TOY STORY: 4K UHD Blu-Ray (Disney/Pixar, 1995) Walt Disney Home Entertainment

1995 proved a banner year for the Walt Disney Studios, largely due to the release of its joint venture with Pixar Animation – director, John Lasseter’s Toy Story. A delightfully whacky and unhinged American farce – all about what children’s toys do in their off-time from play with their human counterparts - the initial story concocted was to have featured a mechanical drummer named Tinny, who gets lost in a child’s playroom and eventually comes into conflict with a ventriloquist’s dummy. Thankfully, this concept went through considerable revisions with Tinny eventually morphing into Buzz Lightyear (voiced to perfection by Tim Allen) and the ventriloquist’s dummy, mutating into Cowboy Woody (Tom Hanks). Originally, Robin Williams was considered a viable vocalist for either role – having proven his worth in several Buena Vista live-action movies, and, more directly pedigreed as the voice of the kinetically super-charged Genie in the studio's animated Aladdin (1992). Unfortunately, this movie was cause for a bitter falling out between Williams and Disney, the latter having reneged on several contractually agreed upon provisos prior to Aladdin’s theatrical release. Even a generous bequest of a Picasso painting, reportedly worth $1 million, to shore up this PR damage did not turn Williams opinion around, the comedian, in his inimitable way, telling a reporter, “You suddenly realize… why the mouse has only four fingers…because he can’t pick up a check.”

Lasseter's first exposure to computer animation dated all the way back to Tron (1982), a life-altering experience that resulted in Lasseter’s high hopes to have Disney Inc. make The Brave Little Toaster as a fully computer-animated movie. Instead, the company balked and Lasseter was fired. Undaunted, he picked up his marbles and went to work for Lucasfilm, founding Pixar Studios in 1986, acquiring a valuable ally that same year in Apple Inc. co-founder, Steve Jobs. Two years later, the company’s first all-computer-animated short, Tin Toy won the Academy Award. It also garnered interest from Disney Inc.’s new CEO, Michael Eisner and chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg. However, when offered the opportunity to rejoin the company, Lasseter instead remained faithful to Jobs. Thus, Katzenberg was forced to strike a deal with Pixar, breaking a time-honored rule the studio had about making all their movies as home-grown product. From here, the negotiations to ink a deal between Disney and Pixar only became more contentious, with Katzenberg driving a hard bargain that soured virtually all of Pixar’s upper management on their collaboration. As Katzenberg eventually realized this was one war he simply could not win, despite the fact the fledgling Pixar was already on the verge of bankruptcy, the deal eventually agreed upon proved more lucrative for Disney, who had the clout and resources to make it stick: total ownership of the finished movie, absolute creative control, for which it paid Pixar a mere 12.5% of ticket revenues and had a tentative agreement to produce 2 more movies with the company – plus the right to do sequels to Toy Story with or without Pixar’s involvement.

With the parameters of their alliance clearly delineated, Toy Story began to take shape, although the initial draft by Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter bore no earthly resemblance to the finished film. Lost in the shuffle, the main character, Tinny, the one-man band from Tin Toy; also, the ventriloquist's dummy. Woody morphed from villain into hero, with Katzenberg instructing Lasseter to rework the material as more of a strained buddy/buddy picture. He might have been referring to the trajectory of the Pixar/Disney alliance. Very reluctantly, Lasseter, Stanton, and Docter arrived at a second draft, still with Tinny and the dummy as their leads. Tinny became Lunar Larry, then Tempus from Morph, and finally, Buzz Lightyear - a nod to astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Character designer, Bud Luckey also suggested the dummy be changed to a cowboy, the contrast between Buzz – a toy from the space age, and Woody – a traditional toy, harking back to the old west, appealed to Lasseter, the newly rechristened character, named after western actor, Woody Strode. Confiding that their own lack in screenplay writing had delayed early development on the project, Lasseter, Stanton and Docter acquiesced to the skills of screenwriter, Robert McKee, whose principles, grounded in Aristotle's Poetics, resulted in developing more realistic and compelling characters; McKee’s ideas, later interpreted by Disney screenwriters, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow and Joss Whedon. It was, in fact, Whedon who reworked the character of Buzz Lightyear from a somewhat simple-minded fop into the macho derivative of the action figure whose own epiphany – discovering he is a toy – would serve as the heart-breaking revelation to cement Buzz’s enduring friendship with Woody.  

Satisfied with the screenplay, Katzenberg green-lit the project and Lasseter set about casting the voices. From the outset, Lasseter had hoped to secure Tom Hanks for Woody, although Paul Newman was briefly considered, just in case Hanks refused. Billy Crystal turned down Lasseter to play Buzz, and contractual commitments prevented Bill Murray, Chevy Chase or even Jim Carrey from partaking. Thus, the honors went to Tim Allen, a Disney alumnus from his work on their runaway TV hit series, Home Improvement (1991-99). To bottle the antagonistic buddy/buddy chemistry between Buzz and Woody, Lasseter had Hanks and Allen record their lines together. At this juncture, however, Toy Story almost wound up being canceled. In an incident since referred to as ‘Black Friday’ – Lasseter screened what he had for Katzenberg, who had had his fingers in the pie up to this point, constantly fighting Lasseter on changes, rewriting scenarios, and, ordering more adult dialogue and situations to be inserted into the picture. The results, deemed disastrous, embarrassed both Katzenberg and Lasseter in front of the company’s top brass; Disney VP in charge of feature animation, Thomas Schumacher, to Katzenberg’s query as to what went wrong, bluntly explaining, “Because it's not their movie anymore; it's completely not the movie that John set out to make” – thereby laying blame squarely at Katzenberg’s feet. Immediately, production was suspended, the crew focusing their efforts on making commercials while a new screenplay was cobbled together. Nevertheless, the rumor around the backlot was that the plug would officially be pulled in short order. Mercifully, Katzenberg reinstated the project under Walt Disney Feature Animation. While Toy Story teetered on the brink, Jobs personally funded its employees, remaining apart from the creative process, but massaging the alliance with Disney Inc.

From this troubled epoch, both Pixar and Disney put their backs into a total re-envisioning, every shot passing through eighteen different teams working in art, layout, and effects departments. Disney was marginally concerned with Lasseter’s stance on not making Toy Story a musical – a hallmark of the studio’s greatest animated features. Nevertheless, Lasseter stuck to his position, using only non-diegetic songs over the action, with the main title, ‘You’ve Got A Friend in Me’ penned by Randy Newman; Oscar-nominated, but losing out to Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz’s ‘Colors of the Wind’ from Pocahontas. Despite the work finally progressing at a steady pace, Jobs began to have his doubts, and briefly contemplated selling Pixar to either Hallmark or Microsoft. However, as the rushes came in, Jobs began to change his stance, believing Toy Story would prove the catalyst to take the company public. Two premieres were held for the picture, one at L.A.’s El Capitan, the other, at the Regency in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Disney launched an aggressive $20 million marketing campaign to promote the movie with tie-ins to Burger King, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and, Payless ShoeSource, cumulatively covering $125 million with their promotions.

Toy Story opens during human, Andy’s (John Morris) birthday party. The older toys in his closet and play box wait in sweaty anticipation to see if their popularity will be eclipsed by some new attention monger. Only Andy’s favorite, Woody seems unshaken. That is, until the arrival of Buzz Lightyear. Seemingly overnight, Woody goes from being Andy’s mainstay to his cast off – his domain transformed into a space-age homage to Buzz and his television show. As jealousy worms its way into Woody's heart, he and Buzz come to blows. The wrinkle is that Buzz actually believes in himself. He does not realize he is a toy – a fact Woody makes every attempt to clarify. When Buzz and Woody accidentally fall out of Andy’s car on route to a local restaurant, they must combine their skills to return safely home. Unfortunately, the two inadvertently become the property of Andy's next-door neighbor, Sid (Erik von Detten), an absolute horror of a child who derives pleasure out of dismembering and destroying his toys. In retrospect, Toy Story was an ideal candidate for the first all-inclusive CGI feature-length animated motion picture. The textures of plastic are perfectly suited to be reproduced within this virtual realm. True enough, this gimmick would be nothing at all without the story, exceptionally scripted by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow. Furthermore, Lasseter's persistence in making a 'buddy/buddy movie' rather than a traditional Disney musical gives Toy Story its sense of surreal realism. We believe in these toys, buy into the concept that perhaps our inanimate playthings from days of yore may have taken on lives of their own when we are not around. The movie’s central themes of finding truth and courage in one’s own self-reliance is a life-affirming message both the young and old can take to heart. In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society erroneously voted Toy Story the ‘greatest animated film of all time’ – a perplexing insult to the many meticulously crafted, hand-drawn masterpieces gone before it. Nevertheless, as pure entertainment, Toy Story is completely satisfying - an enchanting coming-of-age drama for the toddler/tween set that many adults continue to find reaffirming as well.

Toy Story’s arrival in 4K UHD is not entirely cause for celebration. Consider the source - the original animation rendered in 1536x922 resolution, later remastered as a 2K digital intermediate for the 2010 Blu-ray. UHD marginally improves sharpness and fine details. But you really have to search with a critical eye to notice differences between this and the original Blu-ray release. Worse, mild banding and aliasing persist. Where the 4K disc excels is in improved contrast. Whites crisp up more than ever, and, spectral highlights really pop. Blacks emerge with a velvety sheen that is deep, enveloping and impressive. Best of all, colors advance, providing a gorgeous and colorful image that will surely not disappoint. The new Dolby Atmos sound mix offers few opportunities for repurposed sound effects, lending to the illusion of a wider sound palette. Ambient SFX are the real benefactor here, also, Randy Newman’s score. But again, the improvements are marginal. The 4K disc offers NO extra features. Mercifully, Disney Inc. has included the old Blu-ray release here. The image has not been updated from these 4K files and is identical to the original Blu-ray release, with a barrage of extra features to augment one’s appreciation for the movie. Nearly 3-hrs. of goodies cover the production, release and legacy of Toy Story in great detail, with special attention paid to the creative process, marketing, casting and scoring the picture. Bottom line: Toy Story remains a gem in the Pixar cannon – one, given a subtler luster herein. If you already own the original Blu-ray release, you can easily delay acquiring this new 4K disc until such time as your budget permits the upgrade.  

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

4.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

5+