TOY STORY

TOY STORY. John Lasseter, dir. USA: Disney/Pixar (prod.) / Buena Vista (dist.) © held by Walt Disney Company.

Fantasy animation. Wild West Sheriff Woody (with a string-activated voice) initially opposes and then befriends Buzz Lightyear, a futuristic space-ranger sort who must come to the recognition that he is a toy—even if a battery-operated, high-tech toy—and that a toy is a good thing to be. TS also teaches that even a toy that is a bio-mechanoid combination of human head and arachnoid tinkertoy body can be a friend. Technical aspects of computer-graphics imaging (CGI) discussed in detail in Cinefantastique 27.2 (Nov. 1995), where TS is the featured story. Note combination of medium and message: Disney/Pixar = 2-D animation/CGI = Woody/Buzz = mechanical/electronic-cybernetic. The excellent 1999 sequel, TOY STORY 2, has Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody ally and Buzz having to deal with a double who hasn't become enlightened about his nature as a toy—but it's not particularly relevant for the Clockworks theme.