The 100% rated animated classic that made Pixar a Hollywood powerhouse

There was a time before Pixar became synonymous with top-quality animated movies. It was a home for talented animators working with Lucasfilm and Disney until Toy Story came around in 1995. Almost 30 years later, its impact on the movie industry simply cannot be overstated.

Toy Story changed the game, becoming the first ever completely computer-animated feature film. But more than that, its tale of sentient toys and their bond with the kid who owns them set the blueprint for everything Pixar would do. We now associate the studio with innovative concepts, beautiful visuals, and absolute emotional devastation.

But that all started with Toy Story. It's a movie that marries technological innovation with storytelling genius and the result is an indisputable classic. It's not just a great animation. It's a great movie, full stop.

What the critics thought

Toy Story is part of the exclusive club of movies to have a perfect 100% approval rating among professional film critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Among the most fervent champions of the movie was legendary critic Roger Ebert, who gave it the full four stars on his rating system and compared it to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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Ebert wrote: "Watching the film, I felt I was in at the dawn of a new era of movie animation, which draws on the best of cartoons and reality, creating a world somewhere in between, where space not only bends but snaps, crackles and pops."

The Hollywood Reporter said the film had "instant classic written all over it", while TIME dubbed it "the year's most inventive comedy", which could be the greatest understatement in the history of movie criticism.

Watch: Trailer for Toy Story

Derek Malcolm of The Guardian was more mixed, declaring that there was "hardly a beautiful thing in the film at all". He did add, though, that it "makes a cheerful mockery of any other form of animation simply by defining new standards through which to judge computer work".

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At the time of its release, Toy Story got a nomination for Best Original Screenplay, making it the first animated movie to be recognised for its writing by the Academy. In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society declared Toy Story to be the greatest animated movie of all time. It's fair to say it has broken down plenty of walls.

Yahoo's take

What is there to say about Toy Story? It feels strange to minimise its level of visual invention and technical mastery, but that doesn't get to the core of why it's such a special piece of work. Toy Story excels because it immediately took thousands of pixels and crafted them into characters we believed and loved.

It helps that the talent behind the voices was so immense, with Tom Hanks cast at the absolute peak of his rise to Hollywood super-stardom. The relatable vocal performance of Hollywood's most reliable leading man gave his love-hate relationship with Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear the perfect level of antagonism. The likes of Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, and Don Rickles provided great comedic colour in supporting roles.

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And as Pixar has gone on to do so often in the decades since, Toy Story provided a fantastical world and populated it with grounded dynamics. The arrival of a new toy in a child's bedroom is the perfect analogue for the way kids deal with evolving friendships and the way people and things come in and out of their lives. It's simple, it's universal, and it still works even today. That's what makes a masterpiece.

Essential info

Fortunately, Toy Story will be able to keep wowing audiences for generations to come because it's available to stream on Disney+, along with the rest of the Pixar catalogue. This includes all three of the direct Toy Story sequels, as well as the Lightyear spin-off and the very enjoyable short films made featuring these characters.

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The real kicker, though? Toy Story is just 81 minutes long. In less than an hour and a half, Pixar managed to tell a story packed with heart and jokes, as well as those incredible set pieces. That sort of economy of storytelling is in short supply in 2024 and it's a great reason to watch Toy Story as often as possible. It's short enough to fit into any daily schedule.

Toy Story is available to stream on Disney+ along with the rest of the franchise.