- 7 weeks ago
Toy Story continues to fascinate more than 25 years on.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Cinema doesn't get much better than Toy Story, Pixar's groundbreaking computer-animated film
00:05which effectively reinvented the animated medium whilst creating a beloved franchise that endures
00:10to this very day. And though most of us have probably watched Pixar's inaugural movie dozens,
00:15if not hundreds of times over the years, there are still a few things that we may not have noticed.
00:20We all know that Pixar loves to pack in the details, so there is a lot to see.
00:25So, I'm Amy from WhatCulture and here are 20 things you somehow missed in Toy Story.
00:3020. Andy's friends are all Andy clones
00:33Given that Toy Story was the first completely computer-animated film,
00:38it's not really a surprise that Pixar took a few shortcuts to lighten their workload.
00:42This is unsettlingly noticeable early in the film when Andy's friends arrive at his house for his birthday party
00:48and when Sarge is watching proceedings through his binoculars.
00:50For a brief moment, we can see that all of Andy's friends look exactly like him.
00:55There are basic variations, you know, they're wearing different clothes and one of them has darker skin than the rest,
01:01but the face and body models are completely identical.
01:04Understandably, Pixar presumed nobody would ever notice and didn't count on future audiences
01:08being able to freeze-frame high-resolution versions of the film.
01:1219. Buzz has Disney written on him
01:14In case you somehow forgot that Toy Story was a Disney movie,
01:18they placed a subtle reminder on Buzz Lightyear's posterior that's noticeable in a couple of shots.
01:24When Buzz and Woody squabble outside the gas station and Buzz walks away,
01:27the word Disney can be seen printed on his backside, albeit faintly.
01:31Then in Toy Story 2, the text was changed to include Pixar.
01:34Strangely though, this copyright stamp isn't actually included in legit retail versions of the Buzz Lightyear doll.
01:40Not sure why, seems like they missed a trick there.
01:4218. Mickey Mouse's cameo
01:45A ton of Disney films, unsurprisingly, contain little references to their beloved mascot Mickey Mouse,
01:51but did you know that Toy Story is one of them?
01:53In Andy's bedroom near the start of the movie, shortly after Buzz lands and we get a nice wide shot of the room,
01:58on the right-hand side of the screen, a large watch-shaped Disney clock is seen hanging on the wall.
02:04On closer inspection, the watch contains an image of Mickey Mouse, whose arms serve as the clock's hands.
02:09And better still, this design is actually used in real Mickey Mouse watches.
02:13And trust me, there's no better piece of decor than a novelty clock.
02:1717. Everyone blinks one eye at a time
02:20So here's something that's actually really subtle, but you will start to notice if you've seen the movie enough times.
02:26You'll see that all the toy characters actually blink one eye at a time.
02:30Once you start noticing it, you won't be able to stop.
02:33You'll have all your attention drawn to the fact that one eyelid just moves slightly faster than the other one.
02:38In the animation world, this is called offset blinking,
02:41and it's typically a trick employ to depict a character who isn't so intelligent.
02:45But in the case of Toy Story, it's been suggested that this may have been a technique
02:49to subconsciously remind the audience that the characters are still toys.
02:53If you don't believe me, slow the film down and it becomes unmissable.
02:5716. Virtual Realty Real Estate
02:59As we know, Andy and his mother are of course preparing to move throughout the course of the film.
03:04So when we go outside and we see a for sale sign,
03:06you may have noticed that it accredits the estate agent that they're using as Virtual Realty.
03:11You might think that's a rather odd name for a realty firm.
03:14But then again, your next thought probably on noticing that that's the name
03:17would be that it's clearly a reference to the fact that Toy Story is the first computer animated movie
03:22and the first major sustained digital representation of real life to be put on the big screen.
03:27This one is so easy to spot if you're paying attention,
03:29but so many of us kind of drift out and stop paying attention whilst watching movies,
03:33so this could have passed you by all these years.
03:3615. Sid's House Has the Carpet from The Shining
03:39Pixar have made it really clear over the years that their filmmakers have a love for Stanley Kubrick,
03:44in particular for his film The Shining.
03:46This is evidence no better than in Toy Story,
03:49where the carpet in Sid's house is very clearly styled on that of the Overlook Hotel's own iconic carpet design.
03:55We get a prolonged look at it when Woody attempts to rescue Buzz from Sid's house,
03:59effectively confirming just how completely deranged Sid is.
04:03Keeping on the theme of Kubrick and Toy Story,
04:06the number 237 also appears several times in Toy Story 3,
04:09in reference to the hotel's infamously cursed room, number 237.
04:1314. There's early Woody concept art on Andy's bedroom wall.
04:17The Mickey Mouse clock was not the only easter egg they put up on Andy's wall,
04:22though this one arguably is harder to notice.
04:25When Woody and Slinky Dog are on Andy's bed shortly after Buzz's arrival,
04:29you'll notice in the background that there's a framed sketched drawing on the wall,
04:32which actually happens to be genuine early Woody concept art.
04:36Woody and Buzz both went through prolonged redesigns during production,
04:39and it's just as well given that a number of the proposed designs were,
04:43well, a little too creepy for their own good.
04:45And if you can believe it, there was actually a ventriloquist-style version of Woody.
04:49That would have made for a very different movie.
04:5213. The dark Marie Antoinette joke.
04:55Here's a hilarious and slightly grim gag that you'll kick yourself for not getting over the years.
05:00When Buzz has his psychotic break and adopts his new tea-sipping moniker, Mrs. Nesbitt,
05:05he tells Woody, one minute you're defending the whole galaxy,
05:07and suddenly you find yourself sucking down Darjeeling with Marie Antoinette and her little sister.
05:12Given that Buzz is having tea with one of Sid's sister's dolls,
05:14which has had its head removed by Sid.
05:16This is evidently a nod to the fact that the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette,
05:20was executed by beheading.
05:21With dolls, though, it's a little less gruesome when you behead them.
05:24You can kind of get away with it for a children's film.
05:2612. All the animation shortcuts.
05:29In addition to Andy's copy-and-paste clone friends,
05:32there are also a number of other shortcuts employed to make the production
05:35the quickest and most efficient it could be.
05:38Most prominently, none of the movie's human characters have long, flowing hair.
05:42And this is because Pixar was still wrestling with the complex mechanics of hair physics at the time.
05:47This is the reason that Andy's mother has her hair tied up in a ponytail,
05:50and Sid's sister Hannah has a short, solid bob.
05:53All just to save the animators having to figure out a volumetric model for it.
05:57There are other time savers, like we don't see Combat Carl's explosive death
06:00because Pixar considered animating an explosion and then decided it was too taxing.
06:05And another one is that there's no milk droplets when Woody dunks his burning head into Sid's bowl of cereal,
06:09and this is once again for the same reason.
06:12Projectiles, man, they're just difficult.
06:1411. Buzz's Wilhelm Scream.
06:17Once upon a time, the Wilhelm Scream was a sneaky little easter egg for sound engineers to include in their films,
06:23but the distinctive scream sound effect is so distinctive and ubiquitous these days
06:27that its inclusion often proves more distracting and groan-worthy than funny.
06:31You'd usually think of it as appearing in horror movies or action movies or something along those lines,
06:36but actually, there is one in Toy Story.
06:39The Toy Story Wilhelm Scream happens during one of the film's most pivotal moments,
06:43when Buzz is knocked out of Andy's window courtesy of Woody.
06:47The sound mix is busy enough that it's easily missed,
06:49especially if you're not watching the film on a quality sound setup.
06:53Though, once you do notice it, you'll likely never miss it again.
06:56For the real premium experience, make sure to listen in 3D surround sound.
07:00Can you imagine?
07:0110. Penn Jillette narrates the Buzz Lightyear commercial.
07:05Who can forget the incredible moment when Buzz finally comes to terms with the fact that he's actually a toy?
07:10Buzz sees a TV commercial for himself, which makes it abundantly clear he's not a real boy.
07:16The hilariously over-the-top parody of toy commercials also includes a surprise celebrity cameo,
07:21with the wacky narration being provided by none other than the legendary magician Penn Jillette.
07:25In a recent interview, Jillette claims that he was one of the first, if not the first, people to be cast.
07:31He can't have been that invested and excited about the project, though,
07:34because at this point, he also thought the movie's name was Toy Store.
07:38Close enough.
07:399. That Home Improvement Easter Egg.
07:43Sid's bedroom is full of tools that he uses to create his Frankenstein-esque toy combinations,
07:48and eagle-eyed viewers might notice that his toolbox is of the Binford brand.
07:52This might seem like a totally random, whatever, made-up name,
07:56but it's actually a reference to Tim Allen's hit sitcom Home Improvement,
07:59where Binford Tools was the sponsor for Tool Time,
08:02a TV show hosted by Allen's protagonist, Tim Taylor.
08:05To place a cherry on top of that subtle nod,
08:07the logo is even exactly the same as it is on the show.
08:11Nice.
08:128. The Three-Eyed Aliens Are Pizza Planet Branded.
08:15Who could ever forget the movie's iconic three-eyed aliens?
08:19The high-pitched, adorable creatures are first encountered inside Pizza Planet's giant prize machine,
08:25though you might have missed an extremely obvious detail about their design.
08:28Though at the cursory glance, their costume is nothing more than a generic space-faring suit.
08:33The emblem on the left side is actually the Pizza Planet logo itself,
08:36with a ring circling what looks like a planetary body, but is actually a pizza, toppings and all.
08:41It's kind of meaningless in the scale of things.
08:43I mean, all it does is tell us that actually there was thought behind these toys.
08:47These are branded toys, not the generic type that just get thrown into the machine.
08:51It makes them extra special.
08:537. Sid is probably a military brat.
08:56We know that Sid is a deeply troubled boy,
08:59but there are several suggestions that he might also be a military brat,
09:02and has received some undue influence from his mother or father's time in the service.
09:07For starters, when Woody hides in the milk crate in Sid's room,
09:09inside it is a manual called TM-31210, Improvised Interrogation Techniques,
09:15which we can safely assume Sid has studied extensively,
09:18given that we see him both interrogating and torturing toys throughout the film.
09:23When I think about it now, maybe this movie was darker than I gave it credit for.
09:27The other big indication that Sid is being raised in a military household
09:30is the fact that his dog is named Scud,
09:32most likely a reference to the Scud missiles,
09:34which were famously used by Iraq during the Gulf War.
09:37Given that Toy Story was released just a few years after the Gulf War ended,
09:41it's not completely crazy to assume that the characters of his parents may have served.
09:456. The origins of To Infinity and Beyond.
09:49No single line of dialogue is more iconic in the Toy Story franchise
09:53than Buzz Lightyear's infamous quip To Infinity and Beyond.
09:57The quote actually originates from Pixar's favourite filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick,
10:01namely his sci-fi masterpiece 2001 as Space Odyssey.
10:04The film's delirious final sequence is introduced with the title
10:08Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite,
10:10which evidently served as the influence for what's become one of the most popular movie quotes of the last 25 years.
10:16Sidebar, do you think Kubrick ever actually got to see Toy Story before he died,
10:19and if so, what do you think he made of it?
10:215. How Woody Knows Morse Code.
10:24In Sid's room, Woody and Buzz meet the various toys that Sid has tortured and mutilated,
10:29including Babyface, who's comprised of a doll's head, presumably belonging to Sid's sister at one point,
10:34that's been attached to a spider-like metal body.
10:37At one point, Babyface taps a message to the other toys, who then emerge and gather around Woody.
10:42But how would Woody, a cowboy toy, have any idea what was going on?
10:46Well, actually, there's a perfect bit of foreshadowing earlier in the film,
10:49where if you are eagle-eyed enough, you may have been able to put two and two together.
10:52In Andy's room, if you're paying attention, you may see a poster in the background.
10:57The poster in question is a Buzz Lightyear-branded Morse Code alphabet.
11:01If you're spending all day every day inside that bedroom without anything to do,
11:05I guess it's fairly reasonable to assume you would teach yourself Morse Code.
11:084. Julie McBarthell has cooties.
11:11This is very difficult to spot on earlier home video releases,
11:14but it gets much easier to see on the Blu-ray and recently the 4K UHD edition.
11:19If you look closely, the bag which Sid uses to bring Woody, Buzz and the aliens home from Pizza Planet
11:24has a scrawling on the side which reads,
11:26Julie McBarthell has cooties.
11:28This is a reference to Julie M. McDonald,
11:30who worked on the film as a camera and editorial manager,
11:33and who asked the animators to include a reference to her somewhere in the film.
11:37Maybe she was thinking of like a cute homage in some way,
11:40I don't know, like having an animated her in the background,
11:43maybe a bit of art on a wall.
11:45Maybe this isn't exactly what she had in mind,
11:48but you know, we'll take what we can get.
11:503. One of Sid's creations is literally a hooker.
11:54Once again, this is a kids movie,
11:56so there's only so much you can do in the way of dirty or off-coloured jokes,
12:00so this, this is really sneaky.
12:03Sid's collection of mutant toys sure are fascinating,
12:06but one of the designs also serves as by far the movie's dirtiest and maybe cleverest joke.
12:12One of the mutants is referred to as legs by Woody,
12:15comprised of a pair of doll legs attached to a fishing rod.
12:18However, sharp fans eventually realised that legs was in the most literal and figurative sense,
12:24a hooker.
12:25Between her suggestive, scantily clad lower body and her literal hook for an upper body,
12:30the components are all there,
12:31we just had to put the equation together.
12:33Say what you want about Sid,
12:34but clearly that kid had some kind of slightly smart, very twisted creativity.
12:392. Ham cheated at Battleship
12:41About midway through the film,
12:43we see Ham and Mr. Potato Head playing Battleship,
12:46but if you pay attention, you'll notice that something is amiss.
12:50We can see that Mr. Potato Head's side of the board is almost entirely filled with miss pins,
12:55and that's because Ham has been blatantly cheating by not declaring any of his ships as hit.
13:00Of course, it's ridiculous that Mr. Potato Head wouldn't realise this,
13:03which is probably why Ham is even playing against him in the first place.
13:07Ever the villain he was, that Dr. Porkchop.
13:101. Molly is listening to Hakuna Matata
13:12In the film's urgent, final chase sequence,
13:15we catch a brief glimpse of Andy's mum and sister in the car.
13:19His sister appears to be happily singing along to a song
13:22as she watches Woody and Buzz trying to catch up.
13:24What song is that, you may ask?
13:26Well, it's Hakuna Matata from The Lion King.
13:28This one's harder to spot than you might think
13:30because the sound is rather low down in the mix,
13:33and it's only featured for just a few short seconds.
13:36It may be just as well because anything more would distract the audience
13:39from Woody and Buzz's frantic race to reach the car,
13:42but by any measure, it's still a subtle and very nice little added detail.
13:46And with that, we've reached the end of this list of 20 things you somehow missed in Toy Story.
13:51If you've got any more other little easter eggs and details that you would have put on this list,
13:55then let us know in the comments down below,
13:57and remember to check out whatculture.com for more lists and articles like this every single day.
14:02As always, I've been Amy from WhatCulture, and I'll catch you next time.
Comments