The franchise spans 24 years and is responsible for redefining a genre – as Toy Story 4 is released on digital download, Alex Godfrey looks at the films’ impact on the big screen
Toy Story was seen as a gamble to many when it was released in 1995. Fortune magazine wrote: “Its release marks the first time
Hollywood has turned to Silicon Valley not just for gee-whizz technology or a few minutes of special effects, but for an entire movie – screenplay, direction, staging, filming, editing and post production.” But tech nerds didn’t make Toy Story – not exclusively, at least. Pixar was built by dreamers, a small group of creative mavericks hellbent on revitalising family storytelling. “The film has the makings of a hit,” Fortune went on to suggest. They had no idea.
Pre-Pixar, computer-generated imagery on film meant Tron’s light cycles, liquid Terminators, and enhancements for Beauty and the Beast’s ballroom sequence – bells and whistles, basically. Post-Pixar, it meant a behemoth
box office haul, a big bag of
Oscars, and a new yardstick in filmmaking that would inspire dreamers way beyond the animation business. The revolution was multi-pronged, and would definitely be televised –
Christmas isn’t Christmas without Toy Story. It’s a true classic, up there on the top 10 lists alongside The Wizard of Oz and ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. It is pure heart.