Tot Story 2 theatrically.
But at Pixar,
a creative crisis was growing within.
We knew Toy Sfory 2
was having troubles.
I don't think we realized
how bad it was really going,
and then we found out.
It just was not shaping up to be
at the level that we thought
it needed to be.
CATMULL: John came back from
his European promotional trip
and then came in
and saw the reels and said,
"You're right, it's not very good. "
So at that point,
we went down to Disney and said,
"The film isn't very good.
We have to redo it. "
And they said,
"It actually is good enough,
"but more importantly,
you literally do not have the time. "
And what we said at the time was,
"We can't deliver it the way it is.
We have to do it over again. "
We decided that
the only course of action
was to ask John to go in,
right after he'd come off of
A Bug's Life, without any rest,
to go in and take over that film.
My feeling was I could not ask
anybody at Pixar
to do something
I was not willing to do myself.
I said to him,
"Well, I support you all the way.
"I'd like to see you do this picture,
but we also have a family here,
"and you're gonna have to
"make changes in your
day-to-day routine.
"You're gonna have
to work normal hours. "
This is a movie that was already
fully into production.
A lot of it was animated.
It was a bullet train heading
towards a release date.
NARRATOR: Over a single weekend,
John and his creative team
from the first Tot Story
reworked the entire script.
John came back and pitched that story
to the animation department.
Just in that pitch,
he totally fired everyone up
and inspired everyone
to really do the impossible.
Nine months before
it's supposed to come out,
John threw the vast majority
of the movie out and started over,
which is unheard of.
NARRATOR: With Tom Schumacher
overseeing production for Disney,
even he knew this was
beyond the studio's control.
LASSETER: After a while, he said,
"Guys, you know better than I do
"what it's gonna take
to make this, so just go.
"You have no time to wait
for my approvals.
"Just go, go, go, go, go. "
DOCTER: There's kind of
a chemistry with us.
We just spin off each other well,
or build on top of each other.
It's always this core group of guys
keeping each other in check.
We were able to finish
each other's sentences
and take each other's ideas
and heighten them,
and someone else
would heighten it even more.
NARRATOR: They broadened
the scope ofToy Story 2,
introducing new characters
and special effects,
rivaling those of the best
live-action epics.
The animators were pushed
to their limits.
(BUZZ LIGHTYEAR GRUNTS)
(BUZZ LIGHTYEAR SCREAMING)
(GRUNTS)
LASSETER: The amount of footage
that was going through that studio
was staggering.
Seeing the work that's
coming out of the animators,
it's actually inspired me as a director.
Give it to a good animator,
"Okay, make this special,
make this funny,
"make this entertaining
for this moment. "
Some animators have
the clear character stamps,
like Doug Sweetland.
I was thinking that Woody would be
coming outta the saloon.
Give us something like. . .boof!
LASSETER: There's reasons for every
single movement he does,
which is hilarious.
He's not, like, looking at her.
He's kind of, like,
looking over her shoulder, like,
"Say, little missy,
seen any trouble around these parts?"
Say, little missy, you notice any
trouble around these parts?
(LAUGHS) Nary a bit!
Not with Sheriff Woody around !
Wait, wait, wait! I got it, I got it.
This is great.
Okay, the bandits got the critters
tied up in the burning barn,
and now for the best part!
"Help us! The barn's on fire!"
"I've got you, critters. No need to worry.
Woody saves the day again !"
RANFT: You're trying to find what you
would hope the audience would feel
when they're watching this movie.
Every other department is
on board to use the environment,
the color, the lighting, the