To infinity and beyond! Toy Story, the first fully computer-generated full-length film as well as the first movie from upstart studio Pixar, flew in on terillium carbonic alloy space wings on Nov. 22, 1995.
“A lot of people think these movies just come out fully formed,” Pete Docter, then a barely-out-of-college animation supervisor for the film, tells Us Weekly. “Not true at all. They’re clunky, they’re bad, and then you continue to refine them. Man, it’s never one person. It’s always this community of people, a group of really tight-knit, creatively in sync people. That’s what makes good movies.” Well, that and the voice talents of beloved Tom Hanks and Tim Allen!
Keep scrolling to take a look back at the legacy of Toy Story, with new exclusive behind-the-scenes details and more:
Who Was Involved?
A starry voice cast (unusual for the time!) featured Hanks (Sheriff Woody), Allen (Buzz Lightyear), Annie Potts (Bo Peep), Wallace Shawn (dinosaur Rex) and many more.
“I auditioned when I was 7,” John Morris, now 41, who voiced young boy Andy, recalls to Us. “They asked us to bring our favorite toy to the audition, and I brought my X-Men action figures and just started playing with them and voicing all the characters. When I was cast, they said, ‘You play the way that we envision Andy playing with his toys.’”
Why We Remember It
In addition to the film’s ground- breaking computer-generated animation, the sharp script by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow (from a story by director John Lasseter, Stanton, Docter and Joe Ranft) was unexpected and memorable; the buddy-comedy dialogue between Woody and Buzz still makes Us smile. (Midnight Run and 48 Hours were inspirations.)
“The first thing we recorded with [Tom] were the pull- string lines that were part of Woody’s toy,” producer Bonnie Arnold tells Us. “‘There’s a snake in my boot!’ I hardly remember it, because I was laughing hysterically on the floor of the booth. We knew he was really going to bring Woody to life.”
Key Details
Woody and Buzz’s iconic fits were a technological necessity. Says Docter: “The characters have tight clothing because stuff like [baggy shirts] was impossible to do at that time. They have very tight hair in buns so you can animate clumps instead of thousands of individual hairs.”
The Aftermath
The movie broke records, raking in more than $400 million and also becoming the first animated title to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars. Audiences were also blown away by the computer-generated animation.
“I saw [an early proof of concept] test, and that’s what really made me know this was going to be something special,” Arnold says of preliminary versions of Buzz and Woody. “I had never seen anything that looked quite like that. I thought, ‘This is going to change the way we do animation.’”
Three sequels were rolled out, in 1999, 2010 and 2019.
From ‘Forrest Gump’ to ‘Elvis’! Tom Hanks Through the Years
A New Perspective
Viewers of all ages connected with the emotionally resonant story in 1995, and that hasn’t changed. “
There are just so many incredible characters, and the voice acting for the entire cast is so strong — a lot of fans tell me they relate to the characters. They almost feel like friends at this point,” Morris says.
Where Are They Now?
Docter, who went on to direct Monsters, Inc., Up, Inside Out and Soul, ascended to the role of chief creative officer at Pixar, which will release Toy Story 5 on June 19, 2026.
“I’ve been constantly amazed how these characters continue to evolve,” Docter says. “Obviously, Woody and Buzz are back. We’re focusing a bit more on Jessie [Joan Cusack’s cowgirl] because she has such a rich past and a history.”
They’ve got a friend in Us!
