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Toy Story is a 1995 American CGI animated comedy feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. It was directed by John Lasseter, had a screenplay written by Joss Whedon et al., and featured music by Randy Newman. It starred Tom Hanks, who was the voice of Woody, an old-fashioned stuffed cowboy doll, the favorite of human-owner Andy and the leader of the other toys; and Tim Allen as the voice of Buzz Lightyear, a "Space Ranger from Star Command" action figure and prized new arrival in Andy's room.

The top-grossing film on its opening weekend, Toy Story went on to gross over $191 million in the United States during its initial theatrical release and took in more than $356M worldwide. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, praising both the technical innovation of the animation and the wit and sophistication of the screenplay. Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman said, " The first animated feature produced entirely on computer is a magically witty and humane entertainment, a hellzapoppin fairy tale about a roomful of suburban toys who come to life when humans aren't around."

In addition to DVD releases, Toy Story-inspired merchandise has run the gamut from video games and Halloween costumes to model trains and shoes. Buzz Lightyear's classic line "To infinity and beyond!" has seen usage not only on tshirts, but among philosophers and mathematical theorists as well. The film was so successful it prompted a sequel, Toy Story 2. Toy Story is set for re-release in 3D on October 2, 2009, and Toy Story 3 is already slated to open on June 18, 2010.

Toy Story began its life as an extension of Pixar's short Tin Toy, which featured Tinny, a mechanical drummer who tries to find his way in a baby's play room. The original plot called for Tinny to butt heads with a ventriloquist's dummy. Ultimately, Tinny was found to be too immobile for the storyline and he was developed as a "space toy", first named Lunar Larry, then Tempis from Morph, but eventually becoming Buzz Lightyear. Meanwhile, the original ventriloquist's dummy was designed to be sneaky, mean and borderline evil. When tests proved that the character was too unsympathetic, his character was gradually modified until he became the Woody of the film.

During the time of production Robin Williams was in a heated battle against Disney (for more details see Aladdin's article) and agents everywhere were advising their clients not to do the film.

Other changes that the film underwent during development include the following:

• Billy Crystal was originally offered the role of Buzz, but turned it down. However, he later accepted the offer of voicing Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc., another Pixar film.
• Bill Murray was considered for the role of Buzz but lost the producer's number. Murray states he would have accepted the role and he deeply regrets losing the number, believing that had he done the movie it would have been him inducted into the Disney Hall Of Fame and not Tim Allen.
• Chevy Chase turned down the role of Buzz, because his agent told him, he himself wanted to do the movie because he was very interested in it. When the movie became a runaway success he seriously considered firing his agent, but didn't because his agent was only looking out for his best interest.
• The part of Woody's girlfriend was originally intended to be filled by a Barbie doll, but Mattel refused to consent to her use. However, when Playskool's Mr. Potato Head sales went through the roof after the first film, Barbie dolls made an appearance in the sequel Toy Story 2.
• Jim Carrey and Paul Newman were originally supposed to voice Woody and Buzz Lightyear respectively, but the budget wasn't big enough to employ them and the offer was accepted by Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. Newman would eventually play Doc Hudson in Cars.
• Disney required several re-workings of the film, even going so far as to threaten to shut the production down.
• A scene of Woody having a nightmare over losing his position as "favorite toy" was cut for time, but later incorporated into Toy Story 2 and briefly referenced in the video game adaptation.
• Two songs didn't make it into the film. The song "Strange Things" was the replacement for "The Fool", and "I Will Go Sailing No More" was the replacement for "Plastic Spaceman".

• This movie was referenced five times on Tim Allen's sitcom Home Improvement. The first time, two trick-or-treaters come to the door of Tim's house, one dressed as Simba from The Lion King, and the other dressed as Buzz Lightyear. Randy answers the door, and gives the Simba more candy than the Buzz. Note :Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who plays Randy, voiced young Simba in The Lion King. The second time, Tim's niece Gracie plays with a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Another reference occurs in one of the outtakes during the credits, where Tim repeats Buzz's built-in phrases. Another reference is in one episode when Tim says to his brother Marty I'll love you for infinity and beyond. The last reference is in an argument between Tim and his brother Marty when Tim says, "I'm not talking to you for 'infinity and beyond'".
• Conversely, Toy Story makes at least one reference to Tim Allen's sitcom. Sid's tool box, which Buzz and Woody struggle to remove from the milk crate which imprisoned Woody, was adorned with the Binford Tools logo on its side, alluding to the fictional tool manufacturer that sponsored the Tool Time program on Home Improvement.
• There are several Toy Story references in the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars.

o Lightning McQueen seeks the sponsorship of Dinoco, which is the name of the gas station at which Woody and Buzz get lost. o Lightning uses "Lightyear Buzzard" tires, a reference to Buzz Lightyear and a parody of Goodyear Eagle tires. o Lightning's racing number is "95", a reference to the year Toy Story came out, which was 1995. o During the end credits, a scene from Toy Story is reenacted by toy car versions of Buzz, Woody and Hamm.

• The Pizza Planet truck, an old yellow Toyota pickup makes an appearance in every other Pixar film.
• Debian (a Linux distribution) releases are named after characters from this movie. (Sid, Buzz, Rex, Bo, Hamm, Slink, Potato, Woody, Sarge, Etch, Lenny).
• This movie has coined the (oxymoronical) phrase, "To Infinity and Beyond!" (though the term "Beyond the Infinite" was prominently used in 2001: A Space Odyssey of 1968). The phrase has been used in particular by set theoreticians, especially those who study large cardinals.
• The Star Command salute displayed by Buzz closely resembles the Vulcan salute introduced by Leonard Nimoy during his portrayal of Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek TV series.
• In the ReBoot episode "Firewall", the characters enter into a game that is a parody of Wacky Races, but the level resembles Andy's room.
• In Tim Allen's 2006 The Shaggy Dog film, when he's in dog form and he jumps onto the back of the truck in the movie, he speaks the line "To Infinity and Beyond!" while in mid-air.
• In The Santa Clause 2, when Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) attacks the Santa clone he says "You are a sad, strange little man", which is what Buzz says at the gas station to Woody.
• A 2008 advertisement for the Pixar film WALL-E that aired in the United States during the televised broadcast of Super Bowl XLII on FOX features Buzz and Woody talking about the film as they see an ad for it on TV.
• A Buzz Lightyear toy is on the floor in the waiting area of the doctor's office in Pixar's Finding Nemo.
• MADtv created a parody of the movie called "Sex Toy Story".

• "Operation" (board game by Milton Bradley)
• "Mouse Trap" (board game from Milton Bradley)
• "Battleship" (board game from Milton Bradley)
• "Candyland" (board game from Milton Bradley)
• "Twister" (game from Hasbro)
• Mr. Potato Head (figure from Playskool)
• Etch-a-Sketch (from Ohio Art)
• Army men (generic toy)

• Toy Story was released on VHS and LaserDisc on October 15, 1996. It contained no bonus material.
• In January, 2000, it was released in a "Special Edition" VHS with the bonus short, Tin Toy.
• Its first DVD release was in October of 2000, in a two-pack with Toy Story 2. This release was later available individually.
• Also in October, 2000, a 3-disc "Ultimate Toy Box" set was released, featuring Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and a third disc of bonus materials.
• In September, 2005, a 2-disc "10th Anniversary Edition" was released featuring much of the bonus material from the "Ultimate Toy Box", plus new features.
• At that same time, a bare-bones UMD of Toy Story was released for the Sony PlayStation Portable.

There were several video games based on Toy Story, including:

• Toy Story for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and PC.
• Toy Story Racer for the Sony PlayStation (also contains elements from Toy Story 2)

There were also some "activity" titles released by Disney for the PC and Mac:

• Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story
• Disney's Activity Center: Toy Story

All these titles are significant, because Pixar created original animations for all of them, including fully animated sequences for the PC titles.

The film has gained a huge amount of critical acclaim with 100% fresh rating at rottentomatoes.com. All 43 reviews on the site were positive. It had an average score of 8.8/10. The film's successor Toy Story 2 also has a 100% fresh rating.

In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the greatest animated film of all time. In 2005 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, one of three films to be selected in its first year of eligibility. In 2007, the film was ranked #99 on the American Film Institute's 10th Anniversary Edition special on the 100 greatest American films of all time. It was one of only two animated films on the list, the other being Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"--its list of the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres--after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Toy Story was listed as the 6th best film in the animation genre.

Academy Awards

Won:

• John Lasseter received an Academy Special Achievement Award in 1996 "for the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film."

Nominated:

• Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score, Randy Newman
• Best Music, Original Song, Randy Newman for "You've Got a Friend in Me".
• Best Writing, Screenplay Written for the Screen: Joel Cohen, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton & Joss Whedon

Annie Awards

Won:

• Best Animated Feature
• Best Individual Achievement: Animation, Pete Docter
• Best Individual Achievement: Directing, John Lasseter
• Best Individual Achievement: Music, Randy Newman
• Best Individual Achievement: Producing, Bonnie Arnold & Ralph Guggenheim
• Best Individual Achievement: Production Design, Ralph Eggleston
• Best Individual Achievement: Technical Achievement
• Best Individual Achievement: Writing, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton and Joss Whedon.

Golden Globes

Nominated:

• Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
• Best Original Song - Motion Picture, Randy Newman for "You've Got a Friend in Me".

Saturn Awards

Nominated:

• Best Family Film
• Best Writing: Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton & Joss Whedon

• Toy Story 2 (released in 1999)
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2-D animated spin-off movie to Toy Story)
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2-D animated spin-off TV show)
• Toy Story 3 is scheduled for release in 2010.