The movie I watched most growing up was Toy Story. My family didn’t have much money, so when we could purchase a movie on VHS, it was rare. We had four for a long time, but eventually that number snuck into the teens. Toy Story came along a little later for me than many who enjoyed it, I was 15. Still, with very few options, when I was bored, I popped in Toy Story for re-watch. As that become something of a pattern, I ended up watching it over 100 times at least. Sequels came and went, but by in large, I just loved the original. 25 years later, the original’s animation might have aged a bit, but the rest is still gold.
We now know that the Toy Story legacy is a lot more expansive than we realized at the time. It was the first computer animated movie I had ever seen, even if the techniques were starting to be put into use before that on movies like The Brave Little Toaster. Computer animation now dominates the animated movie world, with fewer and fewer hand drawn movies each year. Beyond the technical development, there was also the development of Pixar. Pixar became the source for the very best kids movies. They were so good they were genuinely enjoyed by adults. The themes and plots were rich with meaning and significance. They didn’t dumb down or white wash emotions. The jokes were there no matter what level you were on. This was new to the animated world, as movies were traditionally geared to adults or children, not both.
Toy Story was remarkable, not just for its quality. What impressed me, even as a teenager, was how an unknown studio got major stars to sign on for an untested approach to movie making. Tom Hanks was still making blockbusters and Tim Allen’s star hadn’t faded yet from the Home Improvement and Santa Clause days. The character actors were all recognizable voices, and their skill carried a clever plot to its full capability. Toy Story began a run of total dominance for Pixar that essentially eliminated the Disney Animation Studio as contenders and it racked up Oscar after Oscar as a result. It is only recently that Disney has gotten back on its feet, and it’s only because the heads of Pixar helped them.
When I am thinking of childhood movies, I always go back to Toy Story and think about the movie itself. Why was I so interested in it? Why did I keep popping it in. I remember thinking that the movie was very mean spirited in places. Why was Woody so self-serving and unlikable. Why was Buzz so obtuse and short sighted. Looking back now, I realize that I was self-serving. I was obtuse and short sighted. Each of the characters, with good and bad, expressed the emotions of childhood (and adulthood) so clearly.
Woody and Buzz both want to be important in their own ways. Looking back at myself at that point in my life, I believed I had great things ahead of me. I was wrong in a sense (I am just a husband, father and employee at a mid level job), but the lesson from the movie certainly helps soften that blow. You are important on your own, and if someone else loves you, and you them, you are engaged in something deeply meaningful.
The look into the life of local miscreant Sid, reveals some of the troubled situations kids find themselves. A broken home, lack of supervision and guidance, and unresolved anger. His toys suffer from PTSD. I never realized it at the time, but I had a lot of unresolved anger that I hadn’t dealt with either. And as I struggle now with PTSD, I see the pain first-hand that you can experience. It makes it that much more meaningful when they rise up against their tormentor.
Things aren’t good or bad in the movie, they are just… characters. Buzz and Woody make selfish choices. Mr. Potato has some anger issues. Bo Peep is a bit of an enabler for Woody. Even Sid has little hints of his back story thrown in so we can see why he is so troubled. While the ending is happy, it’s clear that the people involved still have growing to do. Complexity like that was also relatively new in children’s movies at the time. Beauty and the Beast came out just a few years earlier with stilted one-note characters, terrible lessons about self worth and a similar premise (living sentient things) that is executed in a very confusing and slapdash way.
I don’t look back on that period of my life very fondly today. I see now how naïve, selfish and shortsighted I was in my teenage years. I look back at my own arrogance with contempt, and the damage I was already doing (and others were doing) to my mental health with sorrow. It was little things like Toy Story that served as a gateway to a greater knowledge of my emotions and the emotions of others that I did not get in a conservative family that homeschooled. To me, the legacy of Toy Story was the idea that we could genuinely learn from TV and movies. Not math, or history, or science. We could learn about ourselves. Great movies serve as a gateway between our child and adult selves, as we slowly realize who we really are with self-evaluation and self-awareness. I have changed a lot since that point in my life, but some things haven’t changed. I am still flawed and selfish at times, but I also pursue honesty and I still have a heart to do good for others. My 15 year old self who was busy judging Woody’s selfish actions, would eventually realize he WAS Woody. Even Buzz sometimes. And that is ok. That is one of the best legacies a film can have.
Excellent, sir