Pixar celebrates 30 years of ‘Toy Story’, a saga that “embraces the passage of time” although the toys “don’t age”

About to return to theaters with its new installment, ‘Toy Story 5’ which premieres on Wednesday June 17Pixar celebrates 30 years of what is undoubtedly its most emblematic franchise. On the occasion of this anniversary, Pete Docter creative director of Pixar Animation Studios, and the production company Lindsey Collins They take stock of a journey that began when computer animation was just taking its first steps.

“What makes it possible for ‘Toy Story’ to continue is that it embraces the passage of time“explains Collins in a meeting held at the Film Academy with various media, including Europa Press. In this sense, the producer, which has also worked on Disney films such as ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘Ratatouille’ or ‘Pocahontas’, assures that the ‘Toy Story’ toys, although “they do not age”, “see time passing.”

“We are not freezing them, but they are living the passage of time with us,” he emphasizes, adding that Andrew Stanton, director of ‘Story 5’ and who has also worked on the previous installments of the saga, calls them “little vampires.”

“You don’t want to make films that are too specific, too ephemeral,” says Collins, explaining that, otherwise, there is a risk that they “will become three seconds out of date.” “What we want is for them to be the kind that grandparents take off the shelf to show to their grandchildren.”“, just as happens, he points out, with “the original Disney films.”

However, Docter chimes in, having this mentality during the film-making process can be counterproductive, as the ideal is to think about “what’s fun right now.” “You can’t do it and judge it at the same time.“, focuses.

“THERE IS STILL THERE, AN ENORMOUS PRESSURE”

“We love Disney, but we had the feeling that they were limiting the possibilities of animation,” admits Docter, looking back on the beginnings of the studio where he has worked on films such as ‘Inside Out’, ‘Monsters SA’, ‘Up’ and ‘Wall-E’. “When we started with ‘Toy Story’ there were no animators who had worked with computers, except for two or three people. We had to train people who came from stop motion and hand drawing and create our own team,” he recalls.

The first installment of ‘Toy Story’ was released in 1995 and became “the studio’s trademark,” says Collins. “There was, and still is, enormous pressure“says the producer, stating that Pixar “couldn’t afford to release a movie that wasn’t excellent.” In this sense, Docter explains that the final version of a film is often the ninth or tenth version of the project. “You hope everything turns out well, but it never does,” he says.

‘Toy Story 5’, in which Docter and Collins work as executive producer and producer, respectively, explores the emergence of new technologies in childhood. “It’s a reality,” says Docter, explaining that they were interested in showing the duality of a society that points out the evils of technology and, at the same time, cannot live without it.

In fact, They insist that the new installment of the saga of Woody, Buzz Jessie and company is not a film against technology, to demonize it or eliminate screens, but rather seeks to learn to live with it. “We can say: ‘Technology is the worst,’ and the next moment we are checking our cell phone,” says Docter. “We all have a hard time dealing with our relationship with technology, and children certainly have a hard time.”says Collins.