Toy Story

“the arrival of Pixar”

A studio that has been molded into an animation empire which has bequeathed us with titles like Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, Up and Inside Out, comes the humble beginnings of a story about some toys. A movie that was the building block for PIXAR’s rocket-fuelled conquest was initially a risky experiment that could have gone awry but, thankfully, Toy Story is as innovative as it is charming, completely reinvigorating animation 25 years ago.

Toy Story takes place in a world not far from our own and centers around the toys in Andy’s room where old-fashioned Sheriff Woody is supplanted by the new action spaceman Buzz Lightyear. This ingenious concept uses the power of imagination which resides in all kids and their favorite toys and conceptualizes it in a whole different dimension. Three dimensional animations were not as overtly saturated as they are now, so seeing a feature do this for the first time was like entering a whole new medium for our unbeknownst eyes. Yes, by today’s standard, Toy Story is but a simple algorithm but back then, it revolutionized the animation department, forever changing the way we view this genre. However, in retrospect, the strength of this film lies in its simplicity. Too many now choose to create photo-realistic visuals, forgetting that simplicity can lead to a pure form of storytelling. There isn’t an overwhelming amount of realism featured in this humble debut, instead, the view is given a clear, easy, and pure animated treat where beauty lies in symmetry.

Add the incredible voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to help carry this story forward with pitch-perfect casting from the rest of Andy’s gang and you’ve got powerful alchemy that will define the PIXAR library for years to come.