History
This section discusses the origins of Toy Story through the history of the company, technical developments and Pixar's relationship with Disney, which led to the approval of development of Toy Story.
Pixar and Disney: A match made in Toy Heaven.
Pixar and Disney teamed up to release the world's first computer generated movie but their first collaboration took place in 1987, where they entered into a joint technical effort that resulted in the development of CAPS--Computer Animated Production System, which won an Academy Award and was first used in "The Little Mermaid" and is now used in all Disney animated films. [Movieweb, 1995]
According to the Toy Story DVD, Walt Disney Feature Animation was looking for ways to diversify its release schedule by experimenting with other forms of animation. Seeing the opportunity to diversify, through a form of animation that the public hadn't seen, Disney signed Pixar to a three-picture deal in 1991, with Toy Story being the first of the three.
Pixar planned to create a thirty-minute animated short film as a training project, before starting Toy Story. However, with the encouragement of Peter Schneider, President of Walt Disney Feature Animation, Pixar bypassed the training project and went to work on the full length feature.
Copyright © November 2000, Adam Richardson.
History
Pixar and Disney