this experience, they learn things from each other. Woody discovers that it's good to use imagination and not always be grounded in logic. He also learns the lesson he's been teaching the other toys: his job is to be there for Andy whenever he needs him. Buzz, on the other hand, learns to be engaged with reality. He's let go of his past knowledge of being a space ranger and accepted that he's a toy. A super cool toy at that. He learned that being a toy is way more important than being a ranger because he only gets to worry about protecting one person instead of the whole galaxy. He also learns that he doesn't know how to fly, but he sure knows how to fall. Stylishly.

Woody's jealous nature is what causes the central premise of the film. He's never experienced this kind of jealousy before because he's been Andy's favorite toy since elementary school. So when Buzz comes along, he doesn't know how to cope with his feelings. What's surprising, in my opinion, is how desperate Woody is to get back to Andy. He knows that he isn't his favorite toy anymore. His jealousy made Woody appreciate Andy more and not vie for his attention, like when he pushed Buzz out of the window. Now he knows that he'll be there for Andy whenever he needs him. Just like the other toys. Overall, this movie was terrific. It's really a movie for everyone, I especially love Mr. Potato Head and Hamm (remember, the Picasso/Uncultured Swine interaction?), and of course, everyone loves Rex. I think Toy Story was the first CGI animated film I've ever watched, and I still love it to this day. Sure, the animation's better in the newest movies, but nothing beats the original.

PS: For anyone gets the reference in the title: <3