Tom Hanks Explains Why The Original Toy Story Movie Was “Thrown Out” 30 Years Later

Thirty years later, Tom Hanks reveals how an original version of Toy Story was “completely thrown out.” Hanks voiced Woody in the first Toy Story movie released in 1995, while Tim Allen voiced Buzz Lightyear, and they have continued to voice the beloved characters in the decades since then.

Stephen Colbert brought up the 30-year anniversary when Hanks came onto The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Hanks clarified that it had actually been more than 30 years, though, because he and Allen recorded lines for an earlier version of the movie that was scrapped. Check out his explanation below:

Actually, it was more than 30 years, because Tim Allen and I and everybody involved, we recorded a Toy Story movie, about 80 minutes of it that was completely thrown out.

Hanks confirms that this scrapped version followed a different story than the one that was released in theaters. This early attempt at the movie was grounded in executives wanting Hanks and Allen to be “wisecrack-y and improv and insult each other”, which they did, but this approach did not work well.

The people who were running the studio — not Pixar, Pixar people are great — the people running the studio, they said, “Look, it’s a cartoon. Let’s make them wisecrack-y and improv and insult each other and come up with goofy things,” which we sort of did for a while.

Quite frankly, it didn’t work. It wasn’t Toy Story. It wasn’t what Pixar was going for.

When Hanks and Allen received a call from Toy Story director John Lasseter, they were informed that “We looked at it and it’s just not working, and we would like to start all over from scratch.”

So then we began the process all over again, which is about a two-and-a-half to three-year process.

Of course, this new approach worked, kicking off a popular franchise that is still going strong, along with being Pixar’s first feature-length movie. The first movie was followed by the feature-length sequels, Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Toy Story 4 (2019).

Toy Story 5’s theatrical release is slated for June 19, 2026, 31 years after the first installment premiered and with both Hanks and Allen coming back. The returning cast of characters also includes Joan Cusack as Jessie, Tony Hale as Forky, and Ernie Hudson as Combat Carl, taking over the role after Carl Weathers passed away.

If the original version of the movie had been released, it seemingly would have had a very different tone and may not have led to the enduring legacy and appeal that Toy Story has. At the very least, Woody and Buzz’s friendship, which is at the heart of the entire series, would not be the same.

The original Toy Story not being a success would have been a major setback and potentially gotten in the way of future Pixar movies happening. There are now 29 feature-length Pixar films, and beyond the Toy Story franchise, Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), Coco (2017), and Inside Out 2 (2024) are among some of the others that have gone on to be hits.

Hanks’ reveal will inevitably generate interest in this original version of Toy Story that could have existed under different circumstances. It will probably never be shown, but it adds to the behind-the-scenes lore of the franchise and of Pixar itself.