Toy Story of Terror!



Toy Story of Terror is a Halloween TV special that was released on October 16, 2013 on ABC. The short is directed by Angus MacLane and produced by Galyn Susman. The score was composed by Michael Giacchino. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it was released on Sky Movies Disney.

Synopsis
Official Synopsis from Animation World Network:"What starts out as a fun road trip for the Toy Story gang takes an unexpected turn for the worse when the trip detours to a roadside motel. After one of the toys goes missing, the others find themselves caught up in a mysterious sequence of events that must be solved before they all suffer the same fate in this Toy Story of Terror."

Plot
The special opens with a woman named Betsy running for her life through a cemetery from a vampire. The camera then pans out, revealing that it is a movie being watched by Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Rex, Mr. Pricklepants, Mr. Potato Head, and Trixie from the trunk of Bonnie's mother's car while on a road trip. The car hits a bump in the road, which leads to the car to get a flat and Jessie to be knocked into the tool box she was sitting on to watch the movie. The others manage to free her, but this has greatly traumatized her. When asked by Trixie, Mr. Potato Head explains that Jessie spent years abandoned in a box, which resulted in her being immensely afraid of being alone in dark closed spaces. Back in the front of the car, Mrs. Anderson notices the Sleep Well roadside motel. She and Bonnie (who has also brought in the bag containing her toys) to call the tow truck company, only to learn that the earliest they can get there is by 6:00 the next morning. Ron, the motel manager, hands them the key to Room #7 to spend the night.

Once Bonnie and her mother are asleep, Mr. Potato Head leaves the bag to check out the motel's amenities, soon to be followed by Mr. Pricklepants, Rex, and Trixie. Woody and Buzz then leave to get them back in the bag, telling Jesie to stay behind, but finds herself leaving the bag once her claustrophobia takes over, running over to Buzz while the audience sees the shadow of a strange creature cross the screen. Buzz assures her that she is safe and they are all here, but is forced to eat his words when Mr. Potato Head is nowhere to be seen.

Mr. Pricklepants states, a la classic horror films (which he, apparently, believes this to be), "And so it begins." The toys then find a strange goo-like substance (which Mr. Pricklepants compares to "slime from the creature's metamorphosis") that Mr. Potato Head managed to step in, leaving behind footprints that lead to a vent heading slow the floor of the motel where Trixie is taken by the creature, still not fully seen.

Mr. Pricklepants declares that the vent would be the story's threshold, and that "once the heroes enter, there is no turning back". The toys fall down it, where Mr. Pricklepants states that here is where the characters would get separated and fall victim to the creature one at a time. At that moment, the creature takes him and, seconds later, Rex. Realizing the creature is close, Woody, Buzz, and Jessie run for their lives until they find Mr. Potato Head's arm, which holds up one finger in the air, and Jessie finds a hole back into the motel above them. Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the arm find their way into a bathroom in the motel, but Woody and Buzz argue about which way the hand is pointing.

While fighting, the creature takes them both and the arm. Jessie is then grabbed by an eccentric Combat Carl action figure under the sink who tells her that he has "seen horrible things" that have resulted in his separation from his friends and the dwindling hope of ever seeing his owner Billy again, reassuring himself with his iconic phrase: "Combat Carl never gives up. Combat Carl finds a way." He also warns her to turn back now if she ever wants to see her owner again. Jessie says that she needs to find her friends, which Carl quickly silences her on by showing her his lack of left hand the creature took while be was trying to find his own friends.

At that moment, they hear footsteps belonging to the creature, which then takes Carl. Jessie hides herself in the bath tub, but the creature eventually finds her, where it is revealed to be the manager's pet iguana Mr. Jones. He then takes Jessie to Ron the motel manager, who is stealing toys from his kid guests and selling them on the Internet. Jessie placed in a cabinet where she is reunited with Buzz and the others, as well as Combat Carl and the rest of Billy's toys. The reunion is cut short when Ron reenters upon hearing that he has a sale--someone has purchased Woody for $2,000. He puts Woody in a box that is set to be delivered in the morning. The toys fret over what to do when Ron gets another sale. This time, it's Jessie. He takes her out of the cabinet before she can be put in a box, the tow truck guy enters about the Anderson's flat and the delivery woman takes the box with Woody in it to the truck.

Jessie begins to panic about what to do, knowing that if she does nothing, they will all end up in boxes. Combat Carl gets an idea, telling her she needs to get into a box and into the truck to save Woody. Jessie protests this, stating she can't get into a box. Combat Carl insists, saying that this is the only way, and teaches her his iconic phrase, "Combat Carl never gives up. Combat Carl finds a way." She then repeats it, substituting her name for his. Jessie finds her way into a box, and then places another on on top of it so the delivery woman won't notice it isn't sealed, but she quickly discovers the ruse and tapes the box shut. In the truck, Jessie repeats to herself that she'll find a way until she discovers a paper clip which she uses to unseal herself and free Woody.

The two of them run back into the motel, where Woody climbs up to get the others, but Jessie hears Bonnie about to check out, and she runs to the red curtain that prevents guests from seeing the stolen toys from behind the check-in table, but catches the attention of Mr. Jones, who grabs her by the boot. Just when it looks as if she's iguana chow, Jessie notices Carl's hand and Mr. Potato Head's lost arm. Jessie manages to get them out and with some help from the arm, Jessie pulls away the curtain at the last minute revealing to Bonnie and her mother the toys.

Bonnie takes all her toys back to the bag and the toys go home when Rex asks if they have seen Potato Head. Pricklepants says that maybe the creature has claimed one last victim when Jessie points out that he is just in the other side of the trunk enjoying a reunion with his lost arm when the car starts up and his parts scatter, resulting in him saying "Nuts" and the toys all laugh. Mr. Pricklepants states that laughter is a definite sign that the worst is over and the credits are about to roll.

During the end credits scene, Carl and his friends go home to their owner Billy while the police arrive to take Ron (and possibly Mr. Jones) to jail. However, Ron flees, crashing into the motel's sign with the police cruiser, before running out. The last line in the special is tone of the cops saying that they've got a runner.

Voice Cast

 * Joan Cusack: Jessie
 * Tom Hanks: Woody
 * Tim Allen: Buzz Lightyear
 * Carl Weathers: Combat Carl and Combat Carl Jr. (credited seperately)
 * Stephen Tobolowsky: Ron the Manager
 * Timothy Dalton: Mr. Pricklepants
 * Wallace Shawn: Rex
 * Don Rickles: Mr. Potato Head
 * Kristen Schaal: Trixie
 * Kate McKinnon: PEZ Cat
 * Lori Alan: Bonnie's Mom
 * Peter Sohn: Transitron
 * Emily Hahn: Bonnie
 * Dawnn Lewis: Delivery Lady
 * Jason "Jtop" Topolski: Vampire/Tow Truck Guy
 * Ken Marino: Pocketeer
 * Christian Roman: Old Timer
 * Laraine Newman: Betsy
 * Tara Strong: Computer
 * Angus MacLane: Officer Wilson
 * Josh Cooley: Officer Phillips
 * Dee Bradley Baker: Mr. Jones

Production
Toy Story of Terror is the first of two 22 minutes TV specials that are scheduled for 2013 and 2014.

Dylan Brown stated in November 2012: "Our first works at Pixar Canada were six-minute pieces, and some one-and-a-half-minute films, which we call shorty-shorts. But we set up the Vancouver studio to produce the 22-minute specials. Pixar in California is currently working on the first one, called Toy Story of Terror."

At D23 Expo, the first ten minutes of the special was shown for D23 attendees.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack of Toy Story of Terror! was released on MP3 on October 15th.

Awards

 * Nominated: Annie Award for Best Animated Special Production
 * Nominated: Annie Award for Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production - JC Tran Quang Thieu
 * Nominated: Annie Award for Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production - David DeVan
 * Nominated: Annie Award for Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production - Kureha Yokoo
 * Nominated: Annie Award for Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production - Angus MacLane
 * Nominated: Annie Award for Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production - Daniel Chong
 * Nominated: Annie Award for Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production - Axel Geddes, Kathy Graves, Chloe Kloezeman

Trivia

 * Toy Story of Terror! is meant to take place about six months after the events of Toy Story 3.
 * This is Pixar's first half-hour TV special.
 * This is the second time to have a female protagonist. The first is Brave.
 * The tombstones at the beginning of the film belong to deceased characters from previous Pixar films. One for instance reads "RIP Simon J. Palladino", a reference to Gazerbeam from The Incredibles. Michael Giacchino's first time scoring a pixar production.
 * Woody, Buzz, Mr. Potato Head and Rex are the only four characters who were in all three movies who appear in the special. However Andy and Hamm were mentioned.
 * This is the first Toy Story production in which Jessie appears without Bullseye.
 * The entire short is computer animated, except a bat seen in a graveyard, which was actually a rubber bat prop, filmed on green screen. Angus MacLane said attempting to simulate one would have been too expensive.
 * Bonnie is seen in the special wearing a t-shirt with DJ Blu-Jay from the Toy Story Toons Small Fry on it.
 * Al (of Al's Toy Barn) from Toy Story 2 is the winning bidder of Woody in the online auction. Al's name can be seen with an address c/o Al's Toy Barn on the address label affixed to Woody's shipping box. Andrew Stanton indicated Al even was supposed to appear in the special, but was finally cut.
 * The police officers that pursue and arrest Ron the Manager at the end of the special resemble the ones Mike and Sulley scared in the cabin near the end of Monsters University.
 * Combat Carl lacking a hand is a possible reference to Carl Weathers' character, Dillon, from Predator, in which the titular Predator uses an energy blast to sever one of Dillon's arms before killing him.
 * Jessie's price on ebid is $19.99. A reference to the year Toy Story 2, her first appearance in the Toy Story franchise, was released.