How Toy Story Made Pixar and Then Trapped It

Thirty-one years after the first Toy Story, Pixar is marking the upcoming worldwide release of Toy Story 5 by reminding Disney+ subscribers that the first four films are available there, three of them widely praised. The original Toy Story was not just another hit, but a milestone in film history, and the history of the franchise is also the history of Pixar itself.

Pixar began as a software company founded by George Lucas in the 1970s to develop digital effects tools. Steve Jobs later bought it, and brought in Disney animator John Lasseter. In the 1980s, Jobs and Lasseter concluded that technology alone would not make the company stand out, it needed stories. Before making feature films, Pixar produced digitally animated shorts such as Luxo Jr. in 1986, which became the company logo, and Tin Toy in 1989. The company lost money and Jobs considered selling it.

That changed in 1995 with Toy Story, the first full-length film made entirely on a computer, without a camera. It was a shock to Hollywood, where digital effects had been only a small part of live-action films such as Jurassic Park. The movie reframed animation itself and became a huge success, sending Jobs to cancel a planned sale and take Pixar public. Lasseter and his team received a special Oscar because the animated-feature category did not yet exist, and Pixar later won that award 11 times.

Disney originally only distributed Pixar films, splitting revenue 50-50, and the companies did not merge until 2006. Lasseter had wanted Pixar to avoid becoming a brand-driven sequel factory, but Disney’s ownership of Toy Story rights pushed the studio into sequels. Toy Story 2 in 1999 became the model for Pixar’s production system, with the founders and key writers effectively guiding directors. The studio also became known for replacing directors when projects were not working, as happened with Ratatouille. That approach helped produce great films, but it also left resentment, and in 2017 Lasseter left after MeToo-era reports that he had created a hostile atmosphere for women at Disney animation.

Since 2018, Pixar has made solid films but no new masterpieces, according to the article. Toy Story 4 in 2019 was its highest-grossing film and won the animated-feature Oscar, but was still disappointing. Toy Story 5, due out in two days, centers on Woody and Buzz confronting a tablet that could replace them in a child’s room. Andrew Stanton, who directed Wall-E, is behind the new film, Taylor Swift sings its theme song, and the original voice cast, including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, is back.