‘I prepared for the role by playing in my room’: the making of Toy Story as it turns 30

The groundbreaking, smash-hit adventure was a make-or-break moment for both Pixar and computer animation

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hen the Pixar studio was casting for Toy Story, children were invited to bring one toy to the audition. Seven-year-old John Morris showed up with 20: a case of his beloved X-Men action figures. He got the part.

Playing Andy, a young boy whose toys include cowboy Woody and spaceman Buzz Lightyear, his was the first voice ever heard in a feature-length Pixar animation. Toy Story was released 30 years ago on Saturday, but to Morris the memory of its premiere is as fresh as ever.

“I still have goosebumps thinking about it because it started and then there’s Andy, and everyone turned to look at me and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, here we go,’” the 41-year-old voice actor says by phone from San Francisco. “I couldn’t believe what we were watching because it was groundbreaking. I grew up watching animation – Disney on VHS with my younger sibling – and it looked and felt new and different.”