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| Original concept art, from Time's story from the movie's 20th anniversary. |
I have a special guest for this post. We watched Toy Story as a family and he wanted to
help me do my work on it. So, presenting the boy himself: Harrison the
4-year-old. I interviewed him and typed his answers exactly as he gave them.
Why do you like Toy
Story?
Because ... umm … umm ... cus
it’s … cus I like shows … and movies.
What was your
favorite part?
The very end. The end of it.
Why?
Because they, Buzz Lightyear was
flying … with that rocket. That rocket dangerous thing.
Who do you like
better, Buzz or Woody and why?
Buzz because he can fly.
What did you think of
the animation?
What’s animation?
The way it looks
I like the colours. Every single
colour.
What else do you like
about Toy Story?
That’s about all.
You can’t think of
anything else you like about it?
It was scary.
What was scary about
it?
The part that the dog was chasing
them.
But they got away
right?
Yeah. Dad! Can we do that again
tonight? Watch a movie and set up a blanket and have popcorn and watch a movie?
Please please please please dad … again tonight?
Tell me some more
things about Toy Story. What do you think of Woody?
Umm good.
What about him though?
His hat. Cus it has that stuff
all around it… that edgy stuff, that stuff, you know?
What’s better Toy
Story or Curious George and why?
George. Cus George has black hair
and black body.
No he doesn’t!
Yeah he does. He does.
It’s brown.
No. Black. Black, dad. Oh there’s
where my dinosaur went! I was looking for this dinosaur for all day!! Roar!! My dinosaur cave!! Roar!! [Harrison trails
off talking to and for the dinosaur].
So there you have it. He really did like the dog chase scene
– he pulled himself into a ball and clenched his teeth and his whole body until
the danger passed. And what more can be said about Woody’s hat?
Harry has seen the movie a few times and I’ve seen it a few
more. I don’t remember the first time I saw it. I would have been about 10
years old and I probably assumed it was another Disney movie like all my
favorites. It was the first of Pixar’s films and the first full-length computer
animated movie ever released, which was a big deal but not to me or any other
kid. And apparently not to the reviewers and awards voters. We all loved it not
because of its animation style, but in spite of it.
It may have pioneered a way of making movies, but it isn’t
difficult to appreciate the way some pioneers are. Sometimes looking back on
the firsts of their kind can be underwhelming – their techniques and
innovations have been developed and refined, and the original looks crude by
comparison. But it doesn’t take much effort to love Toy Story. It’s a warm, inventive comedy full of witty jokes, and
clever in ways many animated movies were not. And so it’s the same for a
10-year-old seeing it for the first time, a 30-year-old seeing it for the 100th
time, and a 4-year-old who just ‘likes shows and movies’. By exploring issues
that anyone can relate to – friendship, our place in the world, wanting to be
loved – Toy Story transcends
generations and escapes the difficulty of being appreciated as a trend-setter.
It may have created a new form of story-telling, but the story it tells is what
we remember.
Toy Story
pioneered not just a film-making technique but a new kind of movie. Pixar movies
have become a genre by themselves and we now expect to be moved and warmed and
touched by any movie the company puts out. Toy
Story started that. And like most pioneers, Toy Story’s innovations have been surpassed by other advancements
and developments. The animation it pioneered has come a long way and its style
looks crude by today’s standards. The toys still look good – they chose to do a
movie about toys largely because the animation of the time made everything look
plastic. But they managed to turn plastic into living, emotional, and
unforgettable characters. The animation in today’s movies may have surpassed the
animation in Toy Story, but modern
movies are still trying to live up to the high standard of story-telling set by
Buzz, Woody, and the gang.
And even if some of the animation’s age is showing, like
Harrison, we can always appreciate the colours. Every single one.
I remember taking my boys to see this in '95. Jordan was 10, Taylor was 5, and Connor was 4. We were in Houston, TX. From my perspective, this was the movie when animation 'pivoted' to a whole new generation. A paradigm shift in 'non-real' story-telling and cartoons. It captivated my kids because they were barely attuned to the level of animation that I grew up with - Flintstones, The Jetsons, Bullwinkle, Roger Ramjet, et al. And here comes Woody and Buzz in all their 3D splendor and it blew them away. What was more telling though was it blew me away too - for the whole movie. I was enthralled with what Pixar did with technology and amazed at what server farms could do to render all that glory. And, oh yeah, it was a cute story too.
ReplyDeleteMy boys? Yeah, they thought the 3D rendered stuff was cool (for about 10 minutes).. But the real appeal wasn't about smooth rendered polygons - it was ALL about emotions, love, devotion and attachment - for 81 minutes. They loved the movie - I loved the technology.... until I watched it again. Then I started to love the movie too.