CHAPTER III FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS A. Synopsis of Toy Story Woody (Tom Hanks) is a pull-string cowboy doll and leader of a group of toys that belong to a boy named Andy Davis (John Morris), which act lifeless when humans are present. With his family moving homes one week before his birthday, Andy is given a week early party to spend with his friends. The toys stage a reconnaissance mission to discover Andy's new presents. Andy receives a space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) action figure, whose impressive features see him replacing Woody as Andy's favorite toy. Woody is resentful, especially as Buzz also gets attention from the other toys. However Buzz believes himself to be a real space ranger on a mission to return to his home planet, as Woody fails to convince him he is a toy. Andy prepares for a family outing at the space themed Pizza Planet restaurant. His mother tells him he can only bring one toy. Woody attempts to be picked instead of Buzz by trapping Buzz in a gap behind Andy's desk, but the plan goes disastrously wrong when he accidentally knocks Buzz out the window, resulting in the other toys accusing him of murdering Buzz out of jealousy. With Buzz missing, Andy takes Woody to Pizza Planet, but Buzz climbs into the car and confronts Woody when they stop at a gas station. The two fight and fall out of the car, which drives off and leaves them behind. Woody spots a truck bound for Pizza 31 Planet and plans to rendezvous with Andy there, convincing Buzz to come with him by telling him it will take him to his home planet. Once at Pizza Planet, Buzz makes his way into a claw game machine shaped like a spaceship, thinking it to be the ship Woody promised him. Inside, he finds squeaky aliens who revere the claw arm as their master. Woody clambers into the machine after Buzz, but they are interrupted when Andy's neighbor Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten), arrives and operates the machine. Spotting a Buzz Lightyear amidst the squeaky aliens, Sid maneuvers the claw to pick up Buzz. In the ensuing struggle the aliens force Buzz and Woody towards the claw, and they are captured. Woody is horrified because of Sid's reputation for torturing and destroying toys. At Sid's house, the two attempt to escape before Andy's moving day, encountering Sid’s nightmarish toy creations and his vicious dog, Scud. Buzz sees a commercial for Buzz Lightyear action figures and realizes that he really is a toy. Disbelieving, he attempts to fly, but instead falls and loses his left arm. Buzz goes into depression and is unable to cooperate with Woody. Woody waves Buzz’s arm from a window to seek help from the toys in Andy’s room, but they are horrified thinking Woody had murdered Buzz when they see Buzz's disconnected arm, while Woody realizes Sid's toys are friendly when they reconnect Buzz's arm. Sid prepares to destroy Buzz by strapping him to a rocket, but is delayed that evening by a thunderstorm. Woody convinces Buzz that life is worth living because of the joy he can bring to Andy, which helps Buzz regain his spirit. Cooperating with Sid's toys, Woody rescues Buzz and scares Sid away by 'breaking a few rules' and coming to life in front of him, warning him to never harm toys again. Woody and Buzz then 32 wave goodbye to the mutant toys and return home through a fence, but miss Andy’s car as it drives away to his new house. Down the road, they climb onto the moving truck containing Andy’s other toys, but Scud chases them, bites down on Woody's leg and tries to pull him off. Buzz tackles the dog to save Woody. Woody attempts to rescue Buzz with Andy's RC car but the other toys, who think Woody had now got rid of RC together with Buzz, attack Woody and toss him off on to the road. After Scud is trapped in a car pileup, Woody drives RC back with Buzz alive, and the other toys, who realize their mistake, try to help them get in the truck. However they fail as RC's batteries become depleted, but Woody ignites the rocket on Buzz's back and manages to throw RC into the moving truck before they soar into the air. Buzz opens his wings to cut him free before the rocket explodes, gliding with Woody to land safely into a box in Andy’s car. Andy looks into it and is elated to have found his two missing toys. On Christmas Day at their new house, Buzz and Woody stage another reconnaissance mission to prepare for the new toy arrivals, one of which is a Mrs. Potato Head, much to the delight of Mr. Potato Head. As Woody jokingly asks what might be worse than Buzz, the two share a worried smile as they discover Andy's new gift is a puppy. 33 B. Toy Story Characters 1. Andy's Toys a. Woody Sheriff Woody Pride is a cowboy, and Andy's favorite. Appearing in all three Toy Story films, he usually acts as the leader of the gang. His rivalry with Buzz forms the basis of the plot of the first film. In Toy Story 2, he is stolen at a yard sale by a toy collector, causing the other toys to embark on a rescue mission. In Toy Story 3 he and the other toys are shipped to a daycare. b. Buzz Lightyear Buzz Lightyear is a "space ranger", and wears a space suit with various features such as retractable wings and transparent helmet, a laser "weapon", and various sound effects. In Toy Story, he begins the series and develops a rivalry with Woody, who resents him for getting more attention as the newcomer. He is extremely loyal to his friends. During his time trapped at Sid's house, Hannah, Sid's sister, called Buzz Mrs. Nesbit. In Toy Story 2, Buzz goes to save Woody from Al with Potato Head, Ham, Rex, and Slink (Slinky Dog) where he gets stuck in the Buzz Lightyear aisle in Al's Toy Barn by another Buzz and finds out for himself what he was really like. In Toy Story 3, a friendship begins to develop between Buzz and Jessie. He is particularly open with his affection when switched to "Spanish mode". 34 c. Jessie Jessica Jane "Jessie" Pride is a cowgirl, and part of the Woody's Round Up gang. She first appeared in Toy Story 2 along with Bullseye and Stinky Pete. Initially, Jessie was hesitant to join Andy's friends. After she becomes part of the family, she is very happy (after the despite the Andy first calls her Bazooka Jane). In Toy Story 3, she was riding Bullseye when Woody fell off the train in Andy's opening sequence. She argued with Woody on their way to Sunnyside Daycare because of when the others think Andy threw them out. Later in the film, Jessie feels close with Buzz, even when Buzz got switched into Spanish. At the end, Jessie and Buzz danced to the Spanish version of "You've Got a Friend in Me". Jessie also appears in Pixar's Monsters inc. as one of the toys Boo gives Sully. d. Evil Emperor Zurg Evil Emperor Zurg is a space villain action figure and Buzz Lightyear'sarchenemy. He has red evil eyes with neon gritting teeth, silver horns on his head, a purple tunic with a black cape on it and his weapon, a gun (which has a power control that, as an homage to This is Spinal Tap, goes to 11). In some cases, he does not have a gun but a hand like the one on his other arm. In the first film, Zurg is a referenced character, and does not appear at all. However, Zurg is first seen in the opening sequence of the second film when Buzz is trying to take his main power away from him (Zurg's main power is from an AA battery). In the ensuing battle, Zurg 35 vaporizes the top half of Buzz Lightyear's body with his gun. The sequence then cuts showing that the opening sequence was actually a video game played by Rex. As the story progresses, a Zurg toy in Al's Toy Barn bursts out from its box and follows Andy's Buzz Lightyear, who is on the way to rescue Woody from Al McWhiggin. Zurg is deluded, similar to Andy's Buzz in the first film. In the second film, another copy of Buzz Lightyear, who also acts similar to Buzz in the first film, escapes from Al's Toy Barn and battles with Zurg using toy components (pin balls and lights). In a reference to the relationship of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, the principal hero and villain respectively of the original Star Wars trilogy, Evil Emperor Zurg claims he is in fact the father of Buzz, in an almost word-for-word parody of the scene in The Empire Strikes Back. As Zurg attempts to finish off Buzz #2 (at point-blank range), Rex accidentally hits Zurg with his large tail, sending him falling down the elevator shaft. The second Buzz then looks over the shaft and reaches his hand out, thinking he has lost his father, while Rex is excited that he has finally managed to defeat Zurg in real life.