Toy Story (1995)
Ten-year-old Andy loves his favourite toy; a cowboy doll called Woody. They’re inseparable, and play together all day every day. When Andy’s birthday rolls around, his mom surprises him with the biggest new toy on the planet – Buzz Lightyear, an intergalactic action figure.
When the kids are out of the room and the coast is clear, the toys magically
come to life. They talk, walk, breath and have “feelings”. In this secret
world, Woody gets jealous of Buzz moving in and taking Andy away from him. But
when the two toys are lost on a night out, they must work together to get home
in time before Andy and his family move house.
Animated
films had been around since the 1930’s, thanks to the pioneering Walt Disney. “Snow
White and the Seven Dwarves” was the first feature length animated film, and
took the world by storm. Over the next six decades, 2D animation improved,
adapting classic stories and telling original tales. Kids and families lapped
it up, queuing at the cinema every year to see the latest animated flick. The
90’s were doing well, with classics such as “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”
and of course, “The Lion King”” breaking new ground with their stunning
animation, and memorable songs.
Computer
animation was working away quietly in the background, and it took a little-known
company called Pixar to step up and take on the 2D giants of the silver screen.
They envisioned the world’s first feature length computer animated film. Nothing
like that had been achieved before and most audiences weren’t even sure how
“animated” the film would be.
When Toy
Story was released, captivating the world by being the first full-length computer
animated film, it won over both children and adults. Kids loved the colourful
characters and slapstick humour. But it was the adults taking their kids to see
the movie that were pleasantly surprised when they discovered a story that
appealed to grown-ups. The characters were toys, but voiced by well-known
actors such as Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.
The
relationship between the two toys was genuine and familiar to adults who could
still experience envy and jealousy, and have to get along with people they
normally wouldn’t. This clever story telling spoke volumes to audiences, making
Toy Story an instant classic and creating a whole new formula of films that had
never been explored before.
Looking at
how far computer animated films have come today in 2021, Toy Story’s 1995 capabilities
look somewhat tame in comparison. But when the story and characters are so
good, you can look past that and still enjoy a lot about the first movie that
started it all. Computer animated films are now a staple in modern cinema, and
were given their own category at the annual Academy Awards in 2001, with “Shrek”
being the first film honoured with the Oscar for Best Animated Film.
Pixar
rolled into production overhaul, turning out one quality film after another and
writing the rule book on the new way to make animated films. It was about 2005
when the traditional 2D animated films were replaced somewhat, unable to
compete with the shiny, glossy and flash special effects of Pixar and DreamWorks
making a couple of films a year.
Toy Story
was the first film of its kind, and to many audiences is still their favourite computer animated film of all time.
It led to three sequels over a twenty-four-year period, with each film giving
us another stroke of brilliance. Every couple of years or so, the CGI takes
another leap forward, creating animated films that are flawless in their
animation; sharp, clear, colourful and inventive.
Anything is possible now, and full-length computer animated films hold a special place in the heart of movie goers. Even the ones with a simple story are still good, and as far as I can recall there has never been a terrible computer animated film. Maybe that’s because it’s animation, and animation done well means we can forgive a mediocre story; we simply lower our judgement and just enjoy the ride. These films appeal to us as adults while connecting to the kid still inside us.
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