How "Toy Story" Changed Animation Forever: 30th Anniversary Reunion at the Academy Museum
Pixar’s groundbreaking debut returned to the big screen in sparkling 4K at the Academy Museum, where producer Bonnie Arnold and director/animator Pete Docter reunited to reminisce about making Toy Story. Their wide-ranging conversation highlighted how a modestly sized crew, a lot of ingenuity, and plenty of heart turned a technical experiment into a beloved modern classic.
Arnold recalled leaving a live-action career for what she thought would be “a little $17 million project in Northern California." Docter described the leap from Pixar’s shorts (Luxo Jr., Tin Toy) to a feature film, noting they initially imagined one layout artist and eight animators could finish the movie. “We ended up with about 25 animators and a little over 100 people total," he said.
With no roadmap for computer-animated storytelling, the team improvised: tools for editing, rendering, and even performance had to be invented on the fly. Docter singled out the green army men as a perfect example. Without inverse kinematics (the rigging tech that keeps feet “stuck" to the ground while the body moves), animators had to manually reposition both legs in every shot to prevent them from sliding. The green army men scenes went into animation first because those sequences didn’t involve other major characters whose models and rigs were still in flux. Still, paradoxically, they were among the last to finish because they were so technically complex. For movement reference, Docter even nailed a pair of shoes to a board to figure out how a toy with fused feet might walk; part problem-solving, part slapstick, and totally emblematic of the production’s invent-as-you-go spirit.
The pair revisited the infamous “Black Friday" screening, when early story reels flopped and the filmmakers retooled Woody and Buzz’s relationship almost overnight. They praised the late Joe Ranft, whose acting skills made storyboard pitches come alive, and laughed about early research trips to Toys “R" Us.
Pete Docter fondly remembered Tom Hanks’ first recording session as Woody: “He nailed the pull-string lines right away. We were laughing so hard they kicked us out of the room." One of the slides showed the list of pull-string lines the writers wrote ahead of the recording session, with hand-written additions that came up during the session, some of which were Hanks’ own improvisations.
Slides showed the original crew photo, render hardware the size of refrigerators, and cafeteria potlucks that kept morale high. Shout-outs went to Bill Reeves (technical director), Ralph Eggleston (production design), Bob Pauley (character design), and many others whose contributions defined the look and feel of the toys’ world. John Lasseter’s guidance was also warmly acknowledged.
What began as “a garage project with friends," Docter said, shocked the team when audiences embraced it as a “real movie." Arnold reflected on how reviews recognized Toy Story not just for technical wizardry but for its buddy-story heart: “That was the real breakthrough."
Before the lights dimmed for the screening, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes led a joyful sing-along of Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me," complete with on-screen lyrics. The crowd’s chorus set the perfect tone for revisiting the film that forever changed animation. Fittingly, Bonnie Arnold’s opening remarks included press quotes that could’ve been about Toy Story, but were actually from 1937 in reference to Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the closest comparison to the ways Toy Story changed the landscape of cinema.
The legacy of Toy Story continues next year in Toy Story 5. All of the previous Toy Story films, specials, and shorts are streaming on Disney+. Check out all of the ways you can celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pixar’s Toy Story.