9 curiosities you didn’t know about ‘Toy Story’

‘Lightyear’ will bring everyone’s favorite space ranger back to the big screen, in which he will be the first Toy Story movie in three years.

Pixar’s series revolutionized animated film, cemented Tom Hanks’ place as a Hollywood treasure, and definitively answered one of childhood’s most pressing questions: what about all our dolls, action figures, and Mr. Potato when they are left alone?

Watch Toy Story on Disney+

If the premiere of ‘Lightyear’ has made you want to dive back into the Toy Story series, we thought we’d celebrate by revealing some little known facts about the adventures of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the iconic gang.

1. Its two main characters were originally very different

In a clear case of: “what were you thinking?”, the animators originally drew Woody as a creepy ventriloquist dummy. But after realizing that he could give young viewers nightmares, the protagonist was recast by director John Lasseter as one of his childhood favorites, a small wind-up toy.

The cowboy wasn’t the only Toy Story character to get a makeover early in the process. Buzz Lightyear’s classic spacesuit, white with purple and lime green trim, was initially red. The space ranger was also originally named Tempest, in a nod to the Atari game.

2. Woody underwent a personality transplant

It’s hard to believe that lovable, dedicated, good boy Woody was initially written as, well, a bit of an idiot.

In 2015, Darla K Anderson, a Pixar producer, revealed at a Disney exhibit that the plan was to create the kind of edgy character that wouldn’t be expected in children’s animation. However, he acknowledged that “we took it too far“.

At the same event, development executive Mary Coleman admitted that the studio might not have lived to tell a second, third and fourth episode of “Toy Story” if they hadn’t given Woody a much-needed personality transplant.

3. Mattel banned the use of Barbie

The first movie was supposed to include one of the most iconic toys of all time, Barbie, in its grand finale but itThe doll’s makers, Mattel, refused to participate..

Ralph Guggenheim, one of Pixar’s producers, said the company was concerned that by casting a character in Barbie, the film would rob its young consumers of the ability to use their imaginations.

However, following the massive success of ‘Toy Story’, Mattel saw the promotional benefits of appearing in a movie seen by children around the world. As a result, the iconic blonde not only appeared in the next three films, but was even given her own short film, ‘Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation.’

4. Toy Story the musical?

Randy Newman’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend in Me’ has been an integral part of the Toy Story franchise’s success: the Oscar-nominated song has appeared in all four of its films.

But Disney initially hoped that there would be many more numbers to sing in the 1995 original. In fact, the studio arrived equipped with half a dozen songs for a production meeting with Pixarbelieving the animated caper to be a full-fledged musical.

In the end, both parties had to come to an agreement. Buzz, Woody and company didn’t break into song but the producers agreed that music could be played over their most dramatic scenes.

5. Buzz was about to be dubbed by another actor

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Tim Allen pronouncing phrases like “to infinity and beyond” (well, until ‘Lightyear’, of course). However, the actor from ‘A fudge at home’ was not the first choice to voice the space ranger.

The star of ‘When Harry Met Sally’, Billy Crystal, was the first to be contacted and even met with Jeffrey Katzenberg at the Disney executive’s home to discuss the role. But the comic actor was not convinced and he decided to turn down the role.

Crystal later told ABC that “it’s the only regret I have in the business of anything I went through.” However, she would later lend her talents to the Pixar universe, voicing the one-eyed scare assistant Mike in the ‘Monsters, Inc.’ movies.

6. Both Hanks and Allen signed for emotional reasons

Tim Allen doesn’t seem to mind that he wasn’t the first choice to voice Buzz Lightyear. In fact, it was the news of who had turned down the part that inspired him to sign on.

The actor was a big fan of ‘Saturday Night Live’ graduate Chevy Chase, who was also approached to play the space ranger. And Allen was so flattered to be mentioned at the same time as his comedy hero that he immediately said yes to the role.

Y Hanks also had an emotional reason for taking on the character of Woody.. The likeliest man in Hollywood had often wondered if his toys came to life when he left the room as a child, and so he felt compelled to help capture children’s imaginations in the same way.

7. ‘Toy Story 2’ was about to disappear

We’ve all had disastrous days at work, but a poor Pixar animator may be the only person who’s come close to erasing a Golden Globe-winning blockbuster that grossed nearly $500 million.

Accidentally losing an erasure code, the mysterious employee accidentally erased most of ‘Toy Story 2’ from Pixar office records. And what is worse, the backup system of the studio was not working at the time.

Edwin Catmull, co-founder of the company, later revealed that it would have taken about 30 people over 12 months to rebuild what was missing.

But in a fluke, Galyn Susman, the sequel’s supervising technical director at the time, had taken a copy of the film with her to work from home so it could hit the big screen on its scheduled November 24, 2019 release date. 1999.

8. ‘Toy Story 3’ had a different plot

‘Toy Story 3’, the story of Woody, Buzz and company being accidentally donated to a daycare, is considered the best and most moving of the franchise.

However, one of Disney’s short-lived animation divisions initially planned that the action will focus on a much more daring adventure, a rescue mission in Taiwan.

Had Circle 7 (the Disney division in charge of making Pixar sequels) not disbanded in 2007, Toy Story 3 might as well have been Woody and company traveling to East Asia to save a battered and retired Buzz.

9. Mr. Potato’s lines in ‘Toy Story 4’ were recycled.

Sadly, several members of the Toy Story voice cast have passed away since the 1995 original. Jim Varney, who played Slinky, died of lung cancer in 2000, while Don Rickles, who voiced Mr. Potato, he died of kidney failure in 2017.

But while Pixar decided to replace the former with Blake Clark for ‘Toy Story 3’, the studio used a different method to deal with the loss of the latter for ‘Toy Story 4’.

Rather than hire another actor to voice the plant-based toy, they simply rummaged through Don Rickles’ archive to use lines the comedy legend had recorded for the previous three films and various other projects.

All Toy Story movies except ‘Lightyear’ can now be seen on Disney+.