Moment pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
Behold, the toy that scarred many generations of kids and grown-ups to come.
As the film that gave birth to one of the most influential companies of all time, Toy Story has shown that Pixar can bring the scares that would define so many of their future films for decades to come.
- Sid blowing up (i.e. killing) the Combat Carl doll. Being a toy tortured by a child and not allowed to move or break pose is creepy enough, but the Combat Carl could do nothing but resign to its death motionless, with all the other toys unable to stop it. Bo Peep even holds Buzz back with her staff when he tries to go down and intervene, still under the impression that he's a real space ranger, and it's all too clear this is far from the first time Andy's toys have been forced to witness this kind of horror show.Bo Peep: The sooner we move, the better...
- Mr. Potato Head drawing a hangman's noose on Etch-a-Sketch, using it to threaten Woody after he accidentally knocks Buzz out of Andy's bedroom window.
- There's a moment during the gas station scene where a motionless Woody is nearly squashed by a large truck, only stopping right when the tire was right at Woody's face. It definitely provides a claustrophobic feeling as well as horror of what might happen if the truck hadn't stopped right at the moment before it would crush Woody.
- Woody gets his first real taste of the outside world when he and Buzz ride in the Pizza Planet truck. While Buzz wisely (although taking a risk in the process) sat in the front seat of the truck to be protected by a seatbelt, Woody is in the back of the truck, completely at the mercy of the reckless teenage driver. While obnoxious metal music plays (a far cry from Randy Newman’s warm, happy opening number during playtime), Woody is tossed around helplessly until he’s crushed by a big toolbox. He’s lucky he’s a toy, or at least, he’s a toy that could withstand the crushing.
- Anything involving Sid.
- The way he acts is the telltale sign of a sociopath in the making.
Sid: Let's go home and... play. Heh-h-heh.- Let's not forget Sid's dad. Even Scud is so terrified of him that when he runs near to him sleeping while hunting Buzz, he reluctantly gives up the chase when Buzz hides near him. And poor Sid, frankly, with the multiple locks on his door...
- Lots of Sid's toys are pretty freaky, particularly the doll-head-on-an-Erector-set and the dismembered army men
◊. Thankfully, they're harmless despite their grotesque appearances, and cooperate with Buzz and Woody to escape Sid's house.
- The alien that accompanied Woody and Buzz is shown being used as a chew toy by Scud. The camera cuts away before we can see the full extent of what was done to it, but judging by Woody and Buzz' expressions, it wasn't pretty. The poor alien mere moments before thought he was about to receive salvation, only to have his innocent faith repaid in the worst way possible. We hear a bunch of writhing squeaking as Scud mauls him, which could easily be interpreted as the alien screaming in pain and terror. During the toy uprising, we briefly see the alien. It's disheveled, mute and walks with its arms stretched out like a zombie. While it's possibly it was only acting like the other toys, the damage it got from Scud certainly weren't fake.
- Upon entering Sid's room, Woody sees remnants of other toys who didn't make it out.
- Imagine being in a grimy, dimly lit room, and seeing decapitated heads floating around in a lava lamp, or disembodied arms sticking out of a waffle iron or an alarm clock, and realizing that your own painful demise is imminent.
Woody: We are gonna die... I'm outta here!- The script put it best:Woody and Buzz peer out of the backpack at their new surroundings. Heavy metal posters, discarded toy remains and power tools adorn the messy room.
They are in Hell...toy Hell. - Worse? Most of them are baby dolls! Innocent babies being unknowingly tortured and slain! And, unlike the Mutant Toys, we never see them come to life...
- The scene where Sid operates on Hannah's doll, Janie. He replaces her head with that of a pterodactyl. Thankfully, they both get their heads re-attached to their original bodies.
- Sid's mouth through a magnifying glass while he "interrogates" Woody.
- Said "interrogation" also deserves mention: he openly starts burning Woody with a magnifying glass. And given how he only got as far as burning a single spot in Woody’s foreheadnote before getting distracted by his Pop Tarts, one can only guess how far Sid was planning to go.
Sid: Where are your rebel friends now?- Point of order: the scene of Sid "playing" with Woody and Buzz was cut down in the final film because everyone involved realized the audience would think the full scene was too much. In the full scene, not only do we see Sid openly backhand Woody across the room, but we learn why Buzz had two suction darts stuck to him: Sid used a power drill and launched him into his shelves.Sid: (as Buzz spins rapidly) He’s pullin’ some good G-forces now... MAYDAY, MAYDAY! (begins releasing the drill bit Buzz is fastened to) He’s breaking up, (Buzz is launched, smashing into the shelves) he’s breaking up! (Evil Laugh)
- When Woody nearly wakes Scud, he manages to sneak back upstairs only for his pull string to get caught on the railing, which causes Scud to wake up. As Sid's dog ascends to search for the source of the noise the heroes panic and split up. Buzz narrowly avoids getting attacked as Scud points his nose past the door...only retreating when he loses interest upon seeing Sid's father.
- Woody and the mutant toys revolting against Sid. It's an attempt to rescue Buzz and escape from Sid, but still.
- While Woody doing a 360-degree head turn might have been creepy, it was cool when he completely broke his own rule of being inanimate around humans and being nice to children JUST to scare Sid. The POV shot he abruptly springs to life and grins threateningly is surprisingly effective from the sympathetic cowboy we've been watching otherwise:
Woody: [through speaker] From now on, you must take good care of your toys, because if you don't, we'll find out, Sid! We toys can see eeeeeveryyyyythiiiiing... [head rotates 360°]
[Woody comes to life right in Sid's hand, just before actually speaking and giving a very threatening grin]
Woody: So play nice.
[Sid runs like hell while screaming his head off, traumatized for life]- An alternate version of the above-mentioned scene makes it a thousand times worse where the toys come out of the ground, Night of the Living Dead style, and Woody acting significantly more malicious towards Sid, to the point of knocking the kid down and standing on his chest. And it has some instances of Mood Whiplash, first starting off as a Funny Moment, then switching to scares, and then back to funny again.
- Buzz gets Scud to let go of Woody by pulling on his eyelids. It's a heroic moment for Buzz, but still disturbing.
- Scud grabbing Woody by the leg who almost becomes resigned when he can’t get him off. From how Scud then thrashes Buzz, who’s far more durable in comparison, around afterwards, it’s not hard to think Woody, with his more softer body, would’ve been mauled near instantly.
- The big chase sees several close calls for the toys.
- When Buzz turns around to see he’s heading straight for a busy four-way intersection. Buzz’s scream of terror is visceral as RC thankfully manages to miss every car coming their way. Scud, who has otherwise been nothing but menacing (excluding the scene with Sid's dad), sees a car coming toward him and whimpers like, well, a terrified dog. Scud miraculously manages to avoid what would’ve been certain death, as four cars crash into each other (and they’re not the only cars disrupted by the chaos), boxing him into a makeshift corral. Scud doesn’t seem to be too bothered, being a dog, but the Phillips family nearly lost their dog.
- Scud, himself is very much an intimidating figure throughout the movie, but the aforementioned chase really emphasises how terrifying he is with him spotting Woody and Buzz, then proceeding to chase right after them, far a way from his own home, just to maim them.
- Woody, from the other toys' perspective, since he spends much of the movie Mistaken for Murderer.
- To start with, it looks to them like Woody knocked Buzz out the window on purpose*, calling into question whether their charismatic leader is really who they thought he was, or if he's actually an unstable lunatic who could turn on any of them if they threaten his position as Andy's favourite toy. Then, the next time they see him, they see what they think is unmistakable proof that Woody not only murdered Buzz but dismembered him. Just imagine someone you've trusted and looked up to for years turning out to be a vicious, psychotic murderer. And they don't find out they're wrong until nearly the end of the movie.
- The moving truck scene: You're safe in your box, on your way to a new home, when suddenly your box opens, and the murderer you thought you left behind is standing over you. Then, without a word, he shoves your box aside, opens another one, grabs a toy out of it and roughly kicks it out of the truck.Toys: AAAAAAHHH!Rex: He's at it again!
