Twenty years ago, Toy Story changed the course of animated filmmaking forever.  The adventurous story about Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their toy pals essentially reinvented the wheel, thanks to director John Lasseter's vision for computer animation. That technological advancement, coupled with the film's box office success at over $350 million worldwide and three Academy Awards nominations, reshaped the future and potential of the animation world.  So how do you create such a groundbreaking piece of work? Here are some of the creators, in their own words, breaking down what made Toy Story such a success.  n this June 13, 2010 file photo, John Lasseter arrives at the world premiere of "Toy Story 3," at The El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles.  At an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences event in Los Angeles held in May, the animation legend pointed to Toy Story as an example of a breakthrough film.  Twenty years ago, Lasseter said, creating a full-length computer animated film was unheard of. People thought it was “too cold, too sterile” of an idea. But Toy Story proved technology could help innovate traditional animation.  “You only have one chance to make a first impression,” he said. “Toy Story was the number one film of that year, 1995. It was a huge hit...If you create characters people connect with and tell stories that deeply entertain and move them… the audience will come."  And how did Toy Story impact animation as a whole?  “We were trying to figure out how many CG animated feature films have been made in the world and released in the world today: 255 in 20 years,” he said. “That blew us away too.”  A young directing animator and story artist, Ash Brannon's main responsibility for the first Toy Story, among other creative tasks, was to monitor the animators and make sure the characters and various shots remained consistent, he tells Mashable. At the time, Hollywood didn’t pay much attention to what he and his team were making.  “Nobody really knew what we were doing — we didn’t even know if we’d succeed,” he says. “We didn’t know if people would want to sit for an hour and a half and watch a computer generated movie, so we were really off the radar until the last push into fall of ’95.”  The animation industry as we know didn’t exist then, which meant the filmmaking approach was vastly different from the set-up these days, which includes “hundreds and hundreds” of people, he adds.  “There wasn’t much of an industry, and that was probably the most exciting part of it,” he says. “I always likened it to a big student film."  Creating Toy Story was a tight-knit experience. The team was small and you could wander around and see what everyone was doing, from the animators to the technical directors, Brannon says, which made the film a more collaborative experience — like a “college campus.”  Another one of the highlights was the richly talented voice cast, which included Tim Allen, Don Rickles and Tom Hanks, whom Brannon calls an amazing actor.  "Every time he did a different take of a line, he gave you a different performance," he recalls. "Tom was so giving and so improvisational."  After all these years, Brannon says the film's story is the top reason it remains iconic.  “The story was so compelling and perfectly structured, I’m still in awe,” he says. “You can take animation and create a layered story that works on one level for kids, and on another level for grown-ups. That changed the world."  After seeing John Lasseter’s test footage for Toy Story, Kelly Asbury knew it would change the course of animated film.  “All I remember thinking is: He did it,” he tells Mashable.  He had been working in the industry since 1983, and remembers when computer animation, the kind Lasseter was promoting, was completely “scoffed at."  “Many people rejected it and did not think it was possible,” he says.  That gave the set of Toy Story an ambitious air. Though it was a youthful, collaborative environment, everyone “wanted to make something special,” he says, because Disney was still expecting something great.  “It made everyone professionally grow up quickly and rise to that challenge,” he says. “It was like cramming for final exams every day.”  Asbury’s favorite memory from those days is sitting around with Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Joe Ranft and hammering out the story.  “Anyone from any part of that company could walk in that room and comment and give out an idea,” he says.  For him, there's no question that Toy Story changed the animation world as we know it.  "It certainly ushered in a new golden age and a new technology," he says. "It changed everything, the way color changed black and white, the way sound changed silent."  At CalArts, the alma matter of both Andrew Stanton and John Lasseter, "Toy Story" has become part of the curriculum. Students studying animation are required to watch it in their animation history classes, and a variety of them take courses in CG animation to learn the basics.  “I think people see it as a seminal film,” Burnett, who has been working at CalArts since 2009, said. “It was also a turning point in the animated filmmaking medium, it really sparked a shift in terms of how major motion pictures are made both in terms of animated films but also in terms of live action films that incorporate visual effects. It pioneered a huge amount of technological innovation.”  Now, first year students — who are usually 18-years-old — were not born when the first film came out. But Burnett said they understand its impact on the industry.  “They are aware of its importance and its place as that kind of turning point in animation,” she said. “They are also aware of CG animation and how important it is to study it and be proficient in it — it’s like knowing another language.”  Some fans of the classic franchise celebrated by sharing memories on social media:  Nothing makes you feel old like discovering that it's the 20th anniversary of Toy Story.  — Sophie Dezen (@sopdez) November 20, 2015  Today marks the 20th anniversary of "Toy Story". It was the first film I ever watched in the cinema. pic.twitter.com/0s9Hc7xBsG  — ALI (@ali_spanglish) November 20, 2015  I just booked tickets to see the first ever film I saw in cinemas, @DisneyPixar's Toy Story, on its 20th Anniversary at @tynesidecinema!  — Tom Simpson (@thomaspsimpson) November 5, 2015  Love this Toy Story limited edition pin at work! https://t.co/OTm1doCjMX pic.twitter.com/JfIC9ARSXX  — Jenny Yip (@jpuffbsb23) November 20, 2015  Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
The classic animated film 'Toy Story' was released 20 years ago today, so we asked filmmakers to share their memories of working on it.