Toy Story Trilogy Contemplations

As my son watched all 3 Toy Story movies this weekend and repeatedly watches 3, I have had ample time to think about these movies and decided it would be a great blog topic, so here it goes!

In case you don't know anything at all about Toy Story.  The original Toy Story came out in 1995.  It is about "Andy's Toys" that come to life when humans are not around and have their own life going on.  They live for being  there whenever Andy wants to play with them.  It is made by Disney/Pixar and features the main characters as Woody a cowboy toy voiced by Tom Hanks and a new intruder
for favorite toy as Buzz Lightyear an astronaut action figure voiced by Tim Allen. Woody is Andy's favorite toy until he receives Buzz as a birthday present.  The movie follows through with Woody being jealous of Buzz, knocking him out of a window and then going to great lengths to rescue him.  During this time the two of them end of becoming great pals and make it back to Andy together. 


Toy Story 2 was released in 1999 and  features the reprisal of the two main characters Buzz & Woody still as Andy's toys of course.  Woody is stolen by a toy collector when he is trying to rescue another
toy from being sold in a garage sale.  Buzz and the rest of the gang set out in search of Woody to rescue him.  Woody contemplates being in a museum forever while adding a few toys that were featured in the western children's television show in which he is famous for.  They have quite the adventure around town for toys to include an apartment complex, Al's Toy Barn, and the airport.  Eventually all is well, Woody is rescues and brings new toys Jessie the cowgirl and Bullseye, his trusty shy affectionate stead home to Andy with him.  This movie has a western feel about it in dedication to Woody's character. 


Toy Story 3 was released in 2010.  It brings back most of our old friends and still include Buzz & Woody.  Andy is getting ready to depart for college and he has not played with any of his toys in a

long time.  They are all depressed and thinking that they will be thrown out with the trash.  Andy intends to put them all in the attack  and take Woody to college with him, separating the friends.  Andy's mom mistakenly thinks that the toys are trash (because they are in a garbage bag) and puts them out on the curb.  They all climb into a box heading for a daycare in hopes for a new and better life.  Woody is the only toy that knows the truth and tries to convince them that they were not meant to be put out for trash.  None of them believe him and they embrace their new life at the daycare, only to realize that it is being run by the evil tyrant: Lotso Huggin' Bear.  Lotso resets Buzz back to factory settings and he turns on his friends, keeping them captive.  Woody has to return to help them all escape.  Eventually after a near miss at the incinerator they end up as a sweet girl Bonnie's toys and the movie ends with Andy playing with her and the toys one last time and Woody deciding to stay with all of his friends together instead of going to college with Andy. 

Toy Story 1 was one of my all time favorite Disney movies.  I remember watching Toy Story 2, but it still was not better than Toy Story 1 for me.  Then the third installment: Toy Story 3 came out and this movie stole my heart.  The first time I watched it, I cried twice for the toys and it does such an amazing job connecting you with each of the characters and not knowing if you will ever see them again.  It makes a person wonder about all of their toys and have a hard time ever getting rid of any toys  (possibly explains my son's 2 play rooms right now haha).  They are all great though and a complete story.  If you have never seen any of them or if you have missed any of them, you are missing out on some of the greatest Disney movies ever created. *Spanish Buzz is my favorite ;)  I highly recommend checking them out.

Fun Facts about the movies: Toy Story 1 was made on a $30 mil budget and brought in over $360 million.  At the time of it's release, Toy Story 2 was the third highest grossing animated film of all time only behind Aladdin & Lion King.  Overall it was ranked 16th highest grossing domestically and 21st internationally.  Toy Story 1 forever changed the computer animated movie industry and Pixar has done nothing but grow since then.  Apple's Steve Jobs was one of the executive produces.  Toy Story 1 was inducted into the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2005; its first year of eligibility.  The original script was about Tinny as "Buzz" a ventriloquist doll, going then to a military toy and later settling on a space theme.    
Toy Story 2 was made on a $90 million budget and brought in $485 million.   Toy Story 2 was originally slated to be a straight to DVD release.  It started production in a sperate studio from most of Pixar.  At the time A Bugs Life was the main focus of the Pixar studio.  After story boards came out showing what a great story it was turning out to be, it was immediately rewritten to be a theatrical release and still shot within the original time frame.  The 3-d Re-release in 2009 prompted the creation and later release of Toy Story 3.  Although I disagree, many critics consider Toy Story 2 to be one of the few films to outshine it's original.  At the time it was released in theaters it became the 2nd highest grossing animated film, falling only behind The Lion King.  It was 1999's highest grossing animated film.   
Toy Story 3 was made on a $200 million budget and brought in over $1 billion.  It became the first ever animated film in history to make over $1 billion worldwide.  Currently it is also the 11th highest grossing film of all time.  It was also the highest grossing film of 2010.  This is the only animated sequel in history to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Here are the movie trailers, as borrowed from YouTube, for entertainment purposes only.  I urge you to check them out if you haven't before.  Even if you have it is always a happy place to revisit.  Enjoy!

Toy Story 1

Toy Story 2

Toy Story 3