It's almost impossible to never have heard about Toy Story. When I was a kid, after seeing the movie, I watched my toys like a hawk expecting them to move. Other than imparting a core memory for kids then, it has also contributed to the progression of CGI in the film industry.
Hand-Drawn Beginnings
Have you ever seen a flip book? It's where people would draw on every page with small changes to the next one. Once you flip the book from start to finish rapidly, it'll appear as though the subject could move. Well, that's how it was with Disney animations for a while. Hand-drawn 2D animation brought us titles like "Cinderella" and "Bambi."
The first time Pixar actually made a computer-animated film was in 1986, wherein they created the first CGI animation called "Luxo Jr." according to Academy Pace. It was a two-minute short followed by "Tin Toy" in 1988, which snatched an Oscar, and was the first the win an Academy Award for Animated Short Film. Thus began Pixar's vision for CGI.
It wasn't until the release of "Toy Story" in 1995 that Pixar changed the game. Disney had given the world Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Of course, people loved that they were voiced by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, respectively. The film was a huge success, and it marked the beginning of Disney's CGI-animated film creations.
Since the toy-centric movie was the first full-length CGI film, as mentioned in Screen Rant, animators didn't have to draw every frame for movies anymore. The new technology brought in a new era for its industry. Since "Toy Story" was loved by many, Pixar also made animated software, to make it more efficient for animators to develop more CGI films.
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The Creation of 'Toy Story'
It took a lot of manpower to create the masterpiece that is "Toy Story." 110 people worked on the film, 27 of which were animators. Even with those numbers, it took over 800,000 hours to finish the movie. As a child, I loved my toys more because of it, and felt bad when I lost one thinking that they would feel lonely and forgotten. It may be the case for others too, and to have that kind of impact on children is just extraordinary.
The movie received a Special Achievement Academy Award, which led to the Academy adding a Best Animated Feature Award for the category. Pixar didn't actually win that award though, as it went to "Shrek." If you feel bad, think of it this way. The green ogre was animated by DreamWorks, which was launched by Jeffrey Katzenberg. He used to work for Disney and actually worked closely with Pixar.
Pixar won the very same Oscar award in 2003, for "Finding Nemo." They have succeeded a lot more in the long run, winning the award ten times over the last 17 years. In terms of redemption, "Toy Story 3" and "Toy Story 4" won the Best Animated Feature award, which is just as deserving as "Shrek" was when it won.
