Topic Proposal: How Toy Story Changed the Film Industry
Introduction/Overview
My topic of inquiry is how Toy Story, and the Toy Story franchise, changed
the film industry by being the first animated film. The very first Toy Story movie was
released November 22, 1995 and was the first computer animated feature film. It
became the highest grossing film of 1995 making $192 million in the US and $362
million worldwide (Pixar Website). Toy Story will also win 23 awards across the board
from different branches of entertainment award shows. I will also extend my inquiry
search into the animation process itself and how it has evolved over time. The
animation process is quite a long one, and depending on the detail of the scene, it can
take two weeks with the whole team working to finish 30 seconds of a scene. The
technology in animation has not only created a new form of film but it has also added
depth to the pre-existing live way of film. With the technology behind animation, live
action films have increased in depth and complexity. They are now allowed to have
humans and computer generated characters in one film and not have them completely
see through as seen t=in the original Land of the Lost. Toy Story, while being an
amazing movie all on its own, changed the fate of movies and movie making forever.
Initial Inquiry Questions
What is the basic steps in creating an animated film? How has the technology grown
since the first Toy Story? If they have, how have non animated films improved/changed
due to the technology developed through the making of Toy Story? How has the Toy
Story franchise progressed throughout the three films?
My Interest in this Topic
This topic is extremely interesting to me because Toy Story was a major
part of my childhood and it is still a part of my life today. I was born in 1997 so the first
film had already been out for two years and the second film came out in 1999. I watched
the second movie every day and it drove my parents crazy but I couldnt get enough.
When the third movie came out in 2010, my dad and I saw it the day it came out and I
will admit I cried like a baby. My best friend Mollie gave me a woody doll when I left to
go to college and that meant more to me than any of the gifts I received for graduation. I
was also very unaware of the animation process until I watched the third film with
directors commentary over it. They discussed the time that it took, their growth from the
first film and how the animation improved, and they also talked about how they tie in
past and future Pixar films. I then began looking into the animation processes from other
films as well as Toy Story and I was fascinated by the process and the end result.
What I know?
I can comfortably say that I know the storyline of Toy Story to a T. I also am very
familiar with the general timeline of pixar films, the progression of the characters in Toy
Story from the first to the third in terms of how the improvement of animation improved
the quality of the characters on screen, and very general knowledge of the animation
process.
What I want to learn?
Through my research I want to learn more about how much Toy Story really did
change the industry, more detail about the animation process, how the animation
process has improved, and also what steps they are taking to make it bigger and better.
Next Steps
For my research I will be looking at the Pixar website for broad information
about their history with the technology. They obviously will not want to give all of their
secrets away so I will also look in other areas to get better details. For animation
regarding Toy Story, the directors commentary in the third film gave great insight so I
will take notes on that as well. As part of my project I am also thinking about creating a
timeline for the major milestones in animation. For resources, the library database has
some good articles on animation and I can also look at news articles that broke the
news about new advancements in technology.
TJ Comments- This is a really unique topic. I think that within your paper you will have alot of
opportunities to include images from the movies. You can demonstrate how the animation
process has improved from the original movie to the latest by including side by side pictures of
woody and buzz.
Michelles comment: I really enjoyed the personal connection behind your topic, it provides good
motivation for the rest of the writing process. I also agree with TJ that you should include the
pictures that will help aid with the points youre trying to make. A mixed presentation of a paper
and some type of other visual video would take this proposal to the next level. I saw some
examples of students making videos and that would work out really well.