114 Fun Facts About Toy Story

In what year was the first 'Toy Story' film released?

1995 was the year; Toy Story premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 19 and opened nationwide on November 22, and John Lasseter got a special Oscar for it.

Which actor provides the voice for the character Woody?

Tom Hanks has famously lent his voice to the beloved cowboy doll, Woody, throughout the entire 'Toy Story' franchise.

What is Buzz Lightyear's iconic catchphrase?

'To infinity and beyond!' has been called one of the greatest film quotes ever; Woody throws it back at Buzz at the end of the first film as they fly toward the car.

Who is the villain of the first 'Toy Story' film, voiced by Erik von Detten?

Sid Phillips, Andy's toy-destroying next-door neighbor, serves as the main antagonist in the original 'Toy Story' film.

Who directed the first 'Toy Story' movie?

John Lasseter directed the groundbreaking first 'Toy Story' film, which was also Pixar's debut feature-length movie.

What is the name of Andy's favorite toy before Buzz Lightyear arrives?

Woody, the pull-string cowboy doll, was Andy's undisputed favorite toy and the leader of his room before Buzz Lightyear's arrival.

Which of these characters is introduced in 'Toy Story 2'?

Jessie, the energetic yodeling cowgirl, makes her first appearance in 'Toy Story 2' as part of Woody's Roundup gang.

Who composed the iconic music for the 'Toy Story' films, including 'You've Got a Friend in Me'?

Randy Newman composed the memorable scores and songs for the 'Toy Story' franchise, earning an Academy Award nomination for 'You've Got a Friend in Me'.

How many main 'Toy Story' feature films had been released by the end of 2019?

Four: Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019) were the main feature films released by the end of 2019.

What is the name of Andy's younger sister?

Molly is a baby in the first film, a toddler in the second and a preteen in the third, and she plans to take over Andy's room once he leaves for college.

What is the name of Sid's pet dog?

Sid, the toy-torturing neighbor, has a menacing bull terrier named Scud who often chases Andy's toys.

Which actor originally voiced Mr. Potato Head?

Don Rickles, the insult comic, voiced the cynical Mr. Potato Head in the first three Toy Story films.

What type of toy is Bo Peep?

Bo Peep is a porcelain shepherdess doll, often accompanied by her three-headed sheep, Billy, Goat, and Gruff.

What is the name of the daycare facility where Andy's toys end up in 'Toy Story 3'?

In 'Toy Story 3', Woody and his friends are mistakenly donated to Sunnyside Daycare, which initially appears to be a toy paradise.

In the first film, how do Woody and Buzz get from the gas station to the pizza restaurant?

That delivery truck went on to become one of Pixar's most famous Easter eggs, hidden in nearly every film the studio has made since.

What kind of animal is Slinky Dog?

Slinky Dog is a dachshund, a breed that suits a toy built around a Slinky coil; Jim Varney, best known as Ernest P. Worrell, voiced him in the first two films.

Who voices Buzz Lightyear in the main Toy Story films?

Tim Allen provides the voice for the intrepid space ranger action figure, Buzz Lightyear, in the main 'Toy Story' films.

What is Woody's horse called in 'Toy Story 2'?

In 'Toy Story 2' Woody learns he headlined 'Woody's Roundup', a 1950s children's Western, with co-stars Jessie, Bullseye and Stinky Pete.

Which toy is a piggy bank?

Hamm is the toy with the best grasp of the outside world and its gadgets, and in Andy's games he becomes the villain 'Evil Dr. Porkchop'.

What is the name of the toy collector in 'Toy Story 2'?

Al McWhiggin, the owner of Al's Toy Barn, is the greedy toy collector who steals Woody in 'Toy Story 2'.

In 'Toy Story 3', which character leads the toys at Sunnyside Daycare?

Lotso Huggin' Bear, a seemingly friendly but secretly tyrannical bear, runs Sunnyside Daycare with an iron paw in 'Toy Story 3'.

Which Toy Story Toons short takes place almost entirely in Bonnie's bathtub?

'Partysaurus Rex' is a 'Toy Story Toons' short where Rex finds his calling as a party animal in the bathtub.

Who is the owner of the toys after Andy gives them away in 'Toy Story 3'?

At the end of 'Toy Story 3', Andy lovingly gives his remaining toys to a young girl named Bonnie, ensuring they will continue to be played with.

What type of toy are Ducky and Bunny, introduced in 'Toy Story 4'?

Ducky and Bunny are two plush carnival prizes who dream of being won and finding a child owner in 'Toy Story 4'.

In which antique store does Gabby Gabby hold Forky in Toy Story 4?

Second Chance Antiques is the Grand Basin shop where Gabby Gabby and her ventriloquist-dummy henchmen keep Forky; Woody first spots Bo Peep's lamp in its window.

What is the name of the ruthless prospector in 'Toy Story 2'?

Stinky Pete, also known as 'The Prospector,' is a seemingly wise but ultimately manipulative toy who wants to go to a museum in 'Toy Story 2'.

Which Pixar film was the first entirely computer-animated feature film?

'Toy Story' made cinematic history as the first full-length feature film to be entirely computer-animated.

What Canadian stuntman action figure is introduced in 'Toy Story 4'?

Duke Caboom is a parody of the Evel Knievel stunt cycle toy and is haunted by failing to do the stunts his commercials promised for his first owner, Rejean.

Which character says 'There's a snake in my boot!'?

This classic line is one of Woody's many pull-string phrases, often heard throughout the films.

In 'Toy Story 2', which penguin toy with a broken squeaker does Woody try to rescue from a yard sale?

That rescue attempt is how Woody ends up stolen in the first place, and Wheezy closes the film with a song performed by the singing voice of Robert Goulet.

Which song plays as Buzz tries to fly at Sid's house and crashes?

'I Will Go Sailing No More' plays as Buzz, shaken by the TV commercial revealing he is a toy, leaps from Sid's staircase and loses an arm; Randy Newman wrote it for the first film.

Which character loses an arm in 'Toy Story 2' and needs to be repaired?

Woody's arm gets accidentally torn in 'Toy Story 2', leading to his rescue by Al and the subsequent decision about his future.

Which of Andy's toys is a talking pair of binoculars?

Lenny is the wind-up pair of binoculars in Andy's room, voiced by Pixar story artist Joe Ranft, who also voiced Wheezy in the sequel and Heimlich in A Bug's Life.

Which villain toy claims to be Buzz Lightyear's father in 'Toy Story 2'?

The reveal is an almost word-for-word riff on Darth Vader, and Zurg is a thinly veiled parody of him, right down to the ion blaster that fires plastic balls.

In the first film, Bo Peep and her sheep are detachable parts of what household object?

Because she is a lamp ornament rather than a plaything, Bo Peep is given away between films and turns up in Toy Story 4 as a self-reliant 'lost toy'.

In Toy Story, Woody and Buzz get stranded at which space-themed restaurant, where Buzz mistakes a claw machine for a rocket?

Pizza Planet's delivery truck has cameoed in almost every Pixar film since; the restaurant's claw machine is where the three-eyed aliens live.

Which characters are three-eyed squeaky alien toys who worship 'The Claw'?

The Little Green Men are saved by Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 2 and adopt him as their father; 'We are eternally grateful' is the rest of the line.

What year was 'Toy Story 3' released?

'Toy Story 3' was released on June 18, 2010, nearly 11 years after 'Toy Story 2'.

Which of Bonnie's toys is a stuffed hedgehog in lederhosen who takes his acting very seriously?

Mr. Pricklepants is voiced by former James Bond Timothy Dalton and insists everyone stay in character during playtime, earning the nickname 'Baron von Shush'.

In 'Toy Story 3', the grown-up Sid Phillips reappears working what job?

He is recognisable only by his skull T-shirt, and the same actor, Erik von Detten, returned to voice him 15 years after the first film.

How old is Andy when he leaves for college in 'Toy Story 3'?

Andy is 17 in Toy Story 3, days from leaving for college; he planned to take only Woody and store the rest in the attic, until his mother mistook the attic bag for trash.

Which toymaker refused to let Barbie appear in the first 'Toy Story', then asked for her to be in the sequel?

Mattel refused to license Barbie for the 1995 film, wary of how its doll would be portrayed; after the hit it agreed, and she debuted as Tour Guide Barbie in Toy Story 2.

Who is the voice actor for Slinky Dog in 'Toy Story 3' and 'Toy Story 4'?

After the passing of original voice actor Jim Varney, Blake Clark took over the role of Slinky Dog starting with 'Toy Story 3'.

What kind of toy is Gabby Gabby, the antagonist from 'Toy Story 4'?

Gabby Gabby is a vintage pull-string doll from the 1950s with a defective voice box who desperately wants a child's love.

Which character serves as the leader of the Green Army Men?

Sarge was voiced by R. Lee Ermey, the real-life Marine drill instructor famous for Full Metal Jacket, and his troops specialise in reconnaissance missions.

In which year was the original Toy Story added to the National Film Registry?

2005: the Library of Congress added Toy Story to the National Film Registry in its first year of eligibility, ten years after release, as a culturally, historically or aesthetically significant film.

How long did a Buzz Lightyear action figure stay aboard the International Space Station?

15 months: the 12-inch Buzz figure launched on STS-124 in May 2008 and returned on STS-128 in September 2009; it later joined the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum collection.

Which space shuttle carried the Buzz Lightyear figure into orbit?

Discovery flew the figure up on STS-124 in May 2008 and brought it home on STS-128 in September 2009, both Discovery missions.

What was the reported production budget for Toy Story 3?

$200 million was Toy Story 3's reported production budget, and the spend paid off: it finished as the highest-grossing film of 2010.

Before the space ranger got his final name, what was the character called during development?

The character passed through Lunar Larry and then Tempus from Morph before landing on his familiar name.

Which actor turned down the role of Buzz Lightyear and later regretted it?

Billy Crystal turned down Buzz Lightyear, a decision he later called one of his biggest career regrets; he went on to voice Mike Wazowski for Pixar in Monsters, Inc.

Toy Story became the first animated film ever nominated in which Academy Award category?

It picked up three nominations in all, and no animated film had contended for the screenplay award before.

Beyond its competitive nominations, what kind of Academy Award did Toy Story receive?

The Academy handed the film a non-competitive Special Achievement Award for its breakthrough.

Which Pixar short was the first computer-animated film to win the Best Animated Short Oscar?

Tin Toy (1988) won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film; its wind-up one-man-band toy, Tinny, was the seed from which Toy Story's concept grew.

How did Disney originally intend to release Toy Story 2?

Disney was making direct-to-video follow-ups to its hits at the time; the sequel was upgraded to a theatrical release during production.

Roughly how much of two years' work vanished when a stray command deleted Toy Story 2 from Pixar's servers in 1998?

About 90% of the film's files vanished after someone ran a recursive delete on the asset directory, and the backups turned out to have been failing.

Who turned out to have the copy of Toy Story 2 that saved the film?

Galyn Susman, a supervising technical director, had been syncing the film to her home computer to work while caring for her newborn; her copy restored most of the lost assets.

After a late overhaul, how long did Pixar have to finish Toy Story 2?

The release date was immovable, so a schedule that normally runs years was crushed into nine months.

Toy Story 3 was the first animated film to achieve what at the box office?

It finished on $1.067 billion, the highest-grossing film of 2010 and the top animated earner until Frozen.

Toy Story 3 was only the third animated film ever nominated for which award?

Best Picture: after Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Up (2009), Toy Story 3 was the third animated feature nominated for the Academy's top award, at the 83rd Oscars in 2011.

Which Oscar did Toy Story 4 win at the 92nd Academy Awards?

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 4 won it at the 92nd Academy Awards in February 2020, converting one of its two nominations; the other was Best Original Song for 'I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away'.

Which moving company hauls the Davis family's belongings in the first film?

Eggman Movers is the name on the moving van Woody and Buzz chase in the finale; it is a nod to Pixar art director Ralph Eggleston.

Which actor voices Hamm, the piggy bank with a cork in his belly?

Ratzenberger has turned up in Pixar features again and again, including as Mack in Cars.

In the first film, Randy Newman sings "You've Got a Friend in Me" as a duet with which country singer?

Lovett joins Newman on the version that closes the original film.

Which act recorded the Spanish-language version of the theme heard in Toy Story 3?

The Gipsy Kings recorded 'Hay un Amigo en Mí', the Spanish-language 'You've Got a Friend in Me', heard in the end credits as Spanish-mode Buzz and Jessie dance.

What is the cowboy doll's full name?

Sheriff Woody Pride: director Lee Unkrich confirmed in 2009 that Woody's surname is Pride, a name used since early development that almost never comes up on screen.

Tom Hanks voices Woody in the films — but who takes over for video games and merchandise?

Jim Hanks's voice is close enough to his brother's that he handles the character's tie-in work.

Which film's light-cycle scene first opened John Lasseter's eyes to computer animation?

Tron (1982): seeing its light-cycle sequence while at Disney convinced Lasseter computer animation was the future; his pitch to make The Brave Little Toaster in CG got him fired from Disney.

Which half-hour TV special did Pixar pitch before Disney pushed it toward a feature?

A Tin Toy Christmas was the half-hour special Pixar pitched; Jeffrey Katzenberg argued that if Pixar was scaling up from commercials anyway, it should make a full-length film.

Whose favorite colors inspired the green and purple of Buzz Lightyear's suit?

John Lasseter's favorite color is green and his wife Nancy's is purple, so Buzz's suit got both; the design otherwise drew on Apollo spacesuits and G.I. Joe figures.

Woody was inspired by a pull-string doll of which character that Lasseter owned as a child?

The doll was originally a ventriloquist's dummy, which is where the name Woody came from.

The cowboy doll's name was kept as a tribute to which Western actor?

Woody Strode, the character actor of Westerns such as John Ford's Sergeant Rutledge, is the namesake; the name survived after the ventriloquist-dummy design was dropped for looking sneaky and mean.

Which character did Joss Whedon add to the Toy Story script?

He also sought a role for Barbie, which became Bo Peep when Mattel refused to license the doll.

Audio from which Tom Hanks film was used in the test footage that convinced him to sign on?

Turner & Hooch: Lasseter borrowed a Disney technique, animating Woody to a monologue lifted from Hanks's 1989 film, and the test sold Hanks on the part.

What did Pixar later dub the disastrous November 19, 1993 screening that halted production?

Disney's head of feature animation stopped work, and Pixar rewrote the script in three months.

How many motion controls did the Woody character model require?

723 motion controls went into the Woody model, including 212 for his face and 58 for his mouth alone.

What song from The Lion King is briefly heard during the climactic RC chase?

'Hakuna Matata' plays on the Davis car radio during the moving-van chase, a nod to The Lion King, which Disney had released the year before Toy Story.

What did Steve Jobs schedule for one week after Toy Story's 1995 release?

Pixar's initial public offering took place on November 29, 1995, one week after the film opened; Jobs timed it to ride the film's success, having earlier explored selling Pixar to Hallmark and Microsoft.

Which small Canadian company was the only toymaker interested in Toy Story licensing at the 1995 Toy Fair?

Thinkway Toys, a small Canadian company, was the only licensee to sign on; bigger toymakers wanted 18 months to two years of lead time and passed.

Which fictional toy replaced G.I. Joe after Hasbro refused to let Sid blow one up?

Combat Carl is the stand-in: Hasbro would not let Sid blow up a G.I. Joe, though it did license Mr. Potato Head for the film.

Which real toy in the first film had been out of production since the 1970s?

Slinky inventor Richard James's wife Betty said Pixar's version was cuter than the original.

Which 1995 film narrowly beat Toy Story as the year's top worldwide grosser?

Die Hard with a Vengeance took about $366 million worldwide to Toy Story's $362 million in its original run; Toy Story was nonetheless the top domestic release of 1995.

Which computer operating system names its releases after Toy Story characters?

Debian has codenamed every release after a Toy Story character since 1.1 'Buzz' in 1996; later names include Woody, Sarge, Lenny, Squeeze, Jessie, Stretch, Buster, Bullseye, Bookworm and Trixie.

Which young animator did Lasseter first pick to direct Toy Story 2 while it was a video project?

Ash Brannon, a young animator, was Lasseter's first pick to direct the direct-to-video Toy Story 2; he stayed on as co-director after Lasseter took over the troubled production.

The Cleaner who repairs Woody in Toy Story 2 reused the model of the star of which Pixar short?

Geri's Game: the Cleaner is the same character model as Geri, the chess-playing old man from Pixar's 1997 Oscar-winning short, reused to save time on the compressed schedule.

Who performed 'When She Loved Me', Jessie's song in Toy Story 2?

Sarah McLachlan performed 'When She Loved Me', written by Randy Newman; it lost the Best Original Song Oscar to Phil Collins's 'You'll Be in My Heart' from Tarzan.

Which Pixar short accompanied Toy Story 2 in theaters?

Luxo Jr., Pixar's 1986 short about a lamp and its ball, ran before Toy Story 2, with a short disclaimer explaining why Pixar's logo has a hopping lamp.

Which Golden Globe did Toy Story 2 win?

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: Toy Story 2 won it at the January 2000 Golden Globes, as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King had before it; the Globes had no animated category until 2007.

Which Disney unit was set up to make Toy Story 3 without Pixar in 2004?

Circle Seven Animation was Disney's unit for sequels without Pixar; its Toy Story 3 script had Andy's toys shipping a malfunctioning Buzz to a Taiwan recall factory, and it was scrapped after Disney bought Pixar in 2006.

Who wrote the screenplay for Toy Story 3?

Michael Arndt, who had won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, wrote Toy Story 3's screenplay; Lee Unkrich directed.

Toy Story 3 was the first film released with which theatrical audio format?

Dolby Surround 7.1 debuted with Toy Story 3 in June 2010, the first film mixed and released in the format; its Blu-ray carried that original 7.1 mix rather than a remix.

Where did Toy Story 3 hold its world premiere?

The El Capitan then hosted the first-ever marathon of all three films.

Which Studio Ghibli character makes a cameo in Toy Story 3?

Totoro, the forest spirit from My Neighbor Totoro (1988), appears as one of Bonnie's plush toys, a tribute to Hayao Miyazaki, whose Studio Ghibli has long-standing ties with Lasseter and Pixar.

Which actor voiced Lotso, the strawberry-scented bear in Toy Story 3?

Ned Beatty, of Deliverance and Network, voiced Lotso, the strawberry-scented Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear; Michael Keaton voiced Ken in the same film.

Which Pixar short played before Toy Story 3 in theaters?

It shows animated personifications of Day and Night meeting.

Two Iowa brothers spent how many years recreating Toy Story 3 shot-for-shot in stop motion?

Eight years of work went into Morgan and Mason McGrew's shot-for-shot 'Toy Story 3 in Real Life', which they uploaded to YouTube in January 2020 with Disney's blessing.

Who directed Toy Story 4?

Josh Cooley directed Toy Story 4; John Lasseter was originally set to direct, with Cooley as co-director, before stepping aside in July 2017.

Which Arrested Development actor voices Forky?

Tony Hale, Buster Bluth on Arrested Development, voices Forky, and returned for the Disney+ shorts Forky Asks a Question.

Which actor voices the Canadian stuntman toy in Toy Story 4?

Pixar let him develop the character's verbal mannerisms himself.

Which country singer released a version of 'The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy' from Toy Story 4?

Chris Stapleton sang 'The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy' over the end credits; Randy Newman wrote it and performed the film's other new song, 'I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away', himself.

How was Don Rickles able to voice Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 4 after his 2017 death?

Pixar reviewed 25 years of material including video game sessions; the film is dedicated to him.

Toy Story 4 was the first Pixar release since the original to reach theaters how?

Without an accompanying short: Toy Story 4 was the first Pixar feature since the 1995 original to open without one; producers said staff were needed on features as the studio shifted to SparkShorts.

Who directed Lightyear, the 2022 Buzz Lightyear spin-off?

Angus MacLane, previously co-director of Finding Dory (2016), directed Lightyear (2022), which he also co-wrote.

On which hostile planet is Buzz marooned in Lightyear?

T'Kani Prime is the hostile planet where Buzz's crew is marooned after he crashes their ship; Lightyear is framed as the movie Andy saw that made him want a Buzz toy.

What kind of animal snatches the toys one by one in Toy Story of Terror!?

An iguana named Mr. Jones, the motel manager's pet, snatches the toys one by one in the 2013 Halloween special, set at the Sleep Well roadside motel.

Which action star voices the military action figure in Toy Story of Terror!?

Carl Weathers, Apollo Creed in the Rocky films, voices Combat Carl in Toy Story of Terror! and reprised the role in Toy Story 4.

What is the name of the dinosaur-warrior playset that dominates Mason's room in Toy Story That Time Forgot?

Battlesaurs are the dinosaur-warrior toys in Mason's room in the 2014 special Toy Story That Time Forgot; their leader Reptillus Maximus does not yet know he is a toy.

Who voiced Buzz in the 2000 TV series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command?

Tim Allen voiced him only in the direct-to-video pilot, The Adventure Begins.

In which year did Toy Story Land open at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida?

2018: Toy Story Land opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios on June 30, 2018; versions in Paris (2010), Hong Kong (2011) and Shanghai (April 2018) came first.

What name does Buzz give himself at Hannah's tea party in the first film?

Mrs. Nesbitt: after losing an arm and his belief that he can fly, Buzz is found in an apron and hat at Sid's sister Hannah's tea party, woozily introducing himself as Mrs. Nesbitt.

Which actress has voiced Bo Peep since the first film?

Annie Potts, of Ghostbusters and Designing Women, has voiced Bo Peep since the 1995 original and returned for her expanded lead role in Toy Story 4.

What is the name of the chicken restaurant where Buzz gets swapped for a kids' meal toy in Small Fry?

Poultry Palace is the fast-food chicken restaurant where a kids'-meal mini Buzz swaps places with the real one; the short played before The Muppets in November 2011.

Which screenwriting guru's seminar did the inexperienced Toy Story writers attend?

Robert McKee's story seminar, grounded in Aristotle's Poetics, was attended by the Toy Story team; his lesson that characters are defined by how they react to obstacles shaped Woody's arc.

At which Los Angeles cinema did Toy Story premiere on November 19, 1995?

El Capitan Theatre, Disney's restored Hollywood showcase cinema, hosted the November 19, 1995 premiere; the film opened nationwide three days later and grossed over $360 million worldwide in its original run.