To Infinity and Beyond!
I’m Sarah. I’m a Disney FANATIC. I have even worked at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. (West coast is the best coast by the way) I also love dogs, nerdy things, carbs, and my family.
Here’s the thing… I love Pixar. However, I wasn’t really a Pixar fanatic until I worked at Disneyland. Disney’s California Adventure is chock full of Pixar. It was the first park I visited in Anaheim and I didn’t expect to be crying when I entered Cars Land but… Radiator Springs just brought me all the feels! I felt like I was really in the movie and ended up going home with a Piston Cup souvenir cup and the sudden urge to watch every Pixar movie ever created. How did I have the time to do so though? Between training at “it’s a small world”, classes at Disney University, and exploring the parks, the last thing I was going to do was sit in my dorm style apartment and watch Disney+. Be careful what you wish for! Thanks to COVID-19, my internship was eliminated, I was laid off, evicted, and had nothing but time on my hands.
What are you going to do when the entire world is shut down? Most of us have turned to binge-watching to get by. What a perfect opportunity to do so! I asked my husband if he would like to take part in a Pixar project with me where we watch at least one Pixar movie per day. He agreed and added that we should also blog some of our thoughts so…. Here we are!
We started with Toy Story. The original Pixar film starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen was released in November of 1995. This means I was 4 years old when it came out. I didn’t like the film at all. I found Woody to be too mean and bossy to Buzz and I just felt miserable the whole movie….. it turns out I had a fever and strep throat. Of course I wasn’t going to love any movie with strep. I remember my favorite character was Slinky Dog.
Slink is still my favorite to this day. Voiced by native Kentuckian Jim Varney, Slinky Dog just radiates positivity, know what I mean, Vern?
I also happen to love the movie now. Let’s break it down:
The Pixar Short
There is no original short in front of Toy Story. That tradition began with Pixar’s second film, a Bug’s Life. There was a Roger Rabbit cartoon that was show before Toy Story but I don’t remember it and it wasn’t on Disney+. I was too lazy to look elsewhere.
The Movie
Nick and I both loved the movie. We especially enjoyed the more adult humor jokes that Mr. Potato head threw out. They went over our heads as kids but we definitely caught them this time! For example, when Slinky is being encouraging to Woody, Mr. Potatohead flat out calls him a kissass. Seriously! Well…. Technically he implies it. *see photo*
The movie is a story of friendship. John Lasseter (ew. I hate that dude but that’s not here nor there) insisted the movie not be a musical. Disney insisted it should be. The two compromised. No character would break out into song but there would be songs throughout the movie. Therefore, we got Randy Newman composing, conducting and singing the iconic soundtrack. This wasn’t the only argument Pixar and Disney had. The two battled throughout the beginning of their relationship. You’d never know that now though with Disney and Pixar having an inseparable kinship making money for each other. More tidbits on that early feud later… for now….
What’s Next?
Stay tuned for a Bug’s Life and the drama of Disney vs Dreamworks. Did you know that Antz technically premiered first? It’s crazy. I can’t wait to write about it…. But my laptop is about to die so this is all she wrote. Also, Nick will be writing about Toy Story 2!
(Sarah Humble is wife to Nick Breiner. We got married on April 6, 2020, JUST before the ban on small gatherings hit due to COVID-19. As this quarantine continues, be sure to check back for more content. Many new blogs and other content to come.)