Toy Story turns 20 years old: A brief history of the Pixar classic

'To infinity... and beyond'

Toy Story is one of Pixar's 13 films to have music from its score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at Pixar in Concert on Saturday 22 February (Rex)

On the 22nd of November, 1995, Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato Head and Bo Peep came alive on cinema screens for the first time. That’s right, Toy Story was released 20 years ago today in the US.

Not only was the film the first ever feature-length CGI animated film, it was also Pixar’s fist. Its success sent the studio stratospheric, leading to the release of not only two Toy Story sequels, but also A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo.

Of course, none of this would have happened if Toy Story had flopped. Luckily, backed by an all-star voice cast including Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz) and John Ratzenberger (Hamm), the film hit all the right notes, winning over millions of children's' hearts, and solidifying it as modern day classic.

However, the original script wasn’t quite so loveable, with Woody originally being written as a ventriloquist dummy who was both creepy and evil, Hanks at one point describing him as a “jerk”.

Watch an early test below and thank ‘The Mouse’ they changed it.

After changing Woody into the kind cowboy we know today, as well as changing Buzz’s name from Tinny, the film finally went into the animating process, bringing Pixar’s film to life.

The film - directed by John Lasseter - went on to gross over $361 million worldwide and received three Oscar nominations including Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song for Randy Newman’s "You've Got a Friend in Me”.

While it may have received its US and Canadian release in November 1995, the UK and the majority of the world wouldn’t get to see the toys’ adventure until March the following year.

It has been confirmed that a fourth Toy Story film - also to be directed by Lasseter - is in the works, with Hanks revealing how he got told off by Disney for telling journalists that another film was being made.

However, Hanks apparently held his ground and told the conglomerate “Hey, I’m sorry, but let me point out, I am Woody, pal!”.

While Hanks may be credited as having voiced the Sheriff throughout every film, in an interview recently he admitted that his brother sometimes steps in at the last moment.