Tin Toy (1988)

Director:

John Lasseter

Writer:

John Lasseter (story)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Family

Plot:

A tin one-man-band toy tries to escape a destructive baby.

Plot Keywords:

Toy | Baby | Chase | Computer Animation | Inanimate Object

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins

Directed by
John Lasseter

Writing credits
John Lasseter		(story)

Produced by
William Reeves	....	producer

Sound Department
Gary Rydstrom	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Anthony A. Apodaca	....	renderman team (as Tony Apodaca)
Don Conway	....	output scanning (as Cosmic Don Conway)
Craig Good	....	modeler
Ralph Guggenheim	....	output scanning
Pat Hanrahan	....	renderman team
Jeff Hilgert	....	renderman team
Ken Huey	....	systems support
John Lasseter	....	modeler
Jim Lawson	....	renderman team
Sam Leffler	....	renderman team
Jeffrey Mock	....	renderman team
Eben Ostby	....	modeler
Darwyn Peachey	....	renderman team
William Reeves	....	modeler
Steven Sequeira	....	systems support
Carson L. Silkey	....	systems support
Scott Taylor	....	systems support

Camera and Electrical Department
Anthony A. Apodaca	....	best boy (as Tony Apodaca)

Animation Department
Craig Good	....	additional animator
John Lasseter	....	animator
Eben Ostby	....	additional animator
William Reeves	....	additional animator

Editorial Department
Craig Good	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Forrest Patten	....	music consultant

Other crew
Susan Anderson	....	production coordinator
Loren Carpenter	....	elf
Ed Catmull	....	elf
Ralph Guggenheim	....	elf
Ralph Guggenheim	....	production coordinator
David Haddick	....	film recording consultant
Mark Leather	....	elf
Eben Ostby	....	technical director
Flip Phillips	....	elf
William Reeves	....	technical director
David Salesin	....	dynamics
Deirdre Warin	....	production coordinator

Thanks
Bill Adams	....	very special thanks
Ed Catmull	....	very special thanks
Steve Jobs	....	very very special thanks
Nancy Kemper	....	special thanks
Alvy Ray Smith	....	very special thanks
James K. Wilson	....	special thanks
Neftalí Álvarez 'El Magnífico'	....	special thanks (as Neftali 'El Magnifico' Alvarez)

Production Companies

• Pixar Animation Studios

Distributors

• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2007) (Finland) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Buena Vista Pictures
• Walt Disney Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Evans & Sutherland  PS350 Display System
• Kaleidosound  music consulting
• Matrix Instruments  film recorder
• Polhemus Navigation Sciences  3-Space Digitizer
• Satellite Imaging  35mm animation camera
• Sprocket Systems  sound recording

Also Known As:

Runtime:

5 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:All | Australia:G | Finland:K-7 | Argentina:Atp | UK:U

Company:

Pixar Animation Studios

Trivia:

Selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2003.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The number of panes in the reflection of the window from Tin Toy is inconsistent with the number of panes in the shadow cast on the wooden floor. This was deliberate by the 3D modelers as they wanted a cartoon 'bubble'-like feel to the reflection on Tin Toy and not a realistic one.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Stars and Stripes Forever

Pixar knows exactly how to portray emotions, which is one of their greatest assets to their films.

"Tin Toy" is a simple short with only two main characters. A little tin toy band member that walks around and plays the symbols is the protagonist, and the destructive little baby is the antagonist. It's a simple story that follows the very childlike statement that "You don't want something unless someone else does." and vice versa.

A little tin toy is lonely. A baby crawls into the room and the tin toy can't wait for the baby to play with it. Soon it finds out this baby is a destructive force, tearing apart and drooling on everything it sees. The tin toy has several changes of heart which end in a bit of a twist ending.

This is one of Pixar's earliest shorts, and the animation is far from perfect. It doesn't have the fluidity seen in their later productions, but you can't blame them, this was '80s computer animation. One thing that Pixar has kept over the years it's their perfect way of portraying emotion. Just through little movements of the face, they give great emotion, which is what this short relies on, as there is no dialogue. It's a good and sweet natured short.

My rating: *** out of ****. 5 mins.