Tin Toy is a 1988 Pixar short film. It was written and directed by John Lasseter.
Tin Toy won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, the first for a computer-animated film.
Plot[]
The short takes place in a single room. A mechanical one-man band toy named Tinny sees a huge baby named Billy crawl in. At first, Tinny is delighted at the prospect of being played with by Billy, until he sees how destructive the infant can be, like sucking on a plastic ring and destroying a string of beads. Tinny tries to walk away from Billy, but his musical instruments make some loud noises, catching Billy's attention. Realizing that he has been seen, Tinny starts to run away, prompting an excited Billy to start chasing him. After a brief chase, Tinny takes refuge under a couch, where he discovers Billy's other toys, hiding out of fear of being played with by Billy.
Suddenly, Billy trips and falls to the floor, causing him to start crying. Tinny sees Billy crying and, feeling bad for him, decides to cheer up the baby. Although he succeeds in making Billy stop crying, Tinny is annoyed about being forgotten already, as Billy is now interested in playing with Tinny's packaging, and the paper bag that came with it. As Billy starts walking out the room with the bag over his head, Tinny begins to follow Billy, hoping to get his attention back. Not long after, the toys hiding under the couch, realizing the coast is clear, begin to run around the room without the fear of getting harmed.
Merchandise[]
Tin Toy collectible figure produced by MINDstyle.
Concept art for the figure.
In 2010, Disney licensee MINDstyle produced a limited edition vinyl maquette of the character Tinny as an Art Toy Collectible. Created in a limited edition of only 500 pieces, the exterior box packaging was a faithful reproduction of the box seen in the toy short. In addition to containing the model of Tinny, it included a certificate of authenticity printed on a card with a pencil storyboard of a scene from the short.[1]
Planned sequel[]
Tinny with the ventriloquist dummy in one of the original sketches for Toy Story.
A follow-up entitled A Tin Toy Christmas was planned as a holiday TV special. The plot involved Tinny being put into storage at a mall after he failed to sell, where he would have met with other toys who had had the same thing done to them. However, due to lack of funding for the project, it was dropped. Later, when Pixar and Disney collaborated on Toy Story, Tinny was to be the main character of the film. The original draft of Toy Story's script told the story of how Tinny got left behind at a rest stop and teamed up with a ventriloquist dummy in search of a new home. Later it was decided that both toys were too old-fashioned and they were replaced with Lunar Larry (later renamed Buzz Lightyear) and Woody respectively.
Trivia[]
- When the short premiered at SIGGRAPH, the short stopped abruptly at the point where Tinny saw Billy approach him from inside his box. This was fixed in all subsequent releases.
- The paper bag Billy plays with at the end features the old Pixar logo on the bottom-left.
- At the beginning of the short, when the camera shows the entire room, there is a picture of a Luxo lamp at the top-right.
- A Tin Toy book can be seen stacked on Andy's bookshelf during the first Toy Story. The book is located on the second to the bottom shelf, and can be seen when Woody passes by Etch A Sketch before their duel, or when Woody talks at the toy meeting.
- The book's author is shown as "Lasseter." A reference to the director and writer of the short, John Lasseter.
- A Little Golden Book version appears in Toy Story Midway Mania!.
- In Toy Story 2, when Hamm is flipping through the channels to find the Al's Toy Barn commercial, you can see brief clips of Tin Toy and other early Pixar shorts.
- Some of the toys from the short can be seen cowering under a table at Sunnyside when the kids come into the Caterpillar Room in Toy Story 3.
- Tinny can be seen under the bed in Lifted.
- The picture on the table is an actual photograph of director John Lasseter.[2]
- There is a message written at the end of the credits that reads, "Any resemblance to actual toys or children is unintentional. To open, press down while turning cap. Pixar and RenderMan are registered trademarks of Pixar. Seatbelts save lives. No portion of this movie, including its soundtrack, may be reproduced in any manner or we won't be your friends anymore. This bag is not a toy. Keep out of reach of children."
- The game show "The Price is Right" can be heard on TV near the beginning and end.
- Billy's diaper slowly shifts in color throughout the short. When he crawls into the room, it is white with blue hues, but at the end it is predominantly yellow with leftover white hues.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_081110a.htm
- ↑ Price, David A. (2008). The Pixar Touch. P. 105. New York, Alfred A. Knopf