Toy Story: How Pixar Reinvented the Animated Feature

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995), Pixar’s first feature-length production and Hollywood’s first completely computer-generated animated film, is an international cultural phenomenon. This collection brings together a diverse range of scholars and practitioners who together explore the themes, compositional techniques, cultural significance and industry legacy of this landmark in contemporary cinema.

Topics range from industrial concerns, such as the film’s groundbreaking use of computer generated imagery and the establishment of Pixar as a major player in the animation world, to examinations of its music, aesthetics, and the role of toys in both the film and its fandom. The Toy Story franchise as a whole is also considered, with chapters looking at its cross-generational appeal and the experience of growing up alongside the series.

As the first substantial work on this landmark film, this book will serve as an authoritative introduction for scholars, students and fans alike.

Susan Smith is Reader in Film Studies at the University of Sunderland, UK. She is author of Elizabeth Taylor (BFI/Palgrave, 2012), Voices in Film (Wallflower Press, 2007), The Musical: Race, Gender and Performance (Columbia University Press, 2005) and Hitchcock: Suspense, Humour and Tone (BFI, 2000). She also co-edits the BFI’s Film Stars series.

Noel Brown is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at Liverpool Hope University, UK. He is author of The Hollywood Family Film (2012), British Children’s Cinema (2016), The Children’s Film (2017) and Contemporary Hollywood Animation (forthcoming), and is co-editor of Family Films in Global Cinema (2015).

Sam Summers is a researcher at the Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sunderland, UK. His research focuses on the use of intertextual references in contemporary animation and DreamWorks’ animation in general, with a view to contextualising and historicising the studio’s role in the development of the medium.