Discover which toy from an old Pixar animation was responsible for inspiring the creation of one of the studio’s biggest hits: Toy Story
In 1995, Pixar released its first feature film: “Toy Story”, a production that follows the adventures of little Andy’s toys, which come to life whenever humans are not around. Commanded by John Lasseterthe production became the first animation produced entirely on a computer.
Although, at that time, the Best Animated Feature category did not yet exist at the Oscars, the film about cowboy Woody and space ranger Buzz Lightyear was nominated for three awards during the 68th edition: Best Original Score, Best Song for “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and Best Original Screenplay, marking the first time an animation has been nominated in this category.
Furthermore, in the same edition, Lasseter received an Oscar for Special Achievement due to the innovation of “Toy Story”, stating in his speech that “Computers alone did not create Toy Story. A group of very talented people did.”
But, do you know how the idea for “Toy Story” came about?
Founded in the 80s, at the beginning of its history, Pixar only produced short films. His first short film was released in 1986, entitled “Luxo Jr.”, a production that lasts just over two minutes, directed by John Lasseterand which presents the first images of the iconic lamp — which is now part of the opening of the studio’s films — playing with a ball.
To create the short, the studio used an unprecedented technology known as Software Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), or Computer Animation Production System, in free translation, responsible for revolutionizing the creation of traditional animated films.
This technology ended up catching the attention of Disney, who used it in 1990 to color all the handmade artwork in the film “Bernardo and Bianca in the Land of Kangaroos”, from 1990, a sequel to the animation “Bernardo and Bianca”, released in 1977. .
In 1991, the two studios reached an agreement to develop a long-term animation using computer graphics, marking the first feature film in Pixar’s history: “Toy Story”.
As reported by the Academy of Cinema website, Oscar, the project’s script ended up being inspired by a short film released by Pixar three years earlier, “Tin Toy”, a production that follows a tin toy that, initially, was afraid to play with. Children, however, end up realizing that being left unused is not cool.
According to the portal, the short film, which was the first computer animation to receive an Oscar in the “Best Animated Short Film” category, in 1989, and was also directed by John Lasseterinspired the two studios to explore a film that presented a story entirely from a toy’s perspective. In fact, in “Toy Story 4”, released in 2019, it is also possible to see a small participation by Tinny, the protagonist of “Tin Toy”.
The idea, written by Joss Whedon, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton and Joel Cohenbased on the idea of Joe Ranft, Pete Docter, Lasseter and Stantonneeded to be rewritten a few times, but it couldn’t have worked better, grossing more than US$363 million at the international box office.
During an Academy panel held in 2015 to celebrate the legacy of “Toy Story,” Lasseter acknowledged that, after a turbulent production phase, the final product turned out surprisingly well.
“It was a movie. It was lit, it was dimensional, we had cameras moving between things. We had Steadicam-type shots, all that stuff, and it looked like a movie. However, they were cartoonish, and they moved like cartoons, and I could still play them. They were plastic. It was all this uniqueness — understanding the limitations of what the medium was at that time, and creating the characters and the narrative.”
Read also: After all, why do the toys in ‘Toy Story’ have life?
Source: Recreio
