Pixar Filmography, Volume 1: Doing the Impossible or, A Collaboration of People on “a bug’s life” and “Toy Story 2"

It’s No Small World
Prior to Toy Story’s release in 1995, the film’s main story writers—director John Lasseter, the late Joe Ranft, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter—got together for a now-famous lunch to discuss other ideas, optimistic that they might have the opportunity to make another movie. A film about bugs was one of those ideas, and became their next feature film. (The other ideas consisted of monsters, fish, and a robot, respectfully.)

It was a challenge for Pixar not just technologically, but to see if they could be as sophisticated and enthused as they were for their first movie. As with any sophomoric effort, they set out to prove they were serious and caring about the work they did. At the same time, they didn’t want to repeat themselves. This is no different than in Walt Disney’s day and age during the late 1930s and early 1940s, when he and his studio followed up Snow White (1937) with such ambitious projects as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), and Bambi (1942), in terms of maintaining a sense of creativity and innovation.

With a bug’s life (loosely based on the Aesop fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper”), the filmmakers created an organic and complex world full of color and scale (outdoor, natural environments, presented in widescreen!), witty humor, and a cast of thousands of insects of all shapes and sizes. (No human characters are in this film, for the record.) According to TIME magazine in 2004, “it took 12 times the computer power of ‘Toy Story’ to make [this film].” As with Toy Story, the filmmakers took advantage of an idea that is familiar to the audience, and then took it to a whole other level by telling a story that proved to be, according to advertisements, “an epic of miniature proportions.”

Flik embarks on an epic adventure

The film follows a misfit inventor ant named Flik, who insists on going out into the world and finding “bigger bugs” to fight off grasshopper adversaries that threaten his colony. He does find help in the form of “warrior bugs,” who turn out to be misfit circus performers. What follows are a series of ironies and misunderstandings and perceptions of others, which add to the complexity and wittiness already on display.

From the beginning, it’s clear the ant colony is held down by conformity and expectations from the adversary grasshoppers, led by the menacing Hopper. Flik wants to make a difference in his community, but is looked down on for his unconventional ways. At the same time, Princess Atta is in the process of becoming queen, yet stressing and worrying over how her role may impact those around her. Her younger sister Dot has aspirations herself, yet is held back because of her small stature. And the cast of circus performers—including Slim the walking stick, Heimlick the Bavarian caterpillar, Francis the male ladybug, Rosie the black widow spider, Dim the rhinoceros beetle, Manny the praying mantis, Gypsy the gypsy moth, and twin pill bugs Tuck & Roll—all long for meaningful lives. The film displays, both in the story and on the filmmakers’ parts, an amazing amount of team effort and community as the ant colony (and the circus troupe) come together in unexpected ways to show what they’re made of and what they’re meant for.

Bugs taking to the sky

This is arguably one of the most under-appreciated films in Pixar’s canon. And even though it was only their second feature, it was nonetheless a challenging and fun effort (as director Lasseter and company recounted years later) that proved the studio wasn’t just a one-hit wonder with Toy Story, and therefore had other stories to tell outside the toy box. For extra fun, Pixar created animated “outtakes” (something they did for their next two films as well).

The Toys Are Back
Following Bugs, Toy Story 2 proved an even greater challenge. Initially made for direct-to-video release by a second-unit team at the studio, the story proved so good that they decided to revamp it for theatrical release. However, Lasseter and company found the current result “not very good” and made the daunting decision to scrap and rewrite the entire film nine months before its scheduled release date of November 1999.

The sequel follows a team effort by Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head, Rex the dinosaur, Hamm the piggy bank, and Slinky Dog to rescue Woody from a greedy toy collector, who plans to ship Woody and a collection of “Roundup Gang” dolls (newcomers Jessie the cowgirl, Bullseye the horse, and Stinky Pete the Prospector) to a toy museum in Japan. Woody finds the notion of living forever in a museum tempting, as he has begun to fear that his owner, Andy, will someday outgrow him and he won’t be played with anymore. One could argue that a theme in this film is choosing between what is popular (being a prized item in a museum) and what is real (being loved by a child).

Buzz and company are out to bring Woody home

Like Bugs, this film improves on its predecessor in scale and locations, going from Andy’s room to the big city, from “Al’s Toy Barn” to an elevator vent to the local airport and beyond. Other new characters include Wheezy the asthmatic but loveable penguin, Buster the dog, Tour Guide Barbie, another deluded Buzz Lightyear toy, Emperor Zurg (an obvious parody of Darth Vader), and greedy toy collector Al (a brilliant showcase for Pixar’s improvement in human animation). There’s also plenty of fun and entertainment for kids and adults, including some clever homages to classic films as Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Rear Window, for the latter. A few subplots include a 50s T.V. western, as well as a contemporary space video game Rex obsesses over. The filmmakers even decided to incorporate original ideas from the first movie back into this film (e.g., Woody’s nightmare about being thrown away, and an opening Buzz Lightyear cartoon).

More importantly, Toy Story 2 tells a deeper story involving the relationships between toys and their owners, and what the former are meant for. Jessie’s backstory scene, featuring “When She Loved Me” by Sarah McLachlan, is especially bittersweet and heartbreaking, and arguably set a new benchmark for Pixar in terms of emotional resonance beyond the medium of animation.

Cast of Toy Story 2

The fact that everyone involved in the making of this film improved on the original and made it even more emotionally-involving and successful is a testament to their determination and dedication. For one thing, it was a box-office success when it was released on Thanksgiving of 1999, earning double the amount of its predecessor. It also received a 100 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is considered by many critics to be a rare sequel that lives up to or exceeds the original. That’s not to say that making the film took an extreme toll on the crew, which it reportedly did. Furthermore, both Bugs and TS2 represent not just the enormous amount of technological breakthrough in the film industry, but also the enormous amount of group effort that was given into making great quality products.

To reiterate what Lasseter said during the first Toy Story, “It’s the people that created this picture” (my emphasis). Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull agrees, “The important thing is not the idea. The important thing is the people. It’s how they work together.” And it was this message and lesson that would lead to the creation of a new studio where everyone at Pixar could work, interact, and play under one roof, and give other filmmakers opportunities to bring their own stories to life.