Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, and Joe Ranft photograph by Michael Ansell Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.029
“If the story isn’t there, all the breakthrough computer graphics in the world piled onto it won’t matter. You’ll have made a piece of passing fashion.“ Joe Ranft, story supervisor
Theme for Toy Story Joe Ranft reproduction of ink on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.030
John (holding Casper), Jim, and Johanna Lasseter photograph by Jewell Lasseter Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.033
“We were lucky enough that if there’s one thing animators know, it’s their childhood toys. We’re all just grown-up kids.” Andrew Stanton, story co-creator
Casper the Friendly Ghost Mattel Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.001
Early Woody Bud Luckey cast urethane resin Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.003
“Woody may only be a toy, but he had to be our main emotional guide.That’s a pretty big requirement. He had to have facial expressions as seemingly human as a live-action actor. And he had to be able to demonstrate every emotion under the sun.” William Reeves, supervising technical director
Woody Bud Luckey reproduction of marker on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.055
Andy Dan Haskett reproduction of pencil on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.089
“The bond Woody feels with Andy had to be the first thing we got across in the movie. It had to be immediately tangible, or you wouldn’t care when something comes along to upset it.” Andrew Stanton, story co-creator
Andy drawing by Dan Haskett; notes by John Lasseter reproduction of pencil and ink on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.1701.259
Early Buzz Bud Luckey cast urethane resin Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.014
Early Buzz Pete Docter cast urethane resin Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.010
Buzz Bud Luckey, John Lasseter, and Shelley Daniels Lekven cast urethane resin Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.011
“John told us to think of Buzz as a cop who got a flat tire in Podunk on his way to save the galaxy.” Andrew Stanton, story co-creator
Early Buzz Bud Luckey reproduction of pencil on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.060
Andy's Room Painting by Tia W. Kratter; color and layout by Ralph Eggleston reproduction of acrylic on board Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.079
“This bedroom is a little urban microcosm. It’s a melting pot that isn’t so melted. It’s got toys of different plastics and colors and sizes and recommended age groups all doing their jobs together and living on top of one another. So they can get a little testy.” John Lasseter, director
Andy's Toys Bud Luckey reproduction of pencil on paper (detail) Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.091
Army Men shoes Pete Docter wood, nails, nylon, rubber, and tape Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.021
“Little green army men can’t suddenly move in a way that a kid playing with them wouldn’t picture them moving. They can’t just act like human soldiers. When they’re alive, they still have to move like toy soldiers.” John Lasseter, director
Combat Carl Norm DeCarlo cast urethane resin Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.022
Early Pizza Planet Bill Cone reproduction of acrylic on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.115
“We suddenly realized, we’ve got a delusional astronaut, so why not make the restaurant a place he mistakes for a spaceport? It seems too obvious now, such a natural link with the with the rest of the story, it’s hard to believe Pizza Planet was an eleventh-hour change. Andrew Stanton, story co-creator
Pizza Planet pastel by Ralph Eggleston; concept by Bill Cone reproduction of pastel on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.118
Aliens Creative Lead: J. Warren Trezevant Technical Lead: Loren Carpenter Maquette Lead: Mike Krummhoefener, Guido Quaroni, and Carol Wang. Additional modeling by Gary Schultz and Mark Adams plaster, epoxy resin, acrylic varnish, brass, wood Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios L2015.2101.023
“Somebody said ‘the claw’ and the room just exploded with people jabbering ideas at once. We had our scene in that instant.” Andrew Stanton, story co-creator
Crane Game Bob Pauley reproduction of pencil on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.1701.260
“Sid started out essentially as a surrogate for us to regress to being ten-year-olds. No big story for him, no agenda. We took what we knew about setting off cherry bombs and bugging our little sisters and all the stuff we did to our toys as kids, and rolled it into one character.” John Lasseter, director
Sid Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher reproduction of acrylic on board Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.139
Sid’s House painting by Tia W. Kratter; layout by Ralph Eggleston reproduction of acrylic on board Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.132
“With the mutant toys, we cobbled them together from other pieces that they’d modeled almost the way Sid would have made them, and then we made shaders to make them look all dirty and beat up and scratched. And the animators were inspired because they were free to come up with very different forms of motion for these characters.” Ralph Eggleston, art director
Mutant Toy Bill Cone reproduction of pencil on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.150
Andy, Buzz and Woody Bud Luckey reproduction of pencil on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.088
“At the end of the day it’s not the technique that the audience cares about; it’s a great story, a visual feast, and great characters. They want to be taken on an emotional journey they’ve never been on before.” Peter Schneider, president, Walt Disney Feature Animation
Toy Story LA Premiere photograph Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios R2015.2101.256
“If the story isn’t there, all the breakthrough computer graphics in the world piled onto it won’t matter. You’ll have made a piece of passing fashion.“
“We were lucky enough that if there’s one thing animators know, it’s their childhood toys. We’re all just grown-up kids.”
“Woody may only be a toy, but he had to be our main emotional guide.That’s a pretty big requirement. He had to have facial expressions as seemingly human as a live-action actor. And he had to be able to demonstrate every emotion under the sun.” 
“The bond Woody feels with Andy had to be the first thing we got across in the movie. It had to be immediately tangible, or you wouldn’t care when something comes along to upset it.”
“John told us to think of Buzz as a cop who got a flat tire in Podunk on his way to save the galaxy.” 
“This bedroom is a little urban microcosm. It’s a melting pot that isn’t so melted. It’s got toys of different plastics and colors and sizes and recommended age groups all doing their jobs together and living on top of one another. So they can get a little testy.” 
“Little green army men can’t suddenly move in a way that a kid playing with them wouldn’t picture them moving. They can’t just act like human soldiers. When they’re alive, they still have to move like toy soldiers.”
“We suddenly realized, we’ve got a delusional astronaut, so why not make the restaurant a place he mistakes for a spaceport? It seems too obvious now, such a natural link with the with the rest of the story, it’s hard to believe Pizza Planet was an eleventh-hour change.
“Somebody said ‘the claw’ and the room just exploded with people jabbering ideas at once. We had our scene in that instant.”
“Sid started out essentially as a surrogate for us to regress to being ten-year-olds. No big story for him, no agenda. We took what we knew about setting off cherry bombs and bugging our little sisters and all the stuff we did to our toys as kids, and rolled it into one character.”
“With the mutant toys, we cobbled them together from other pieces that they’d modeled almost the way Sid would have made them, and then we made shaders to make them look all dirty and beat up and scratched. And the animators were inspired because they were free to come up with very different forms of motion for these characters.”
“At the end of the day it’s not the technique that the audience cares about; it’s a great story, a visual feast, and great characters. They want to be taken on an emotional journey they’ve never been on before.”
