Stelios' Reviews: An oldie, Toy Story
Imagine a bunch of creative geniuses, tech freaks, cartoon veterans, and account executives, sitting in a dim lit room, in comfortable leather chairs."Our goal is to creative a memorable film, one that will have an emotional impact at both children and old people alike", says one. "We must prioritise in technical innovation", says another."To get this film work, we will have to be sure it will feature great, quirky characters". "Just make sure it will make money", said a last one.
Slowly, a heated discussion raged on. "This will be a story about toys, it will be unique and funny and moving, and it will be all about good storytelling!!!". "We will make this so brightly spectacular that the world will stand in awe,with never seen special effects". "Cgi wizz bang does not make nothing if not for great characters kids can be associated with". "Why dont we just put real toys in, thus we can make more money!!!".
And in one concluding moment of brilliance,one of them climbed the large round marble table and yelled: "TO INFINITY, AND BEYOND!!!!"
Well, it didnt happen exactly this way :P Nevertheless, Pixar' s Toy Story was one of many firsts. It was the first full length feature by the North California studio. It was the first fully computer generated animated film in the history of cinema. And it was the first fruit of one of the most prolific and recognised collaborations in the history of moviemaking.
Pixar has a track record of hits, probably unbeatable by any other major studio out there, but this is all where it started from. John Lasseter' s team of visionaries was of proven value, with plenty of award winning short animation films and tv spots, and after some early "test" collaborations with disney, they went throught to create their first true masterpiece.
What made Toy story so succesfull?
The fact that at its time, the movie represented the most impressive spectacle in the big screen is a straight, self explanatory reason for major success.Not since jurassic park viewers were dazzled so brightly by special effects.With the simple difference of course that Toy Story didnt have scenes enhanced with computer wizardry. Instead, every single scene, every celebratory moment was created with a computer, or better, with lots of computers. Pixar went back to the drawing board while making Toy Story, designing new animation and texturing technics(no, actually, pretty much designing a whole system to make the movie possible), using all its talent, testing the whole company's (and its investors) limits. The team was able to pull 3 animated minutes every week. Some 800.000 machine hours were requested to complete every single shot of the film. Yes, the effort was tremendous.
The leading crew of actors which lended their voices to the characters also proved to be a major benefit for the film. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen leaded their pack, lending their humour and wit to their characters,Hanks being cowboy toy Woody, and Allen providing his voice for the space ranger, Buzz, though it must be said that the whole crew (including Don Rickles as mr Potato Head and Jim Varney as slinky dog) did a fantastic and memorable job giving life to a bunch of old and modern toys.The result was a whole roster of unique, full of energy and personality toys.
The film also featured a wonderfull soundtrack by Randy Newman ,and a great selection of songs that worked unlike traditional Disney films, serving as emotional backgrounds for some scenes rather than being connected to musical acts like say, Cinderella. Randy Newman' s score with its playfull and slightly offbeat, ironic and moody tone was the icing on the spectacular cake that Toy Story was.
What probably makes this story concerning toys so majestic though, and the single most important virtue of Toy Story, is that it too contains some of the magic that Pixar seems to spring in every animation it makes. The concept had been exploited before : toys that come to life when their possesors dont keep an eye on them. The premise of the "buddy movie" material was nothing too extraordinary too. But no, the film was neither simple, nor boring. As if Pixar knows the hidden secrets of entertainment, it infuses every creation with cleverness, emotion, intelligence, humour, action... the list goes on.
Concluding, a big risk for conservative individuals in Disney, Toy story proved to be the first crowning achievement for the "Luxo Jr." firm , wowed the audiences back at 1995, and led the company' s healthy session with an astounding 190 million dollars profit. Disney obviously shared some secrets with Pixar on how to make succesfull cartoon movies, and neither of them looked back ever again.
You may not be impressed by Story' s visuals today, but you cant fail to see clearly that a film born immensely clever can only stay with the passing of time, that way. Clever ;)
Links.
Disney's Toy Story Official site
Pixar's Toy Story Official site
