How Would Pixar’s Toy Story Be Different if it Was Made Today?

Pixar has given us some of our favorite animated movies: The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Coco, and more. But holding a special place in our hearts is the one that started it all, Toy Story. The film that made us daydream about what it would be like if our toys were alive and that introduced us to Woody, Buzz, Bo-Peep, and the whole gang and spawned a series of films, shorts, , and theme park attractions.

The film came out in 1995, and since then we’ve entered into a new age of technological and informational breakthroughs, so we started to wonder how would Toy Story be different if it was made today?

Buying Toys Online

Since the development of the internet, industries have adapted and integrated to perform their usual services online. Shopping is no different, and most retailers now offer some way for you to buy their merchandise online.

If Andy were going to get a Buzz Lightyear for his birthday in 2020, more than likely his mom would have ordered it off of Amazon or another site and had it shipped to their house. Better yet, she could take advantage of Cyber Monday deals after Thanksgiving and avoid the Black Friday crowds. And of course we’re wondering: would she wrap it for his birthday or just hand if over in its Amazon-emblazoned box?

Sids Couldn’t Order Explosives In the Mail

This seems like something that shouldn’t have happened in 1995 either, but here we are. Firecrackers on the 4th of July is one thing, but ordering a rocket to blow up toys for fun is a little too far.

Even looking at a page to buy a full-blown rocket is just the kind of the thing that would end Sid up on a government watch list, even more so if he actually bought the thing. Then again, the rocket was necessary for Woody and Buzz to finally get back to Andy, but if Toy Story was made today, this major plot point would definitely need some reworking.

The Toys Have to Contend With a Smartphone

The central conflict in the movie comes when Woody, the old favorite toy, fears being replaced by a shiny, new Buzz Lightyear. Phones and tablets have come so far that you can now play games on them, and it’s become a stereotype that kids on are always on their phones instead of paying attention to the world around them.

If Toy Story was made in 2020,  we could see the central conflict revolving around the older toys having to deal with Andy getting an iPhone and losing himself in a web of micro-transactions and gimmicks. What could the toys do to get him to put down his tablet? Parents everywhere would like to know.

The New, Modern Pizza Planet

As kids, we wished we could have gone to Pizza Planet and played “Whack An Alien” and gotten a slice of that delicious (we imagine) pizza. We didn’t have to imagine forever, because we did get  a Pizza Planet (finally!) at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland.

Today, sleek is in, and a lot of restaurants are re-imagining their designs to be modern and eclectic, mostly through using a lot of right angles and chrome. A Pizza Planet that’s less 90s blacklight and more shiny and perpendicular would fit right in to a modern rendition of Toy Story.  

These are just a few ways we think Toy Story would be different if it were made today. We can speculate all day, but we’re also just glad to have the masterpiece of a movie that we do.

What did you think of our list? Let us know down in the comments!

Comments (1)