As Toy Story turns 30, top Pixar designer says the new Multi-Buzz will 'knock you out'

It’s one story no one wanted to end, and there is thrilling news for fans of Woody and Buzz Lightyear. The lovable cowboy and fearless space ranger are about to take us to infinity and beyond for a fifth time. Toy Story was an instant hit 30 years ago, capturing the hearts of audiences, and its beloved characters continued to enchant the world in three hugely successful sequels.

The 1995 original was Pixar’s first feature film, and the animation studio’s top production designer, Bob Pauley, is really excited about Toy Story 5, billed as 'toys vs tech', which is due out in June.

He says: “I worked on Buzz 30 years ago. That was fun, amazing. Now we’re upgrading Buzz, and there’s a lot of them, and there are some really cool things on them. I think everyone will be knocked out with this movie and with what these new Buzzes do.”

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Tom Hanks will return as the voice of Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz and Joan Cusack as Jessie but there will also be new characters as well as old friends. Lily Pad, a frog-themed electronic tablet voiced by Anna Faris, and Smarty Pants, a potty-training toy (Conan O’Brien) will be mixing with an army of ­malfunctioning, rogue Buzz Lightyears.

Bob says: “It’s so hard not to tease stuff, it’s like holding lightning in a bottle. We’re just so giddy because it’s such a beautiful, fun thing and it takes all our energy not to tell anyone.”

The adventure, friendship and fun in Toy Story, released in US cinemas in November 1995, meant it took more than £276million worldwide. The humorous tale about Buzz and Woody putting aside their differences to get back to their owner Andy spawned TV specials, shorts and experiences in Disney parks, as well as the sequels.

Bob, who was also a production designer on Cars, Monsters, Inc. and Inside Out, says he loves his job because he gets to play with toys all day. He says, “It’s just like a factory of foolish grown-ups that never grew up.”

He never imagined Toy Story would have such a legacy. “I was even shocked that we’re making the first sequel. But it’s a world that has great characters, fun situations, and it’s got this ensemble cast that everybody knows. They are characters we care about and love.”

Bob also says there is a lot of ­excitement when the actor is finally confirmed and their voice matches the character they have created. “Early on, we may not know the character’s voice, but usually there’s some targets, some ideas who they might be. When the talent or actor accepts, it’s super exciting.

"Then it gets better because you get to hear some of the first recordings and it’s kind of magic. Sometimes it takes them a couple times to get into it, and then they really become the character. Incredible.”

Senior historian Christine Freeman, who has worked at Pixar Animation Studios for 25 years, says: “I get to look at the art all day and look at things that make me laugh. I love the joy of it because, with every show, there’s more storytelling.”

Bob says making the films, featuring the likes of Hamm (John ­Ratzenberger), Rex (Wallace Shawn) and Mr Potato Head (Don Rickles), always throws up big challenges. He says: “We have these huge ­deadlines, and we’re trying to have fun but it is serious work.

“Sometimes we couldn’t have a certain character or two, because the character didn’t work, or the toy people didn’t want to make the toys for us. Thank goodness they made Buzz. Whether you’re in story or art animation, there’s these big hiccups. Why can’t we get this emotional take on our character? Why can’t we crack the look of a character? What is it that we are missing?

“Every story has a character or two that we like that doesn’t make the final cut. That’s always hard, particularly when we have started building them. Sometimes if it’s a decent character, we’ll put it in the background. But when you take something out it’s a loss. You have to be immune to that because we’re drawing and painting stuff every day and sometimes it changes, or things get pulled. You’ve got to go with it, whatever the story needs.”

Asked what is the best thing about their jobs, Christine says: “laughing for a living”. She adds: “I worked on a Pixar book called Funny, and all we did was look for gags and that was pretty miraculous.” Bob says: “I go into a room with other artists and hang with best friends and come up with an amazing thing or idea.”

John Morris, who was just seven when he first voiced Andy, says his favourite scene is the opening sequence of the original movie when Andy is playing with all of his toys at once. “It’s the first feature length animated film created with computers, that was completely groundbreaking and a game changer for the industry.

"I do recall when I was recording Andy for Toy Story seeing some behind the scenes drawings and renderings and models and storyboards and starting to get a sense of this is going to be a new form of animation and just how cutting edge and exciting that was. The times I have met an entire family, ­grandparents, parents, kids and they’ve all seen and loved the films and have all grown up with them – that to me really embodies the impact of the Toy Story ­franchise.”

Toy Story trivia you didn’t know…

The four Toy Story films have grossed over £200m in the UK and Ireland, making it the highest grossing Pixar franchise of all time, and the second highest animated franchise of all time.

Toy Story was Pixar’s first feature length film and the world’s first feature length CGI animation.

The Toy Story franchise has received 10 Academy Award nominations - including Best Picture - and has won 5 Oscars.

The registration plate on Andy’s mum’s car reads A113 - which is the name of a classroom at CalArts, where many Pixar animators studied. The number is used as an Easter egg in every Pixar film.

Many of the books on the shelf in Andy’s room are names of Pixar’s short films (Adventures of Andre & Wally B., Knick Knack, etc.) and some of the book authors are named after Pixar staff.

The wallpaper in Andy’s room can also be seen in Monsters, Inc.

Andy has a banner hanging on one of the walls in his room that reads P.U., which stands for Pixar University, an internal professional-development program for Pixar employees.

The gas station that Andy's mum stops at in Toy Story is called Dinoco, which can also be seen in the Pixar film Cars as the oil company run by Tex Dinoco.

In the original Toy Story, Woody had 723 control points that animators could operate to bring Woody to life.

Buzz’s design was inspired by the NASA space programme. He has little rubber tips on his fingers just like the Apollo astronauts, purple because director John Lasseter liked the colour.

The Pizza Planet truck from the original Toy Story has made a cameo in nearly every Pixar film.

Jessie was originally intended as a common desert plant named Señorita Cactus.

If you look closely, you will notice that Jessie and Woody share the same buttons and belts.

Since October 2020, Disney Store has sold enough Woody, Jessie and Buzz action figures to fill Wembley Stadium almost seven times over.

30 years after its release, 24 Pixar employees who worked on the original Toy Story are still working at the animation studio and 6 ‘Pixarians’ who worked on the original

Iconic Toy Story Quotes

A brilliant script packed with zinging dialogue really has stood the test of time. These are some of the most memorable Toy Story lines of all time…

• “To infinity and beyond!” - Buzz’s iconic catchphrase

• “There’s a snake in my boots” - one of Woody’s seemingly random voicebox sayings, a parody of the dialogue in classic Western films

• “The claw!” - the aliens, who worship the claw as they believe that if one of them is chosen, they will go on to a better place

• “There seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere” - Buzz, on arrival among the other toys

• “You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity. Farewell.” - Buzz, in response to Woody’s angry tirade

• “Oh, great. If anyone attacks we can blink em' to death." - Woody, when Buzz suggests using his laser to escape from Sid’s room - as the ‘laser’ is in fact just a lightbulb

• “The word I’m searching for I can’t say, because there are pre-school toys present” - Woody, after repeatedly calling Buzz a toy and being corrected: “the word you’re looking for is Space Ranger”

• “This isn’t flying, this is falling with style.” - Buzz at the end of the original film

Celebrate the iconic legacy of Toy Story, following

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