What Keeps Me Watching Toy Story

Even as a thirty-something year old, Toy Story remains one of my most absolute favorite movies of all time. And like each Pixar film, it’s riddled with tiny things that keep me coming back to it that most people might not really notice. Here are a few examples that I believe help make Toy Story great:

1. Woody is just hilarious. When Buzz Lightyear is showing off his cool gadgets to the other toys, Woody’s impression of the space guns is just perfect. Sarcasm, jealousy, and frustration all rolled into one.

2. “We’re with you, Woody,” says Slinky, which prompts Mr. Potato Head to remove his lips and press them against his butt. I didn’t catch this until I was way older. One of the funniest gags in the franchise.

3. Okay, maybe the funniest gag is when Woody throws RV out of the moving truck and the toys freak out, because they already think he’s a murderer.

4. The lighting. I am absolutely dazzled by the use of lighting in pretty much this whole movie, but especially in the late afternoon just before Andy and his mom leave for Pizza Planet. It really does remind me of my own childhood as summer days were winding down and the sun was setting behind the hills leaving behind a red tint.

5. The opening credits. Even when I saw this in the theaters as an eleven year old, I noticed right away that Toy Story opened up unlike any other animated movie ever had: With on-screen credits during the action so there’s no wasted credit time and the movie moves forward from frame one. To this day I consider it one of the greatest movie openings of all time. It’s artsy, it’s simple, it’s telling, it’s to the point, and vastly charming and entertaining. And Randy Newman’s song just nails the mood. (It was also the first time I’d ever heard a song sung by a performer that wasn’t sung by the characters in an animated movie – I hadn’t seen The Rescuers yet.)

6. Greatest threat line ever: “But we’re not on my planet, are we?”

7. The spinning chair. When the chair spins and Woody is forced over onto Andy’s leg, that one-second shot tells you all you need to know, that Woody and Andy are inseparable, and there is no comfort in the world like belonging to Andy.

8. The Pizza Planet truck says “Yo.” Awesome attention to detail. Puts me right back in the ’90s.

9. Another great example of detail: Buzz glows in the dark. He’s got to be the only character I’ve ever seen in a film who does this.

10. Woody’s run. Woody is the only character I’ve ever seen who can make me literally LOL just by his wobbly, exaggerated run.

11. During Andy’s turning point, when his affections shift from cowboys to spacemen, there’s a scene where Andy disappears into the closet as a cowboy and emerges a second later as a spaceman. If you watch carefully, you can see the camera jolt just a tad, giving the impression that the filmmakers were attempting a popular camera trick, but the camera got bumped as though it were a real camera set up on a real stage.

12. Adding another sense of utter realism, the Davis’ house is bumped and bruised all across the floorboards and lower doors. There’s scratches in the chairs and wood peeling off the walls. It’s hard to remember you’re in a make-believe world.

13. Woody’s voice box waking up Scud is the greatest use of his pull string in the whole franchise. Sheer suspense!

14. I think when we first see Woody, it’s the best character introduction ever, and I can’t explain it. It’s the way the camera is positioned, the perfect tilting of the cowboy doll suggesting that he’s a hero, but also just a plastic toy (but the perfect plastic toy), combined with the music makes is a moment I look forward to reaching every time I turn the movie on.

15. The match is blown out! The filmmakers didn’t need to add this scene. The movie would have worked just as well without it. But I’m glad it’s there because it seriously adds a whole layer of suspense and devastation. I love this addition so much that I wrote a post on it a while back. Check it out here.

16. The devastation in Woody’s voice and his face is so convincing when he realizes he’s a lost toy. I seriously feel for him each and every time. There’s no Hollywood sappiness here. This is real, raw emotion at his greatest nightmare coming true.

17. The Army Men. The whole Army Men sequence could quite possibly be my most favorite scene in the whole movie. It’s playfulness and ingenuity is addicting. Any boy who didn’t immediately start making Army Men movies with their cameras is not a true Toy Story fan.

18. The line, “The word I’m thinking of, I can’t say, because there’s preschool children around.”

19. I love Jon Negroni’s theory that this hat proves that Jessie’s Emily could really be Andy’s mom.

20. Just like Walt Disney and his crew drew from the popular horror movies of their day as inspiration for Snow White, the Toy Story crew seemed to do the same thing. The kings of animation never intended for animated movies to be just for kids.

21. The argument Woody and Buzz have under the truck is a perfect example of two characters not willing to budge on their convictions. And it’s a wonderful sequence, because even though Woody is 100% right, he looses the argument because he can’t control his emotions as Buzz is able to. I think this is such a compelling scene because we’ve all been there (especially us married folk).

22. Everything about Pizza Planet. As a kid (and even now), I’d give anything to go to a restaurant just like this. But it has to be Pizza Planet.

23. Take a close look at this Battleship game between Hamm and Mr. Potato Head. I’d love to play Poker against that spud!

24. Woody’s talk seriously makes me want to be a toy. Wait, I am a Toy! And my name’s Andy… Hmmm.

I agree with Walt’s nephew Roy E. Disney that there’s literally not a single frame in the entire movie that doesn’t push the story forward. There are certainly dozens of other things that make this film one of my favorites, but then it would be too long of a post. Share some of your favorite Toy Story moments below! And, thank you, DisneyScreenCaps.com for the images.

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