Toy Story hidden details: names, cameos and near misses
Toy Story hidden details start with the film itself being a first. Released in November 1995, it was the first entirely computer-animated feature film and Pixar's first feature made with Walt Disney Pictures.
Behind the film are a near-cancellation, toys the studio was not allowed to use, characters named after real people and a few jokes that are easy to miss. Tom Hanks voices Woody and Tim Allen voices Buzz Lightyear, but neither was the only option.
Here are the production facts and small details worth knowing on your next watch.
Toy Story hidden details: where Woody and Buzz got their names
Buzz Lightyear is named after the Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and his early design drew on Apollo spacesuits as well as G.I. Joe figures. His green and purple suit reflects the favourite colours of director John Lasseter and his wife.
Woody is named after the actor Woody Strode, best known for westerns. In early versions he was not a cowboy at all but a ventriloquist's dummy, partly inspired by a Casper doll.
The toys Pixar could not use
Several familiar toys are missing for legal reasons rather than story ones.
- Barbie was planned to help rescue Woody in the final act, but Mattel refused to license the doll. She later appeared in Toy Story 2.
- Hasbro declined to license G.I. Joe, so the film invented Combat Carl for the scenes where Sid blows up a soldier toy.
- Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog and other real toys did make it in, which is why the room still feels like a real 1990s toy box.
The Black Friday crisis
On November 19, 1993, Pixar showed Disney executives the first half of the film. In that draft Woody was much meaner, and the screening went badly. Production was shut down until the script was reworked, a moment the team called the Black Friday incident. The Woody in the finished film, jealous but likeable, came out of that rewrite.
Casting near misses
Billy Crystal was offered the role of Buzz and turned it down. He later called it the biggest regret of his acting career, and went on to voice Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc. Tim Allen took the part and has played Buzz since.
Small details to watch for
Some details are easy to miss even after several viewings.
- Andy's room has cloud wallpaper, the same blue sky with white clouds that appears on the film's poster and became a Pixar signature.
- During the climax, a snippet of Hakuna Matata from The Lion King can be heard, a nod to Disney.
- At Pizza Planet, Buzz mistakes the claw machine for a spaceship, where he meets the three-eyed aliens who worship the claw.
- Sid's mutant toys look frightening but help Woody, a reversal built from the parts of toys Sid destroyed.
Awards and legacy
Toy Story earned three Academy Award nominations: Best Original Screenplay, the first animated film nominated in that category, Best Original Song for You've Got a Friend in Me, and Best Original Score. John Lasseter received a Special Achievement Academy Award in 1996 for leading the team that made the first feature-length computer-animated film.
The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 19, 1995, two years to the day after the Black Friday screening that nearly ended it.
Questions people ask
Who is Buzz Lightyear named after?
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
Why is there no Barbie in Toy Story?
Mattel refused to license the doll for the first film.
Who turned down the role of Buzz Lightyear?
Billy Crystal, who later called it the biggest regret of his career.