8. Toy Story - A Dark Film With Woody As An Evil Ventriloquist Dummy
Pixar's 1995 classic is beloved by kids and adults alike, the computer generated movie was a real game changer that irrevocably altered the landscape of animated film. Inspired by the buddy cop genre, at Toy Story's heart was the conflict between two sentient toys, cowboy doll Woody and spaceman Buzz Lightyear, which eventually resulted in mutual friendship and respect. This heartwarming tale would have never come to pass, though, were it not for significant re-writes. In Toy Story's early drafts, Woody was a giant ventriloquist dummy, and was also the movie's main antagonist. Pixar's creative team didn't realise their mistake quickly, either. Through several rewrites Woody became the regular cowboy doll we came to know, but he remained evil for a surprisingly long time. Encouraged by Disney executives to go for a darker, edgy tone, Woody was a malevolent would-be leader of the toys who abused and terrorised the others (including a scene where he straight up throws Buzz out of a window), until the other toys band together to give him a taste of his own medicine and hurl him out of the same window. Would Pixar have become such a household name if their technical leap forward in animation was a tale of in-fighting toys involving abuse, murder and rebellion? I think we all know the answer to that one.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
