okay while watching TS the other day…i noticed two things
- the gas station where Woody and Buzz catch a ride is a Dinoco station… teh same peeps who play a big part in Cars
- Buzz’s ad is from Al’s Toy Barn…from TS2…
And Stinky Pete asked Woody if Andy’s really going to take him to college, which he [spoil]nearly does[/spoil]
The end of Toy Story 2 really set the bar for Toy Story 3.
Cars was referring to Toy Story, not vice versa.
By the time Toy Story was being made, it was entirely unclear whether Pixar would be able to do another movie. Bug’s Life was being made just in case there was, I think. At the time, Toy Story was a standalone movie, so it didn’t try to set up a story arc or a plot thread, other than the fact that toys seem to always hang their lives on a thread.
I was just trying to make clear to the poster that Toy Story was not foreshadowing Cars, but the other way around. Glad to see that you agree 
Well done for spotting those, LakethePondling! We actually have a Definitive Pixar In-Jokes List which includes all of the references each Pixar film has made to another Pixar film, so I’ll lock this thread up now. =)