The Evolution of Toy Story: Pixar's Pivot to the Sentimental (Toy Story 1-4 Retrospective)

 Where do I begin?

An empire.

Recently, I re-watched all four of the Toy Story... quad-rilogy? Four-logy? (what's more than a trilogy?) The Toy Story tetralogy. And what struck me, beyond the quality of the films, was the evolution of the type of storytelling happening in them.

Also the animation quality. Left sheep looks ROUGH.

Toy Story is not just the story of... Toys, but also the story of Pixar. The company that, in some ways, saved Disney from a period of cultural decline. And undeniably, brought computer animation to storytelling heights it had never seen before.

To track the evolution of Toy Story is to track a company coming into its own. A company discovering what stories it wanted to tell, and how they wanted to tell them. The evolution of Toy Story tracks a ragtag group of artists from their days of dreaming of a new form of storytelling, to seeing that form dominate the world, and for them being the kings of it.

Whew, that was heavy. Here's a picture of Hamm.

Let's begin.

Toy Story (1995): Your Standard (Revolutionary) Buddy-Comedy

Going back to Toy Story, the first thing I noticed is how funny it is. 

Okay, the first thing I noticed is how horrifying the human characters looked. 

therapist: toy story 1 Andy cant hurt you
toy story 1 andy:

But really, this movie is funny! Pixar knows how ridiculous a premise of talking toys was, and they ran with it, making as many jokes as possible. We'd see this technique of poking fun at the world they created used in everything from Monsters, Inc. to Onward. In Toy Story, it's couched in early action scenes of Andy's birthday party, making the film really fast paced and fun. 

And then: Buzz

Once Buzz gets introduced, the film settles into its groove of the standard buddy comedy. Two frenemies who don't want to work together but have to is a tried and true dynamic that Toy Story neither invented nor revolutionized, but it's working flawlessly here. The jealously from Woody makes perfect sense, Buzz's clueless superiority is hilarious, and their slow friendship is both rewarding and natural. 

If I had a nickel for every time I was in this exact situation...

As I was watching the film, it hit me that this film was just really funny. Like, it was JUST funny. Pixar's brand is practically making you cry, and yet their first film is near straight comedy. 

Now there are definitely emotional moments: Woody seeing Buzz gain in popularity, the catharsis of them making it onto the moving truck, and the biggest: Buzz's literal fall from grace to realizing he's just a toy. But those are quick, and to me seem there as an obligation to the story more so than for a desire to cram as many emotional sob-fests as possible. 

Watching all my 2020 plans slip away due to COVID

Buzz HAD to realize he was a toy for his arch to make any sense, and so that scene had to be there. Then quickly, it's back to comedy with the Mrs. Nesbitt scene. And while I'm sure some people would rank his fall as their top Pixar tearjerker, personally it's pretty far down on my list. 

I'm not criticizing the scene, just saying, by percentage, Toy Story is one of Pixar's most comedy driven films they've ever made. And that discrepancy starts the tale of how Pixar evolved as a storytelling company. 

Toy Story 2: Jessie's Song

The success of Toy Story, and Pixar's follow-up A Bug's Life showed Pixar to be a powerhouse in CGI family movies. Both movies were hits, though neither was known for being tearjerkers. (I Googled "bugs life sad scene" and just got a picture of the ant looking kinda sad)

The sequel to Toy Story, released 4 years after the original, begins in much the same comedy-centric way as the first film. While the animation is already improved dramatically, the focus on comedy to me felt pretty similar to the first. It might have been even more funny and refined this time though, which is impressive given how great the first film was.

Can I take angry eyes through TSA?

Everything pointed to another amazing comedy from Pixar. Up until Jessie looks out the window with Woody, the scene fades away... and Sarah McLachlan starts to sing.

I'm OUT

"When She Loved Me", Jessie's backstory song, is, in my view, revolutionary to Pixar. Beyond the fact that this sequence singlehandedly made the movie top 3 on many lists of saddest Pixar movies. What's most interesting to me is how this sequence almost feels... out of place.

You said what about my song, punk?

This is not to criticize the scene at all, I think it's an absolute highlight. But for 3 minutes, Toy Story 2 becomes a pseudo-musical ala Tarzan. While Buzz's "I Will Go Sailing No More" was a quick 90 seconds, this is double that length. And to force kids to sit still for 3 minutes is a LONG time; Newman (the composer) thought it was a bad idea as the studio had a fear of "slowing down films too much and losing the audience's interest in the process". This is also the only flashback in the film. All this, for a supporting character.

(to be fair, one of the best supporting characters!)

So why did Pixar decide to risk so much for this scene? Initially, Jessie was supposed to tell her backstory through dialogue, but the filmmakers didn't feel it was strong enough. I think Jessie's song was the moment Pixar let themselves value emotional moments just as much as comedy. It was a huge risk to essentially pause the film for 3 minutes... and the payoff was enormous. 

Yes, this happened.

Many people have already pinpointed Jessie's song as the turning point of the Toy Story franchise. And I think in some ways, it was also the turning point for Pixar as a company. If Toy Story was "comedy > sentiment", Toy Story 2 was "comedy = sentiment".

Toy Story 3: Pixar's Sentimental Heights

Oh boy. Here it is. Disclaimer: This is my favorite one. While I'll try not to factor that into my analysis too much... Isn't this movie just DAMN GOOD?

Citizen Kane who?

So Toy Story 3 was released over 10 years after the sequel, and by this point, Pixar had taken the spark of Jessie's Song and established themselves as the kings of critically acclaimed emotional animated movies. Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., WALL-E, and most recently to this, Up, all were gut punches in their own right, and the 1-2 punch of WALL-E and Up had Pixar in an untouchable status.

And Toy Story 3 somehow lived up to all that and more. 

Except to this guy. We don't talk about this guy.

If Jessie's Song was the spark, Toy Story 3 was a whole bonfire. There's not just one big heart-rending moment; there's like 7.

Here's gifs of a bunch of them:
An act 1 moment with the heartbreaking phone call.

"She don't love you no more!"
Is this a Jessie re-do? Yes. Did I cry? Maybe.

I was gonna put like 4 gifs of this scene but I'll save your heart.

I- Oh god that's enough.

The point to that spam, besides an excuse for me to relive all those moments again, is to show how much Pixar was willing to value emotion and sentiment in this film. It's no surprise Toy Story 3 often ranks on the top of lists of saddest Pixar films. A reminder: I'm not saying saddest means best. Just that at this point, if Toy Story was "comedy > sentiment", and Toy Story 2 was "comedy = sentiment", then Toy Story 3 is "sentiment > comedy".

Catch my drift?

And I think there's a reason for Pixar to value sentiment so much at this point. They had found both critical and commercial acclaim doing so. And Toy Story 3 is a film that nearly demands it. It was wrapping up a trilogy that kickstarted their company. It was the end to Andy's story. And for many viewers who grew up watching these films, myself included, we were just like Andy, about to go off to college and experience an entirely new chapter of our lives. There's so much emotion inherent to the concept of a third Toy Story, and Pixar just executed it perfectly.

Every other animation company congratulating Pixar

The only question was: Could Pixar keep this insane streak going?

Toy Story 4: Post-Golden Age Pixar

Of course not, their next film after Toy Story 3 was Cars 2!

The 2011 equivalent of finding out God is dead.

I have a whole theory on how Cars 2 irreversibly damaged Pixar from the inside out (2015), but I'll save that for another time. After Cars 2 though, Pixar's perfect reputation was harmed, and for years their films released to back-and-forth reception. One film would be great (Inside Out) the next a total disaster (The Good Dinosaur). 

If you 've watched this movie, you deserve a veterans discount.

However, I think Toy Story 4 marks the era that Pixar has stabilized. While I wouldn't say they've returned to their former golden-days, I also think it's impossible to do that. People change, or leave, or tell the stories they most passionately wanted to tell, and companies change because of that. 

And that's okay.

Toy Story 4 shows a new Pixar that is more adult in the themes it is trying to tell, more diverse, and even less focused on comedy.

While Pixar always has traded in adult (as in literally for adult humans, not as in sexual) themes, Toy Story 4 leans even more heavy into that. While the first 2 films had moments that parents would relate to more than kids, and 3 had whole arcs that seemed tailor made for college students, this most recent entry is all about Woody and deciding to leave behind his currently unfulfilling career to be with the woman he loves and experience true freedom.

Wait... this is still about toys, right?

I honestly don't know how kids would relate to that. But also, do they have to? The film grossed over a billion dollars. 

And with other films in this era like Cars 3 exploring themes of retirement, it seems clear Pixar is okay with letting their writers tell truly adult oriented stories. 

Omg, remember that Cars 3 teaser that made kids cry? Iconic.

Toy Story 4 is also symbolic of Pixar's move towards more diversity, and the growing pains in that transition. There was so much controversy over original writer Rashida Jones leaving the project citing Pixar's "track record" with women in creative roles. And of course, John Lasseter leaving Pixar just a year before the film was released. To me, 4 feels like a transitional film from John Lasseter era to the new, Jennifer Lee/Pete Doctor era. 

That's Up and Frozen for those not in the know.

Conclusion: Pixar's Pivot to the Sentimental

I love this series.

Toy Story, in my opinion, is one of the greatest film series ever made. And Pixar is one of the greatest film studios in existence. Rewatching the four films, I got to watch Pixar grow from masterful comedy to gut-wrenching emotion.

Toy Story 1 started the series as an almost straight comedy. Toy Story 2 continued that trend, except for the 3 minute "When She Loved Me" sequence. It was a huge risk that paid off in spades, and Pixar would continue to push towards valuing emotional moments like that in their future films. Toy Story 3 was the height of their sentimental ambitions, wrapping up the trilogy. And Toy Story 4 marks the end of a tumultuous era and the beginning of one of new leadership and a renewed emphasis on adult themes. 

While it looks like Toy Story as a series is over, who knows. Most of us thought the series was done after 3, so in 10 years? I could be writing a second version of this post with number 5.

Here's to you, cowboy.