Director(s): John Lasseter
Date Released: 1988
Released Alongside: Toy Story* (re-issued with its VHS release in 2000)
Just when I thought the creepy looking clown from Red’s Dream couldn’t be topped…
Tin Toy, Pixar’s academy award winning short about sentient toys, is the predecessor to what would become Pixar’s first feature length film, Toy Story. Yet where Toy Story balances the joys and horrors, Tin Toy focuses primarily (and for the most part unintentionally) on the horrors. The short stars Tinny (Wally B. the Bee, Red the Red Unicycle, and now Tinny the Tin Toy—how do they come up with these names), a tiny one-man band given as a present to an infant named Billy. After viewing Billy’s destructive form of playing (whether it be chewing on the toys, or throwing them violently across the room), Tinny wisely decides to skedaddle—only problem being the whole “one-man band” aspect, making noise with every step taken. A chase commences between baby and toy—and if I may praise one aspect of Tin Toy, it’s the short’s ability to make me feel the same fear Tinny has for Billy.
Tin Toy, Pixar’s academy award winning short about sentient toys, is the predecessor to what would become Pixar’s first feature length film, Toy Story. Yet where Toy Story balances the joys and horrors, Tin Toy focuses primarily (and for the most part unintentionally) on the horrors. The short stars Tinny (Wally B. the Bee, Red the Red Unicycle, and now Tinny the Tin Toy—how do they come up with these names), a tiny one-man band given as a present to an infant named Billy. After viewing Billy’s destructive form of playing (whether it be chewing on the toys, or throwing them violently across the room), Tinny wisely decides to skedaddle—only problem being the whole “one-man band” aspect, making noise with every step taken. A chase commences between baby and toy—and if I may praise one aspect of Tin Toy, it’s the short’s ability to make me feel the same fear Tinny has for Billy.
Billy, to put it bluntly, is terrifying to look at! Whether it be his jagged arm movements, uncanny valley head, or spider silk drool, the child is a nightmare for both toy and viewer. Such creepiness can work in the short’s favor, magnifying how frightening a child can be to its toys—one shot even uses cellophane paper to further distort Billy’s appearance. Unfortunately, the design backfires when Tin Toy uses Billy for non-thrilling parts—involuntarily tainting sweet and comedic moments, similar to the Clown from Red’s Dream. Yet unlike Red’s Dream, Tin Toy has a much lighter ending where Tinny musters enough courage to comfort a fallen Billy—only to be humorously rejected when Billy finds Tinny’s cardboard box more interesting. The ending is both touching and funny, yet cannot distract from Billy’s incredibly creepy design—who I suspect may have influenced the making of Toy Story’s Babyface (a sweet, yet horrific-looking toy who haunted my juvenile nightmares). Creepy baby aside, Tin Toy is certainly a step up from Red’s Dream, and a step in the right direction for Pixar’s storytelling.