7. Toy Story (1995)
Back when Whedon was trying to get his name known, so too was a small animation studio known as Pixar. Having developed a number of computer generated short films, John Lasseter and his ambitious team decided to have a go at making a full length CGI feature; something that had never been done before, and that Lassater himself had been fired from Disney for trying to encourage. People were skeptical throughout Toy Story's production, Billy Crystal being one such example when he turned down the offer to voice Buzz Lightyear. Both audiences and the American Academy loved the film upon its release however, and Whedon earned his first and so far only academy award nomination. Crystal also considers this particular decision to be the biggest mistake of his career, but would later go on to voice Mike in Monsters, Inc. Twenty years later, and Whedon isn't the only one who's done well for himself. When Disney purchased Pixar in 2006, Lasseter became Chief Creative Officer for both (although the two companies actually work on separate projects, with Disney only acting as distributor for Pixar films) and is often credited with saving Disney from the possibility of creative and financial ruin. Despite following on from films made before a large chunk of its audience were even born, Toy Story 3 is the only animated film to make $1 Billion at the international box-office, and Pixar's unique working style has enabled them to produce some of the most captivating films and characters of modern movie history. Although their passion to tell good stories is obvious, it makes you wonder how much of Pixar's success was all down to that first film, and that little extra something added by Whedon.
Whedon Hallmark: "But we're not on my planet, are we?" - A fine example of the witty put downs Whedon's characters often come up with.