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Toy Story

Deconstructing Disney
Deconstructing Disney
Episode • Sep 6, 2022 • 1h 46m

Episode Summary

Erin and Rachel travel to masculinity and beyond in their discussion of Toy Story (1995), the first feature-length entirely computer-animated film. After a thorough discussion of the history of Pixar and the technology of computer animation, the hosts delve into the world of boy toys and wrestle over the problematic representation of female and disabled characters. 

Content warning: Discussions of workplace harassment

Episode Bibliography

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Luisi, T. (2019). Toys will be toys: gendered interaction frames in the Toy Story trilogy. Journal of Children and Media, 13(1), 20-35. DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2018.1513852

Many Jony. (2017, October 24). How are Characters Animated at Pixar? - Toy Story Behind the Scenes. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TqPl3MSSow

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Persons, D. (2021, November 12). How Five Seconds in Toy Story Changed Animation Forever. Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2021/11/12/how-five-seconds-in-toy-story-changed-animation-forever/

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Schlender, B., & Furth, J. (1995, September 18). Steve Jobs’ Amazing Movie Adventure. CNN Business. https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1995/09/18/206099/index.htm

Shapiro, L. (2022, January 17). The undoing of Joss Whedon. Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/article/joss-whedon-allegations.html

Sherlock, B. (2020, January 7). Toy Story: 10 Actors Who Almost Voiced Iconic Roles. Screen Rant. https://screenrant.com/toy-story-famous-actors-almost-voiced-iconic-roles-disney-pixar/amp/

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Toy Story Archive. (2021, June 27). Filmmakers Reflect - Toy Story. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adAYbs3oCZI

VHSfx. (2013, February 12). The Making of Toy Story - (1995). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VdERcRJ3jI

Wooden, S., & Gillam, K. (2014). Pixar’s boy stories: Masculinity in a postmodern age. Rowman & Littlefield.

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