Unless I have missed something along the way, never have I come across the actual location of where each of the Toy Story films take place. Obviously, I know for a start that it is based within the United States, but where? The town or city and the state where Andy, his toys and his family lives is really questionable.
Like some other television shows and films, sometimes the writers prefer not to disclose such information. Who knows? This may or may not be the case with Toy Story. Hence, that is why I’d appreciate some of your opinions. Of course, the purpose of this post is just for some fun, and to see what everyone thinks regarding the topic.
Probably just a typical “Anytown, USA.” If it gets cold enough to snow at Christmas, it sure as hell ain’t Texas. That much I know. Then again, we did have a nice dusting this past December… and then Valentine’s Day was awesome!
If thats true I had no idea it was set in Michigan. I’m not sure if where he lives was ever officially established. Although, that would also give clues as to what college he’s going to. He’s close enough to drive there, after all.
For some oddreason, I thoguht they lived in Rhode Island. The small shops (like in the area where Scud chases Buzz), large houses and snow and rain levels lead me to think they live there.
I thought it was California, since al’s toy barn is shown on etch a sketch (and that commercial they got it from) to be where Pixar’s studio is located, which would be Emryville CA.
Excluding “Tri-County Area” They never really gave any other information. Unless the town is actully called “Tri-County”, because everything seems to reference that, especially Hamm. “There are more than 2,200 licence plates registered in the Tri-County Area alone” “Availiable at all Al’s Toy Barn outlets in the Tri-County Area” and in TS3, [spoil]The Garbage Dump has a sign that says “Tri-County Dump”[/spoil] and despite the move in the first one, it’s still the same. Just an interesting factor i’ve noticed. Then again… [spoil]Sid’s the Garbage boy, so I guess they didn’t move too far away…[/spoil]
It’s about the airport in Toy Story 2, which seems to be named Tri-County International Airport. So, now that we have found some clues it is obvious that the films are based somewhere within this place called Tri-County. Hmmm…
Hmm… According to this article, Toy Story 3 contains some references to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where Lee Unkrich was born and raised. For example, Andy’s Mom’s license plate frame reads “Tiger Pride”, referencing the mascot of Chagrin Falls, the Tiger.
These are probably just little easter eggs and TS2 and 3 probably don’t actually take place in Chagrin Falls. It might be wishful thinking, but it sure would be awesome if it was true, because I literally live ten minutes away from there, and I’ve even been there before!
I’ve always assumed that it was California because (like Kyle said), Etch drew a map in the second movie to help find Woody and the map had some routes and stuff that is only in California.
Either that or it’s kinda like Springfield in The Simpsons, so God only knows where they are in the US. Then again I’ve heard that Springfield is in some made up state called North Tacoma. I don’t know how true that is though.
Anyway, maybe it’s the same for Toy Story. On the license plates, [spoil]the garbage dump sign[/spoil] and I think on a few certificates it says Tri County. I’ve always thought that Tri County is just the name of a town, but if it’s on a license plate then maybe it’s a made up state(?)
Good point man. As you said, if Tri-County is on a license plate then it most likely may be a fictional state. This is however conflicted when Hamm says “There are more than 2,200 licence plates registered in the Tri-County Area alone”. If you analyse the quote, he refers to Tri-County as an area instead of a state.
As you pointed out, the situation is much like the one we have with the location of The Simpsons. There are all these great clues that we pick up on, yet when we put them all together they don’t make sense. I guess that is the beauty of it though. I think writers purposely spurt out little clues here and there just to get the audience thinking… The location of Toy Story could be a classic example of Anytown, USA. I’d still like to think that it is set somewhere, or if not, then heavily based on a realistic location.
Either that or John just stumbled across this and is going “What? Hey, Lee! Check this out, they think “Tri-County” is a state.”
It may be because they really didn’t need a specific state, it’s not really relevant to the story. Like the animators were saying in an interview… The world is just filled with symbols of real world objects. There’s only really the details you need to make the story believable. Also, someone mentioned it, but most of the location references are Easter eggs, like Al’s map of Emeryville, and the Ohio licence plate frame. A lot of the stuff like [spoil]Tri-County Dump[/spoil] could just be a reference to Hamm’s lines in the first Toy Story.
Living about a hour outside of Detroit for a few years I lived in the Tri-County area, When in the Buzz Lightyear commercial in toy story 1 it said available in the Tri-County area I was told it was where we lived “At its core, Metro Detroit comprises the counties of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties are sometimes referred to informally as the Detroit Tri-County Area”. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Detroit) Don’t know if this was what Pixar intended but its what I always assumed.
But yeah, I don’t think they ever intended for the movies to take place anywhere specific. they aimed to make it as generic as possible, so that if you lived in the US, there was a good chance you could relate. obviously this excludes anyone living in a city or something, but anyone in a suburban town should feel like it takes place where they live.
Kinda reminds me of the Wonder Years finale. "I remember a place, a town, a house. Like a lot of houses. a yard like a lot of other yards, on a street like a lot of other streets. "
I was referring to the “Availiable in all Al’s Toy Barn Outlets in the Tri-County Area” and “There’s over 2,200 registered plates in the Tri-County Area alone”. I thought Hamm said something similar in the first one, but apparently my mind’s been melded.
