Toy Story - Pixar Animation

Screenplay by

Joss Whedon
Andrew Stanton
Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow
126 Pages

Final Draft 1995

This is a well written screenplay with a great setup.  We are introduced to Woody's world from the very first page.  From the reader's point of view we can see that Woody is Andy's favorite toy just from how he interacts with him.  He also has him incharge of all the other toys.  He's the sheriff.

The first five pages hook the reader.  Woody is introduced on page 2 and the toys come alive by page 5.  Hook the reader/audience as soon as possible.

Woody discusses the move and how he doesn't want any toys left behind on page 10. 

A little foreshadowing on Woody's part.

WOODY
I don't want any toys
left behind.

We find out that it's Andy's birthday on page 11 and that he has a birthday party.

There's quite a bit of foreshadowing just to make sure that the reader/audience understand what will be at stake.  Get the audience thinking about what might happen.

Pg 11 – The first mention of Andy's birthday.

Just to make sure the audience understands that Woody is Andy's favorite toy.  Rex's dialogue.

REX
He's been Andy's favorite
since kindergarten.

WOODY
I'm not worried. 
You shouldn't be worried.

Pg 12 – A bit of foreshadowing on Woody's part.  Rex is worried about being replaced and Woody tells him no one's getting replaced.

WOODY
Hey, listen, no one's
getting replaced.

Pg 19 – Woody is still sure there's nothing to worry about.

Pg 21- First sign of trouble for Woody.  He's flung off the bed.

Pg 23 – Woody still doesn't think there's anything to worry about until he sees Buzz Lightyear.  We're introduced to the futuristic toy, Buzz Lightyear.  The name says it all.

Pg 30 – This is when Woody's world changes.  When Buzz jumps off the bed, bounces on the rubber ball and appears to fly.  He's the new guy in town and Woody gets left in the shadows.

Pg 43- It could be argued that the start of Act 2 starts here when Buzz gets accidentally knocked out the window.  And the other toys accuse Woody of doing it on purpose.

I personally think Act 2 starts on Pg 47 when Andy takes Woody with him to Pizza Planet and Buzz jumps onto the rear fender of the van.  They're heading into a new world.

Pg 50- Things don't look good for Woody and Buzz when they get left behind at the gas station.

They might have to work together to get back home?  This is when the fun starts.

Pgs 77-79- A low point for Buzz when he sees the commercial on television and realizes that he's just a toy.

Pg 122- Buzz flies, so he can fly?   Perhaps.

BUZZ
This isn't flying.  It's falling
with style.

I was a little bit worried when I saw the actual page count, considering the actual running time of the movie is around 77 minutes.  As this is an animation you need good action lines to paint a colorful world and put across to the reader the visuals involved.

The animation department needs something to work from.

But this was a completely different read to UP.  The action lines in that were written with brevity.

This is stated as the Final Draft which by no means makes it the actual shooting draft.  And even shooting drafts go through rewrites while a movie is being shot.

The screenplay does differ in parts to the actual movie.  Certain scenes that are written aren't actually in the final movie. 

But this doesn't detract from being a great read.  Again, much can be learned as to how to write and structure a movie whether animated or not for a family audience just by reading this one screenplay.

It has some very memorable scenes like the one where Buzz finds himself trapped in the crane game with the Green Squeeze Toy Aliens.

BUZZ
Who's in charge here?

All the aliens point upward.

ALIENS
The cla-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-w.

Classic.  Pure genius.

Read it.  Watch it and read it again.