Close Reading of a Film: Toy Story

Title: The opening scene of the movie shows Andy, playing with his toys and shows how his toys are important to him. It’s a cinematic sequence and builds the characters. It plays “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” to convey friendship.

Story/Plot/Narrative: The toys of a young boy come to life while humans aren’t around. A cowboy by the name of Woody who belongs to his boy, Andy, feels threatened when he buys a new toy, Buzz Lightyear. Buzz feels as if he is a real spaceman and doesn’t come to the realization that he is a toy like the others. Andy’s family moves to a new home and the toys must escape the house of his crazy neighbor who has gotten ahold of them.

Motifs: Woody is seen throughout the movie with the feeling of jealousy, always wanting to be Andy’s favorite toy. All of the toys convey the emotions of needing to please their owner and keep him happy. Together in the movie they work together to complete tasks and build a friendship, trumping their stubbornness.

Characterization: Woody: Andy’s oldest and favorite toy, the protagonist, always loved Andy. Andy plays with him all the time but buys a new Buzz Lightyear and Woody becomes jealous and feels the need to be the favorite again.

Buzz: Buzz Lightyear is another main character who can be seen as an antagonist and protagonist. He sparks jealousy in Woody and almost replaces him. However he and Woody become best friends towards the end of the movie.

Sid: Sid is the next-door neighbor and is the Antagonist. He gets a hold of the toys and does horrible things to them. The toys have to escape him and get back to Andy.

Scene/Sets: The movie takes place in the real world. It can be considered the Disney Pixar Universe, and is completely animated. The sets/scenes relate to the real world and give the sense that toys actually come to life while no one is around.

Plot: The main conflict in the movie is how Andy’s toys are captured by the deranged neighbors and Andy finds that they are lost. Together, after fighting through personal relationship conflicts, the toys work together to escape Sid, the evil neighbor, to get back to their owner, Andy.

Theme: The theme behind Toy Story could be showing how teamwork can bring all together, and that even if someone finds a new friend, it doesn’t mean they can’t have old friends. When Buzz and Woody learn to get along together, they make it through the conflicts of the movie.

Rising Action: The rising action of Toy Story is the part where the toys escape Sid’s house and leave to find their owner Andy.

Resolution: The Resolution of the movie is at the end, where after Andy thinks his toys are lost, he finds them in his toy box when they ended up going on an adventure of their own.