Fun Facts About Toy Story You Never Knew
Toy Story is clearly one of the most famous Pixar/Disney movies ever made. With multiple sequels and a Land named after it in Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios, Toy Story has fans of all ages who just can’t get enough of it.
Changes
Any movie or TV show goes through changes before the final product is revealed to the world, and Toy Story is no exception. Woody was originally a ventriloquist dummy before he became a pull-string toy, and was also much meaner to the other toys.
One of Buzz’s early names was Tempest, and at one point in the script was aware that he came from a TV show rather than being a real astronaut. His spacesuit was also red instead of the iconic white, green, and purple suit in the final version. Finally, one of the working titles for Toy Story was “You Are a Toy.”
Worker Shenanigans
Working on a movie about toys surely brought out the child in the animators. Pete Docter sewed together a Woody doll during production. He also had the idea to strap his sneakers to a wooden board to help create the motion for the toy soldiers, which the entire team used for the day.
For Toy Story 3, some members of the animation team (and even the director) decided to shave their heads to get a ‘clean start’ on the film. On a sadder note, a stray command entered by someone deleted about 90 percent of the work on Toy Story 2. However, the film’s technical director had a copy at home that saved the film.
Pizza Planet Facts
Pizza Planet is a little kid’s dream, and is shown to be a place of fun and fantasy in Toy Story. The famous Pizza Planet truck that Woody and Buzz hitch a ride in has been featured in every Pixar film except The Incredibles. It was also originally going to be called Pizza Putt and be a pizza parlor that doubled as a mini-golf course.
It was changed to a space theme to fool Buzz into thinking he was headed home. Also, the green aliens that are prizes in Pizza Planet have a logo on their suits that is a pizza surrounded by a planetary ring.
Toy Trouble
Licensing and toy creation were problems for the Toy Story team for all three films. Joss Whedon wanted Barbie to be in the original in a Terminator-like style, but Mattel turned it down at the time so Barbie would stay ‘neutral.’ Ohio Art Company, which made Etch A Sketch, was saved from bankruptcy after Etch’s inclusion in Toy Story.
Disney was sued by Diece-Lisa Industries over accusations that Lotso was stolen from their own hugging bear toys. Disney also had problems getting a toy company to manufacture their toys before the release, which Mattel and Hasbro both turned down. A small Canadian company named Thinkway Toys ended up getting the license to bring the toys to life.
Firsts
Toy Story was historic in that it was the first full-length computer-generated film. Toy Story 3 was the first animated feature to break $1 billion in sales and was also the only film in the series to be nominated for Best Picture in the Oscars. The Toy Story 2 scene where Woody meets Wheezy set the record for most particles animated by a computer for a film. Toy Story 2 is also one of three Disney films to win the Golden Globe for Best Picture.
Are you ready to watch Toy Story 1, 2 and 3? Are you excited for Toy Story 4? Have you been to Toy Story Land yet in Walt Disney World? Let us know!