Toy Story Parallels/Mirrored Scenes

Having viewed the first two Toy Story films almost hundreds of times, I have noticed an interesting pattern. I assume that this is common with sequels, but it amazed me when I started to notice tiny scenes from Toy Story mirrored in Toy Story 2. For example, in the first film when Buzz and Woody are fighting under the van at the Dinoco Station, Buzz pins Woody down by holding his arms back and pushing his leg into Woody’s back. In the second film, Jessie does the exact same maneuver when she fights Woody about pressing the remote. Has anyone else noticed any other parallels? Are there any parallels that you expect in Toy Story 3? Thoughts?

I think the most poignant one is how Woody and Buzz Lightyear correctly mirror each other in each of the films. In the first, it was Woody to convince Buzz Lightyear that he’s not a space ranger but is instead a toy, and to show him the importance of being played with. In Toy Story 2, the roles are reversed and it’s Buzz who needs to convince Woody exactly what he thought him in the first film, that it’s more important to be a toy than a collector’s item.

In fact, their dialogue is almost flipped verbatim.
In TS1-Woody: “YOU ARE A TOY! You’re not the real Buzz Lightyear, you’re an action figure. You are a child’s plaything!”

and then mirrored brilliantly in TS2- Buzz: “Woody, you’re not a collector’s item. You’re a child’s plaything. You. are. A TOY!”

Check on Pixar Wiki, I added a lot of them.

A new one for Toy Story 3 is the toy chest scene. In the original toy story, Andy is holding Buzz and Woody, deciding which one he’ll sleep with. To Woody’s dismay, he takes Buzz. The opposite happens in the trailer.

Can you please put up a link for what you added to Pixar Wiki, because I can’t seem to find it on the site. Thanks :wink:

How about when Buster first appears in TS2? The sight of his growling muzzle poking through the door was reminiscent of Scud from TS1.

Also, in TS1, Buzz had his left arm detached - in TS2, Woody’s right arm was detached.

Edit: Here we go, I found the list on Pixar Wiki:
[i]
Toy Story 2 intentionally reuses scenes from the original Toy Story, notably having many of Buzz and Woody’s roles switched.

* Woody losing his arm is similar to when Buzz lost his (although Buzz lost his left, and Woody lost his right).
* Buzz inspecting the Utility Belt Buzz is done in the same fashion as when Woody first inspected Buzz in the first film.
* When Zurg is fighting Utility Belt Buzz and smashing the buttons on his chest, it's done in the same way Woody was fighting Buzz, skipping the line "Buzz... Buzz... Buzz Lightyear to the rescue."
* When Jessie was fighting Woody, she had him in the same position Buzz had him when they fought at the gas station.
* The Pizza Planet delivery truck Woody and Buzz hitched a ride on in Toy Story was used again in Toy Story 2 by Buzz and the rest of Andy's toys to get to the airport to save Woody (Pizza Planet's trademark aliens where also seen in the car).
* When Andy's toys are leaving, Buzz gives Utility Belt Buzz the same Vulcan salute he gave Woody.
* With Woody convinced he's a collectable, Buzz uses one of Woody's quotes from the previous movie against him, "you are a TOY!" [/i]

pixar.wikia.com/Toy_Story_2_Trivia

[quote="Sunny
* The Pizza Planet delivery truck Woody and Buzz hitched a ride on in Toy Story was used again in Toy Story 2 by Buzz and the rest of Andy’s toys to get to the airport to save Woody (Pizza Planet’s trademark aliens where also seen in the car).
[/quote]

I think that’s the coolest, because of how exact it is. Like, at the airport/pizza planet, it starts with a shot of the sky, pans down to the place, the truck zooms in and parks in a white zone, Buzz looks out, and figures out a way to get inside…they’re so alike

I think that’s the coolest, because of how exact it is. Like, at the airport/pizza planet, it starts with a shot of the sky, pans down to the place, the truck zooms in and parks in a white zone, Buzz looks out, and figures out a way to get inside…they’re so alike
[/quote]

I loved this little parallel especially as well. I can only hope that they will mirror this scene again in Toy Story 3.

That LEGO set offers promise.

EDIT: The sound effect that Buzz makes when they tumble out of the car at Dinoco is the same as when he falls out of Al’s car and another part in Toy Story 2 (I forget). Probably not an intentional mirror or anything, just a re-used sound effect.

At the end of the first, it quickly zooms into Woody & Buzz, when they do that nervous smile sound thing - abrupt ending.
At the end of the second, the screen encloses around Wheezy essentially in a zooming in fashion, (the same message) - and he say’s ‘Yeah’, abrupt ending.
And also the music/soundtrack in the background quickly ends - for the credits to roll.

That’s sort of one, the endings mirror each other :slight_smile:

Big Baby is probably a reference to Baby Face, with its blank expression and broken eye.

At the end of the they chase the truck and buzz gets on there first. In the 2nd Woody does but Buzz dosen’t get on.

At the beganning of the first, Buzz rides the Hot Wheel and Hot Wheel road to prove he can fly. At the end of the second, Jessie rides it to let Buster out.

In Toy Story, when you see Woody staring at Buzz through Buzz’s legs. In Toy Story 2, you see Buzz doing the exact same thing with "Utility Belt Buzz’.

so true, I didn’t even realize

I’ve just remembered a couple of others…

In Toy Story, Woody ended up upside-down and against the wall after having Buzz’s arm wrested from him by Baby Face. In Toy Story 2, he landed in the same position after being hurled from Bullseye’s back.

Also, when Buzz first encountered the toys in Andy’s room in TS, he yelled “Watch yourself!”, flung himself and Woody to the ground (well, bed) and pointed his laser at the offending toys. In TS2, Utility Belt Buzz performs a similar manouvre when he and Andy’s toys encounter the Roundup Gang.

I have a crazy, far-out theory that some of the toys in Sunnyside are direct references to the mutant toys, probably to the main components before they were mutated.
Jack-in-the-box → Hand-in-the-box
Big Baby → Babyface
Twitch → Rockmobile
I dunno, probably just a coincidence.

I learned this on the TS2 commentary:

After “Delusional” Buzz’s helmet is removed by real Buzz, he reacts to the atmosphere in almostthe exact same way (including facial expressions and arm motions) to the way Buzz reacts in the first film after Woody causes his helmet to open.

Also, to Dinoco, very interesting theory! It will be interesting to see how far you can take it after the film is released.

I must say I’m really enjoying reading through this thread. It’s great how many parallels there are between the two films, it’s almost like they have an artistic side to them that Pixar really thought out. Not that I can think of anything that hasn’t already been mentioned, haha. But still, great work guys.

And I like that theory of yours, Dinoco. It would be quite ironic as well, in a sense that when Woody and Buzz first meet the mutant toys, they are both very wary of them, but then later discover that actually they mean no harm. Whilst with the daycare toys, Buzz and the others (with the possible exception of Woddy) seem to feel quite comfortable and welcomed by them, when actually there have been hints that some of them aren’t quite as friendly as they seem…It’d be like a reversal of the original situation.

Maybe not a true parallel, but in Toy Story, Buzz learns that he’s a toy based on a popular TV show. (They don’t actually mention Buzz Lightyear of Star Command here, but we’re led to believe that show was created to be what the toy was based on.) Then in Toy Story 2, Woody learns that he’s based on a popular TV show, Woody’s Round-up.

Also, in Toy Story 2, Stinky Pete mentions that Woody’s Round-up was popular until the launch of Sputnik. “Once the astronauts went up, children only wanted to play with space toys.” That quote parallels exactly what happened to Woody in the first movie when Andy got Buzz for his birthday.

Great point Lonestar! That really makes sense; just as Sputnik ended Woody’s show, so to did Buzz end Woody’s reign as the favorite toy! I think that is one of the more clever parallels made by the Pixar team. It’s also very interesting because without Sputnik, it is highly unlikely a spaceranger like Buzz would ever have been inspired.

In Toy Story (watching it now), when Woody and Buzz are left at the station, Buzz says “This is no time to panic,” then Woody says “This is the perfect time to panic!”
In the Toy Story 3 trailer Buzz says “This is no time to be hysterical,” then Hamm says “This is the perfect time to be hysterical!”
Also, Woody and Hamm put a lot of emphasis on the word perfect.