November 23, 1995: Toy Story Premieres

The history of Pixar, thus far, can be divided into two sections: money sucking hobby of Steve Jobs and incredibly successful movie studio. The dividing line between the two parts of Pixar’s history is the movie Toy Story.

The brain child of John Lasseter, Toy Story was a classic buddy story. The thing that made Toy Story different from most buddy movies was ostensibly that it was digitally animated. The real differentiating factor is that the movie was fantastically well told and appealed to everyone from toddlers to senior citizens.

The success of the movie was completely unexpected. Disney didn't even have toys made for the Christmas season, but it cemented digital animation as a viable medium and made the once money eating Pixar into a source of revenue. Toy Story premiered this week in 1995.