Building a Better Sequel:
The Return of Buzz Lightjear and Woody

Creating a sequel to one of the most successful and beloved animated films of all times is a daunting undertaking, but for John Lasseter and the creative team, the challenge was well worth it. It gave them a chance to work with established characters that they knew and loved as well as to create a cast of fresh new characters that would complement and add to the story possibilities. Ironically, some of the key plot points for the sequel (the garage sale, the kidnapping, the obsessive toy collector, a squeak toy penguin, etc.) date back to the development of the first feature. Lasseter hatched the idea for Toy Story 2 one day over lunch with his colleague Pete Docter (who received a story credit on the first film). Andrew Stanton, who helped create the story and screenplay for the original Toy Story and went on to write and co-direct A Bug’s Life with Lasseter, helped to flesh out the story and characters with a draft of the screenplay. A trio of other screenwriters—Rita Hsiao (Mulan), Doug Chamberlin & Chris Webb—are also credited with adding structure and dimension to the final film. Story development for the sequel officially began in the spring of 1996.
“When we were done with the first film,” he continues, “we felt that there were so many more ideas and stories with these toys being alive that we hadn’t dealt with. One of those was the notion of a toy being outgrown by its child. If you’re lost, you can be found and everything will be okay. If you’re broken, you can be fixed. But for a toy, being outgrown is the worst thing that can happen. That’s it.”
Another idea for the sequel came from Lasseter’s personal experiences as a toy collector. He explains, “I have five sons and my four little ones love to come to Daddy’s office and play with my toys. A lot of them are antiques and one-of-a-kind items. I love my boys and I wanted them to play with these toys, but I found myself saying, ‘No, no, you can’t play with that one. Oh, here play with this one instead.’ As I looked at myself I began laughing because toys are manufactured and put on this earth to be played with by a child. That is the essence of Toy Story 2 and the core of the toys being alive. Everything that prevents them from being played with by a child causes them anxieties in their life.”
Drawing on a talented group of storytellers, the plot for Toy Story 2 began to take shape. Screenwriter Andrew Stanton observes, “our responsibility as writers is to analyze the story, discover the truth and utilize it. The hardest part of writing a feature is to come up with characters that are 3-dimensional and worth spending time with for the entire film. You pretty much spend every waking minute until the thing is in the can trying to make sure you’ve done it right. In the case of a sequel, I already knew who the characters were. It was great because I could say, ‘Oh well, Buzz would say this’ and ‘Woody would say that.’ There’s three balls that you have to juggle when you’re writing—plot, character and what I call drive, the thing that keeps an audience interested. With the main characters already established, we had the freedom to concentrate on the other two elements.”
Stanton adds, “I’m a believer that you can’t force a sequel just because of popular demand. If you want it to be liked as much as the first one, there’s got to be a whole self-sufficient reason for the movie to exist. Getting together with John and Joe Ranft and the co-directors (Lee and Ash) was like a class-reunion. The ideas just started to flow and we began drawing from the same memory banks. We fed each other in the way a group like Monty Python must have worked. In addition to all the great humor and action, Toy Story 2 has a depth of emotion that we were able to do better than in the original film. I’m proud of that and I think it makes the film unique.

John Lasseter (USA) made motion picture history in 1995 as the director of Toy Story, the first-ever computer-animated feature film. He has written and directed a number of short films and television commercials at Pixar, including Luxo Jr. (a 1986 Oscar nominee), Red´s Dream (1987), Tin Toy, which won the 1989 Academy Award, for Best Animated Short Film.

As a teenager, Lee Unkrich (USA) spent a number of years acting with the Cleveland Playhouse Youtheater. He graduated from USC’s prestigious film school in 1991. His reputation for being an expert on the avid digital editing system led him to his first assignment at Pixar in 1994.

Ash Brannon (USA) segues into directing following a distinguished career as a storyman and animator. Brannon developed an interest in art while attending a magnet school for the performing arts in Jacksonville, Florida. This led him to pursue animation studies at CalArts. He joined Pixar in 1993.