Final production notes

“We’re so excited to be bringing these first two films back for audiences to enjoy in a whole new way, thanks to the latest in 3D technology,” says John Lasseter, the director of “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2,” who now serves as chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and principal creative advisor to Walt Disney Imagineering. “Disney Digital 3D™ offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation, and we will continue to use this new technology to push the boundaries in telling our stories.”

The “Toy Story” films and the host of unforgettable characters they introduced to the world hold a special place in the hearts and minds of audiences worldwide. Since “Toy Story” astounded moviegoers with its free-flowing images and warm-hearted humor in 1995, the film and its characters have become entrenched in the zeitgeist the world over, including Buzz Lightyear’s mantra, “To infinity and beyond,” which has become a 21st-century catchphrase.

“The ‘Toy Story’ films accomplish what timeless classics aim for,” says actor Tom Hanks, who voices the series’ cowboy hero, Woody. “They are full of innocent characters who face an endless trail of adventures. We all know the likes of Woody, Buzz, Bo Peep, and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, and we wonder who we would be…if we were toys.”

“Toy Story,” the groundbreaking first collaboration between Walt Disney Studios and Pixar, has become one of the most influential animated films in history. Set in a whimsical world populated by walking, talking toys with rivalries, dreams and fears of their own, the movie pioneered the use of innovative tools and techniques for an entirely new form of animation.

The first full-length animated feature to be created entirely by artists using CG technology, “Toy Story” was conceived and directed by Lasseter, a former Disney animator who had already collected an Oscar^® for the short “Tin Toy.” “Toy Story” represented a major milestone in animated moviemaking. All 77 minutes of breathtaking animation, 1,561 shots and a cast of 76 characters that included humans, toys and a dog were meticulously hand-designed, built and animated in the computer.

Four years in the making, the delightfully irreverent comedy-adventure featured a top-tier voice cast that included two-time Academy Award^® winner Tom Hanks and comedy superstar Tim Allen. With an inspired score by Oscar^®-, Grammy^®- and Emmy^®-winning composer, songwriter and performer Randy Newman, “Toy Story” crossed generational boundaries by combining an original, imaginative story and lovable characters with the exciting new capabilities of computer-generated animation.

The first fruit of a long-term collaboration between Disney and Pixar raised the bar exponentially for future animated films. “Toy Story” blazed a wide trail in a brand-new medium, earning international acclaim. Originally released on Nov. 22, 1995, “Toy Story” became the highest-grossing movie of the year, with box office of nearly $192 million domestically and $362 million worldwide.

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards^® and two Golden Globes^®. Lasseter received a Special Achievement Award (Oscar^®) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his “inspired leadership of the Pixar ‘Toy Story’ team, resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film,” and “Toy Story” was included on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Greatest American Movies.

“Toy Story’s” success has sparked an unrivaled winning streak of ten hits and counting for Disney•Pixar, including “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars,” “Ratatouille,” “Up” and, of course, “Toy Story 2.”

Picking up where “Toy Story” left off, “Toy Story 2” enjoyed the benefit of almost five more years of technological innovation. In between the two movies, “A Bug’s Life” had served as the proving ground for the next generation of CG technology, which added more realistic movement, flexibility in lighting and camera techniques, and startlingly detailed rendering to the CG artists’ palette. “Toy Story 2” made history by becoming the first film ever to be entirely created, mastered and exhibited digitally.

The unprecedented success of “Toy Story” may have made a sequel inevitable, but “Toy Story 2” surpassed the original at the box office, becoming the first animated sequel to gross more than its inspiration. “Toy Story 2” broke opening-weekend box-office records in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, and became the highest-grossing animated release of 1999, with more than $245 million in domestic box-office receipts and $485 million worldwide.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award^® and two Golden Globes^® and won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture—Comedy or Musical as well as a Grammy^® for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (Randy Newman, “When She Loved Me”).

“With ‘Toy Story 3’ shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought this would be the perfect way to let audiences experience the first two films all over again,” says Lasseter. “We resurrected all the data, and it’s awesome to see how great these films look in 3D. They’re amazing. There’s a new generation of kids that has never seen either film on the big screen. Most of them have seen them on video at home or on DVD, which isn’t the same thing.

“To see the movies back to back will be an amazing treat as well,” Lasseter adds. “This is certainly nostalgic for me and reminiscent of my youth when double features were the norm.”
TAKING “TOY STORY” TO 3D

Lead Stereographer Bob Whitehill Takes Pixar’s Team—

and Toys—into Another Dimension
Bob Whitehill, the lead stereographer for the “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” conversions as well as stereoscopic supervisor for “Up,” says the filmmakers’ top priorities were to make the films’ 3D versions “comfortable, consistent and captivating.”

“First and foremost, our focus was to make films that are graceful and easy to watch,” Whitehill explains. “We also wanted to be consistent to the original intent of the film’s visuals in composition, lens choices and elements of that nature. And finally, we wanted the experience to engender a robust and dimensional visual experience that draws the viewers into the toys’ world, ultimately enhancing and strengthening the effect of the story. Story is always the main focus here at Pixar.”

The filmmakers had to adapt the images for modern software and re-render them as if they had just finished creating them. “Through a technical process we dubbed ‘triage,’ we were able to bring the shots up to modern software fluency,” explains Whitehill. “We then re-created every single frame using two different cameras—one for the left-eye view and one for the right. The films are thereby a perfectly true representation of the world created in 3D.”

Other recent 3D conversions have taken a slightly different tack, notes Whitehill. “Some take the final frames of the original 2D movie and split that image apart to create the stereo effect. Our process does not estimate what the 3D would look like; it captures the original compositions exactly.”

Lee Unkrich (co-director of “Toy Story 2,” “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo” as well as the editor of “Toy Story”) directs this highly anticipated film.

“John took me aside and said, ‘We’re going to make ‘Toy Story 3,’ and I really want you to direct it,’” Unkrich recalls. “I jumped at the opportunity. These characters and this world are near and dear to me. And I really wanted to be part of shepherding them forward.”

In this latest chapter, Andy is preparing to depart for college, leaving Woody, Buzz and the rest of his loyal toys troubled about their uncertain future.

“We decided to set ‘Toy Story 3’ at a point in time that is just emotionally ripe,” says Unkrich. “It’s a very funny film, and it’s going to be a very emotionally satisfying film as well.”

“‘Toy Story 3’ takes place in the summer between Andy graduating high school and going off to college,” says John Lasseter, executive producer. “The toys are actually at that place of being outgrown. And that’s where the adventure starts.

  “Toys are put on this Earth to be played with by a child—that’s the one thing they want more than anything else,” Lasseter continues. “The things that keep toys from being played with by a child are the things that cause anxiety in their lives—being lost, being stolen, being broken. And the thing that they fear most of all is to be outgrown. When you’re lost, you can be found. When you’re broken, you can be fixed. When you’re stolen, you can be recovered. But once you’re outgrown, that’s it.”

“Toy Story 3” is a comical new adventure that lands the toys in a room full of untamed tots who can’t wait to get their sticky little fingers on these “new” toys. It’s pandemonium as Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang try to stay together, ensuring “no toy gets left behind.” Meanwhile, Barbie comes face to plastic face with Ken (yes, that Ken). 

  Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, WALLACE SHAWN and Estelle Harris lend their voices once again. Joining the voice cast are veteran actors Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopi Goldberg, Timothy Dalton, Ned Beatty and Michael Keaton as the voice of Ken. 

“Toy Story 3” will be presented in Disney Digital 3D in select theaters.

ABOUT “TOY STORY”

A Star Is Born
On November 22, 1995, the art of animation went “to infinity and beyond” when Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, a Northern California-based pioneer in computer graphics, released the now-legendary “Toy Story,” the first full-length animated feature created entirely by artists using computer tools and technology.

Set in a world where toys come to life when people are not present, “Toy Story” is a sophisticated “buddy comedy” featuring the voices of two-time Academy Award^®-winning actor Tom Hanks, popular film and television comic and Golden Globe^® winner Tim Allen and a wonderful cast of acting talents. Writer, director and Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, whose innovative work already included the 1988 Oscar^®-winning short, “Tin Toy,” as well as “Luxo Jr.” (an Oscar nominee), “Red’s Dream” and “Knick Knack,” provided the vision for a team of 27 animators, 22 technical directors and 61 other filmmakers.

“John Lasseter created warm and appealing characters through the medium of computer animation,” says Thomas Schumacher, who was Walt Disney Feature Animation’s main point person on the project. “The work came from his heart and spirit as much as it came out of a computer box.”

“Toy Story” was a major milestone in animated moviemaking with its groundbreaking graphic style. Combining the skills of traditionally trained character animators with the most sophisticated “pencils” in the world, “Toy Story” introduced a unique look, with qualities of texture, color, vibrant lighting and detail never before seen in traditional animated features.

Just as Disney’s experimental shorts of the 1930s served as a proving ground for that studio’s first feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937), so too did Pixar experiment with a series of award-winning shorts to prepare for its feature-film debut. Harnessing the very latest in computer technology and writing, perfecting their own proprietary software and assembling an outstanding team of artists, animators and technical wizards, Pixar set the stage for one of the most ambitious film projects in the 100-year history of the cinema. From start to finish, “Toy Story” was one continuous eye-popping visual treat after another.

And finally, after four years of labor, the film was ready to go with a story conceived by a team that included future animation superstars Lasseter, Andrew Stanton (who went on to become an Academy Award^®-nominated writer and director of Oscar^®-winning movies “Finding Nemo” and “WALL•E”), the late Joe Ranft (writer and co-director of “Cars,” who also provided voices for characters in several classic Pixar films) and Pete Docter, writer/director of the Academy Award-nominated “Monsters, Inc.” and Disney•Pixar’s most recent feature film, “Up.”

“As naïve as it may sound, making ‘Toy Story’ felt like an extension of school, where we were just making the film we wanted to make for us and our friends to enjoy,” says Docter. “When it actually came out, it was pretty stunning. My parents in Minnesota had heard about it. There were billboards and toys. We were being reviewed by Time magazine! It was overwhelming.”

“We were blown away by ‘Toy Story,’” says Apple CEO Steve Jobs, a Pixar co-founder and CEO at the time as well as an executive producer of the movie. “We really felt strongly that the movie was going to be a success. But even we didn’t have a clue how much of a success it was going to be.”