53 Amazing Facts About Toy Story You Probably Didn't Know!

Produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, this joint Disney Pixar movie venture took the animation movie world by storm.

Gaining wild popularity and a bit of a cult following in the 2000s, this movie series, consisting of four movies, was the brainchild of John Lasseter and some of his colleagues, with the initial idea of it being a half-hour special animated short film.

The idea of 'Toy Story' was inspired by another Disney production, 'Tin Toy', however, the amount of popularity this half-hour special gained paved the way for this story to become as huge as we now know it to be.

However, there are several stories and facts about 'Toy Story' that are unknown to many people. Starring a lot of big actors like Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, and more, this 1995 film brought about a revolution, which in the opinion of some, was long due.

A big part of the popularity of this movie franchise and the revolution it brought about, regaining Disney its dwindling glory, can be attributed to John Lasseter.

Disney, who at the time, was also gaining some popularity for its movies like 'The Lion King', was also being accused of sticking to traditional methods and milking its long-gone glory, afraid to experiment and grow for fear of making a wrong move and losing it all.

Read on for some interesting aspects of the theatrical release of the popular film, afterward, also check Stuart Little facts and Disney Princess facts.

What is Toy Story known for?

The making of 'Toy Story' is most known for bringing about the animation revolution. John Lasseter, who was employed by Disney straight out of college, was not happy with how the work was carried on, sticking to the same animation techniques.

Unafraid to ruffle some feathers, and make some unfriendly acquaintances, he made strong and pressing suggestions to try new, computer-based animation techniques to make a more sophisticated animation.

The story for 'Toy Story', created by Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft was written for the movie by Joss Whedon and his team. Directed to the music stylings of Randy Newman, this popular movie was the first feature film of Pixar, and no doubt went on to create a big name for this production house.

The executive producer of this movie was Steve Jobs.

Some credit for the creation of 'Toy Story' with Pixar can also be added to the name of noted Hollywood director Tim Burton. The Tim Burton film 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' was also released by Disney.

Now you may wonder why he gets credit, well, that is because his movie 'The Nightmare before Christmas' was the first Disney movie created in collaboration with another firm, thus, paving the way for this Disney Pixar collaboration.

How long did Toy Story take to make?

Becoming a revolutionary film does not happen overnight. It takes a lot of work and attention to detail. Similar is the case with 'Toy Story'. This animated feature by Joss Whedon and John Lasseter at the driver’s seat took four years to be completed.

While a major part of this time went into the details of the film itself, being the first fully computer-created animation did also take a big chunk of this time. Not to mention, computers in those days were not as efficient as now, and the absence of special software can also be attributed to some of the blame.

As a completely virtual film with over 1500 shots, each was made from silicon graphics by the animation team in addition to Sun Workstations, using a large array of themes and backgrounds. The editing using special software then took a huge amount of time.

How many toys are there in Toy Story?

There were about 22 toys in 'Toy Story', however, some of them were part of the later 'Toy Story' movies and not necessarily a part of the first movie. While there are so many toys, there are only a few toys that have major roles, while others are supporting characters.

The major toys include:

Sheriff Woody: The top toy, portrayed to be jealous of another toy, Buzz Lightyear. Woody was a cowboy, voiced by Tom Hanks.

Buzz Lightyear: Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, was the second major character of 'Toy Story'. Named in honor of Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, Buzz Lightyear was a space ranger, voiced by Tim Allen.

Mr. Potatohead: Well, no American toy collection, especially of that time, can be complete without a Mr. Potatohead toy. Voiced by Don Rickles, Mr. Potato Head was a sarcastic doll.

Bo Peep: Woody’s love interest, voiced by Anne Potts, Bo Peep was a figurine, whose creation was inspired by a nursery rhyme, Little Bo-Peep. She is a good-natured, simple shepherdess.

Facts About Woody From Toy Story

The role of Sheriff Woody was voiced by Tom Hanks.

Woody, as we know him, was the work of animation legend Bud Luckey.

According to director Lasseter, Woody was extra special to Andy because he was a hand-me-down toy given to him by his father, and thus, had sentimental value.

The Woody toy was made unappealing and sort of ugly looking due to pressure from the chairman of Disney. This could also be due to the initial idea of making Woody more of a dictator rather than a leader of the other toys.

Like another beloved toy from this story, Buzz Lightyear (who was voiced over by Tim Allen), Woody too has a full name, which is Woody Pride.

Woody was originally designed as a ventriloquist dummy doll.

How did Toy Story get its name?

The 'Toy Story' movie was ideated on another previous animation film, 'Tin Toy'. 'Tin Toy' was a work of Pixar and had won an Oscar, which made Disney approach Pixar for working on 'Toy Story'.

After this Disney Pixar project, the stream on movie animation was completely changed. At that time, Pixar was owned by Steve Jobs, but soon, it was bought by Disney and became Disney Pixar.

The idea behind 'Toy Story' was to depict the life of toys in the absence of human characters, which was made clear from this film as the toys came into their own only when Andy was not around.

As long as Andy was in the room or playing with them, the toys remained like ordinary, lifeless toys, however, as soon as he left, they would come back to their reality.

Hence, the name 'Toy Story'.

Things You Didn't Notice In Toy Story

Like a lot of movies that have hidden details that only very observant viewers notice, the 'Toy Story' movie also has a lot of details that you probably did not notice:

The tools used by Sid to mutilate the toys are shown to be from Binford. Binford referred to Tim Allen’s popular show, 'Home Improvement'.

Like in many other Disney movies, there is a hidden Mickey Mouse in 'Toy Story' as well. The clock on the wall of Andy’s room has an image of Mickey Mouse drawn on it.

In all three 'Toy Story' movies, as with other Pixar movies, a Luxo ball also makes an appearance.

The ending shot of the third movie and the opening shot of the first 'Toy Story' movie are the same. This was supposed to bring the series full circle, but then the fourth movie was announced.

To depict how evil Andy's neighbor Sid was, the carpet in his house was made to look like the carpet from the movie 'The Shining'. Another reference to this movie was made in the repeated appearance of the number 237, which was pivotal in 'The Shining'.

Various other references to this movie have been made in all 'Toy Story' movies.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 53 Amazing facts about Toy Story you probably didn't know!, then why not take a look at facts about Superman, or Spiderman facts?