Toy Story

"The adventure gets off!"

- Tagline

Toy Story is a 1995 computer-animated film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios. Directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow, and a story by Lasseter, Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft, it is Pixar's first feature film, as well as the first fully computer-animated feature-length film ever made. It stars the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Jim Varney, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, Erik von Detten, and Sarah Freeman. It is Pixar's first feature film, as well as the first fully computer-animated feature-length film ever made.

Set in a world where toys come to life when humans are not present, the film focuses on the relationship between Woody, an old-fashioned pull-string cowboy doll, and Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger action figure, Buzz Lightyear. When a kid named Andy Davis got Buzz on his birthday and chooses Buzz as his favorite toy, Woody becomes jealous at Buzz.

Development of the film began when, after the success of their 1988 short Tin Toy, Pixar was approached by Disney to produce a computer-animated feature film that was told from a small toy's perspective. Lasseter, Stanton, and Docter wrote early story treatments, which were rejected by Disney, who wanted the film's tone to be "edgier". After several disastrous story reels, production was halted and the script was rewritten to better reflect the tone and theme Pixar desired: "toys deeply want children to play with them, and ... this desire drives their hopes, fears, and actions". The studio, then consisting of a relatively small number of employees, produced Toy Story under only minor financial constraints.

The film premiered in the El Capitan Theatre on November 19, 1995, and was later released in the United States on November 22, 1995, to critical acclaim. It grossed $361 million worldwide, and holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregator website. It is also considered by many to be one of the best animated films ever made. It was later re-released in 3D in 2009, and will be re-released once again in 2023, as part of Disney's 100th anniversary.

In 2005, Toy Story became the first Pixar film to be inducted into the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The success of the film led to a multimedia franchise, which included three sequels: Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Toy Story 4 (2019), and a spin-off film Lightyear (2022). A fourth sequel, tentatively named Toy Story 5, is in development.

Pixar description
"Ever wonder what toys do when people aren't around? Toy Story answers that question with a fantastic fun-filled journey, viewed mostly through the eyes of two rival toys – Woody, the lanky, likable cowboy, and Buzz Lightyear, the fearless space ranger.  Led by Woody, Andy's toys live happily in his room until Andy's birthday brings Buzz Lightyear onto the scene. Afraid of losing his place in Andy's heart, Woody plots against Buzz. But when circumstances separate Buzz and Woody from their owner, the comically-mismatched duo eventually learn to put aside their differences, and they find themselves on a hilarious adventure-filled mission where the only way they can survive is to form an uneasy alliance."

- Pixar Animation Studios

Short version
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's bedroom.

History
Pixar Animation Studios’ knowledge and use of computer generated imagery allowed the production of four animated shorts between years 1996 and 1999. This increased their popularity and soon Disney pushed for a collaborative film making effort. Finally in 1990 Pixar agreed to creating a full length feature film with some persuasion. The idea for Toy Story stemmed from the previously made Pixar short Tin Toys. This short allowed Pixar to experiment with the creation of plastic and waxy surfaces and taught them that the realism of toys would be more impressive than trying to create many realistic humans. The toys in Toy Story are quite photorealistic as toys, and their motions match up very well with how one would expect toys to move. Pixar did not attempt to make perfect-looking humans; the humans are, in fact, far more iconic in their figuration than the toys or the backgrounds. This makes the toys seem more real than the humans. Buzz, Woody and the rest are individual characters with unique personalities, while the humans simply fit into stereotypical roles. The patient mother, for example, adjusts to her typical young son's constantly shifting taste in toys.

Pixar as a production company grew during the early nineties and four and a half years after the idea for Toy Story emerged, Toy Story was released in theaters. The movie paved the way for a continuing series of successful animated features by Pixar.