Toy Story is a 1995 American animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the franchise of the same name, it was the first entirely computer-animated feature film, as well as the first feature film from Pixar. It was directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Bonnie Arnold and Ralph Guggenheim, from a screenplay written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow and a story by Lasseter, Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft. The film features music by Randy Newman, and was executive-produced by Steve Jobs and Edwin Catmull. The film features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, and Erik von Detten.
Taking place in a world where toys come to life when humans are not present, the plot of Toy Story focuses on the relationship between an old-fashioned pullstring cowboy doll named Woody and a modern space cadet action figure, Buzz Lightyear, as Woody develops jealousy towards Buzz when he becomes their owner Andy's favorite toy.
Following the success of Tin Toy, a short film that was released in 1988, Pixar was approached by Disney to produce a computer-animated feature film that was told from a small toy's perspective. Lasseter, Stanton, and Docter wrote early story treatments, which were rejected by Disney, who wanted the film's tone to be "edgier". After several disastrous story reels, production was halted and the script was rewritten to better reflect the tone and theme Pixar desired: "toys deeply want children to play with them, and ... this desire drives their hopes, fears, and actions". The studio, then consisting of a relatively small number of employees, produced Toy Story under minor financial constraints.
Toy Story premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 19, 1995, and was released in theaters in North America on November 22 of that year. It was the highest-grossing film during its opening weekend, eventually grossing over $373 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 1995. The film received critical acclaim and holds a 100% approval rating on film aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. It was praised for the technical innovation of the 3D animation, script, Newman's score, appeal to all age groups, and voice performances (particularly Hanks and Allen); it is frequently lauded as one of the best animated films ever made and, due to its status as the first computer-animated film, one of the most important films in the medium's history and film at large. The film received three Academy Award nominations—Best Original Screenplay (the first animated film to be nominated for the award), Best Original Song for "You've Got a Friend in Me", and Best Original Score—in addition to being honored with a non-competitive Special Achievement Academy Award.In 2005, Toy Story was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", one of nine films designated in its first year of eligibility. The success of Toy Story launched a multimedia franchise. It spawned three sequels beginning with Toy Story 2 (1999), a spin-off film Lightyear (2022), numerous short films, and a planned fourth sequel. The film also had a theatrical 3D re-release in 2009 as part of a double feature with the second film.
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