Summary
- “Toy Story’s 1995 release marked Pixar’s start in feature animation, leading the industry shift. Disney later acquired them.”
- “The Mickey Mouse clock in Toy Story was a nod to Disney, who distributed the film despite not owning Pixar then.”
- “Disney and Pixar’s successful partnership is evident in Toy Story’s homage to Disney’s mascot.”
The Toy Story franchise is full of Easter eggs, and one Toy Story detail perfectly predicted Disney’s Pixar takeover back in 1995. Although Toy Story is now one of Disney’s most profitable franchises, it wasn’t always that way, as Toy Story was originally made by Pixar before they were owned by the massive media company. However, one Toy Story Easter egg seemingly predicted the future, highlighting the connection that Disney and Pixar would come to have.
1995’s Toy Story is the film that started it all, with it being Pixar’s first feature-length film and the first feature-length computer-animated film ever. This would eventually lead to computer animation overtaking traditional hand-drawn animation as the primary style in Hollywood, with Pixar being the titan of the industry. Because of Pixar’s success, Disney eventually decided to buy them, leading to some of Pixar’s best movies being made by the animation giant.
Toy Story’s Mickey Mouse Clock Foreshadows Disney And Pixar’s Relationship
Toy Story features a lot of real-life toys and other objects, but one of the most interesting actually foreshadowed Disney and Pixar’s relationship. In Toy Story, a Mickey Mouse clock can be seen in Andy’s room, with this small detail referencing the mascot of the Disney company.
While a Mickey Mouse clock may not seem odd to viewers now, it becomes stranger when viewers realize that Disney didn’t own Pixar back then, with this reference having nothing to do with their owners. Disney is famously protective of its IPs, making the presence of a Mickey Mouse clock in Toy Story surprising, although there is a simple explanation as to why it is there.
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What Toy Story’s Disney Clock Really Means
As it turns out, Toy Story‘s Mickey Mouse clock does have a meaning to it. Although Disney didn’t own Pixar at the time, Pixar did make a deal with Disney to distribute their films, with Toy Story being released by Disney even though the company didn’t make the film.
Toy Story‘s Mickey Mouse clock was more than likely a homage to the film’s distributor, prominently featuring the company’s mascot in order to thank Disney for releasing the film. After all, the release of Toy Story was a risk due to the film’s drastically different style when compared to other animated features that were being released at the time, meaning that Disney took a gamble when working with the new studio. However, this eventually paid off, with Disney buying Pixar eleven years after the release of the original Toy Story.
Toy Story
Pixar’s first feature film release sees Woody (Tom Hanks), a cowboy doll, confronted by the nightmare of being replaced as his owner Andy’s favorite toy jeopardized when his parents buy him a Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) action figure. Stricken by anxiety, Woody hatches a plan to remain the favorite, kicking off a race against time for the toys to be reunited with their owner before his house move makes them permanently Lost Toys.
- Director
- John Lasseter
- Release Date
- November 22, 1995
- Writers
- Joss Whedon , Alec Sokolow , Joel Cohen , Andrew Stanton
- Runtime
- 81 minutes
- Budget
- $30 million
