Alternative Worlds In Toy Story

This is often achieved by the main character of the story being a child themself, making it easier for child viewers to see themselves reflected in the characters/story. This however is not seen in Toy Story. Andy, a child and the owner of Woody and Buzz, is not the main character of the film. It is the toys that are the main focus of the film, bringing a possible imagination of Andy’s, and child viewers into reality.

Wojcik-Andrews adds that the inclusion of alternative worlds are a “defining characteristic of children's films and children's culture in general" (10). The use of alternative worlds works well with the disruption-resolution narrative structure, the disruption comes from the transportation of the protagonist to another place which they then have to escape from. The closure, which comes with the end of the journey when the protagonist is back home, is yet another feature, characteristic of “films either starring children or aimed at child audiences” (Wojcik-Andrews 10). In Toy Story there are three examples for alternative worlds, there is the world in which the toys are ‘alive’, the world of Andy’s imagination and the world outside of Andy’s house.
The disruption that results in the journey to get back home happens when Buzz and Woody are unknowingly left behind by Andy at a gas station. With the fact that Andy and his family are moving house in two days, it gives Woody a limited amount of time to get back to him and is delayed and helped in his mission by