Throwback

Toy Story Throwback: ‘Toy Story 3’ Commercials

Heidi Wilhelm2 Comments

Cars 3 premieres this week, and with it has come a steady stream of promotional ads, new merchandise, special events, and of course trailers and television commercials.  The advertising campaign for a new Pixar movie is always exciting, especially when the characters and setting allow for a little extra creativity in commercials.  A couple years ago, the Inside Out cast popped up in all sorts of television ads, from the Super Bowl in January through the movie’s theatrical release in June.  Dory and her aquatic friends weren’t quite as conducive to interacting with people in a commercial setting, nor were dinosaurs, so I don’t recall seeing quite as many for those films.  But I do remember lots of commercials during the months surrounding Toy Story 3‘s release, and thought it would be fun to look back at them in a throwback post.

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Toy Story Throwback: Lee Unkrich’s ‘Toy Story 3’ Formspring

Heidi Wilhelm

lee-unkrich

We passed the two-year countdown mark for Toy Story 4 back in June – down to 20 months now – but we still have a long way to go.  And since news on the upcoming sequel continues to be light these days, I thought I might as well share another of my “throwback” posts while we wait.  It’s as good a time as any to reminisce about the previous Toy Story film, as we anticipate the next one and ponder what secrets its story holds for us.

I think it’s safe to say that anyone who was a part of the Toy Story fandom during the days surrounding Toy Story 3‘s release in 2010 can remember director Lee Unkrich’s account on Formspring.  The now-defunct social media site’s format was strictly Q&A, and although I never had the nerve to ask him anything myself, I can remember checking often to see if he’d answered anything new.  Sadly, he deleted the account – and all the goodness it contained – not too long thereafter, so I never had the chance to screencap or jot down the questions that were asked and their replies, which were fascinating to a fan like myself.

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Toy Story Throwback: ‘Toy Story That Time Forgot’ at SDCC 2014

Heidi Wilhelm2 Comments

SDCC 2

Since San Diego Comic Con is going on right now – and since Pixar doesn’t seem to have any official presence there this year, at least none that I noticed on the event schedule – I thought it might be fun to revisit my throwback posts and take a look back at their panel featuring the television special, Toy Story That Time Forgot, in July 2014.

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Toy Story Throwback: Toy Story of TERROR!

Heidi Wilhelm2 Comments

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With this week being Halloween, I thought I’d look back at all of two years ago, when
Toy Story of TERROR! made its debut on national TV.  Even though I own the special on Blu-ray – which I bought, of course, the morning it came out, and rushed home to devour all the bonus features – every time it’s shown on television, I can’t help but watch.  It takes me back to October 2013 and the anticipation surrounding its first broadcast.

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Toy Story Throwback: Toy Story at the Oscars

Heidi Wilhelm2 Comments

toy-story-2-oscars

Even though the next Academy Awards are still a while away, I thought that – with the Emmys this weekend and all – it might be a good time to revisit some of my very favorite archival material relating to the Toy Story films.  I usually don’t make a big fuss over awards shows myself, unless there’s a movie (or a television show, or a musical performer) that I care especially about – needless to say, anything Toy Story would definitely get me to watch!  And I’m no film critic or analyst, by any means, so don’t expect any discussion of the merits of nominations or statistical facts from me here.  With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s take a look at the toys’ presence at the Oscars back in 1996, 2000, and 2011…

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Toy Story Throwback: ‘Toy Story 2’ Cast Interviews

Heidi Wilhelm12 Comments

Toy Story 2Although Toy Story 4 news has been scarce since D23, it won’t be long before we’ll be seeing lots of new promotional material – commercials, merchandise, posters, stock images, and social media/website content, just to name a part of what we have to look forward to.  In fact, the promo stuff is one of the things I remember most fondly from Toy Story 3 days.  It was exciting to randomly catch the toys in commercials, not only for their movie but for other things as well (a Target commercial comes to mind, and one for the U.S. Postal Service), or to walk into a store and find Toy Story-themed items in practically every aisle.  I’m still hoarding Band-Aids, shampoo bottles, and macaroni and cheese (I’ll never eat it!) that are no longer available.  By this time next year, we should be starting to receive a steady supply of ads and info, but until then, we have to make do with the few-and-far-between details we’ve been getting since last November.

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