In 15 years, Pixar has created not only some of the finest animated motion pictures, but also some of the best films of the last decade and a half. Before the 11th film, Toy Story 3, comes out on June 18, here’s my ranking of Pixar’s first 10 outings.
1. Toy Story (1995)
In 1995, the animated motion picture industry changed dramatically forever. It is only fitting it was a tale of old versus new. In Toy Story, a cowboy from the old west conflicts with the new, space-aged slinger from the stars. In reality, the new computer age of animation was coming into focus after nearly 60 years of hand drawn animated features. Would the old-fashioned be washed up forever or find a place side-by-side with the shiny new technology? In the movie, the answer is the latter. For moviegoers, it seems the former has proven to be the answer.
I think it would be easy for some to put Toy Story No. 1 because it was the first. It set the stage. It started a revolution. It made Pixar Pixar. But that’s not why I have it here at all. Toy Story rests here because it earned its way here, standing the test of time. It wasn’t until I saw the double feature of the first two films of the franchise in theatres last fall that I fully saw how wonderful and perfect this film really is—and it really is perfect. This was a movie that touches on so many levels.
The movie is immediately familiar. We all had toys growing up. Characters like Woody and Buzz reminds us of them. And some are actually characters in the film! The Mr. Potato Head that has entertained generations of kids turns out to be a wise-cracking hothead. We see familiar games, including Mousetrap and Monopoly. We know places like Pizza Planet. We remember the excitement of our early birthday parties. Above all, we remember using our imagination to bring our toys to life. Now, they finally have.
Abandoning the traditional nuclear family, Toy Story shows us a single mom doing her best and succeeding quite well. Not since Bambi has a single mom taken center stage in an animated film. But it is far more relevant here. We don’t know what happened to Andy’s father and it’s not important. But we know there is a hole in Andy’s heart, one he fills with his escape into the play world he’s creates with his toys. His loyalty to them is fostered because he needs them, a loyalty that is shown to be reciprocal, led by the spirit embodied in Woody.
When a brash newcomer comes into town, the hero Woody sees him as an intruder. But Buzz really enters the stage with a sense of innocence like a child. Next door, Sid tortures toys, striking fear in those in Andy’s room who can’t wait to move away and into a safer neighborhood. The escape from Sid’s house brings us to the final climatic moments of the film.
Still, the true antagonist of this film is Woody himself. We watch as he battles his own insecurities, desires and prejudices. Think of the extremes that Woody goes to keep his place as top cowboy in Andy’s room. He is so unsure of himself that he attempts to imprison Buzz behind Andy’s desk and instead knocks him out of a window! Then, when the truth is revealed, Woody sets out to rescue Buzz not out of guilt or remorse, but instead to regain his stature amongst his fellow toys. It is not until enduring the final conflicts, reaching the last moments of the film when Woody literally removes his hands from his eyes that he acknowledges all his wrongs at last. Buzz answers with total humility and grace.
Woody: Hey, Buzz, you’re flying!
Buzz: This isn’t flying. This is falling—with style.
Toy Story is a story we all face in life about finding our place. It is of the conflicts we face not just with the outside world, but mostly within ourselves. Woody had for a very long time what he wanted in his struggle for self. Then it all of that was dashed with the presence of a new and strange outsider. Through Woody’s trials and tribulations, he overcomes the demons within. And of all of Pixar’s characters, that makes the little stuffed cowboy toy the most human.
Previously ranked:
2. Up (2009)
3. Toy Story 2 (1999)
9. The Incredibles (2004)
