I noticed the plot similarities between "The Christmas Toy" and "Toy Story" years ago. However, I don't think Pixar ripped off the TV special considering "Toy Story" was inspired from "Tin Toy", their own childhood toys, and buddy comedy films.
Agreed - I don’t think it’s plagiarism but like you said there were many similarities between the characters and themes in both films. I’ve never heard any of the creators reference The Christmas Toy, but it does make you wonder if it had an influence on the writing of Toy Story/Tin Toy Christmas.
I remember thinking Toy Story ripped off The Christmas Toy the very first time I saw it. The plagiarism certainly would have been more possible after Henson's death.
How could she be a mix of Buzz Light-year and anyone of Buzz Light-year came later? That's like saying that your grandma was a mix of you and somebody else.
Thanks so much for doing this video as I both grew up with Toy Story and The secret Life of toys. When coming across 'The Christmas Toy' a few years ago (the DVD in the UK is expensive), it doesn't surprise me that people think its a rip off. I think you also have to remember sadly that Jeffery Katzenberg at Disney at the time was very well known for taking creative liberties from other movies without permission, such as the case with 'The thief of Baghdad' to Aladdin, Kimba the white Lion to 'The Lion King' and when he left Disney he created 'ANTZ' to compete with 'A bugs Life' . Given the fact also (and yes I know Disney don't own 'The Christmas Toy) Disney bought The Muppets by 1990, so they were very well aware of all things that the Henson studio had created. While no one at the Creature shop has outright said anything about this situation, but given that both the deal to buy the Muppets by early 1990 wasn't a done deal yet and the sudden death of the families father, it wouldn't surprise me that they kept quite about this situation because of all the mess that was happening at the time and they needed a buyer. But I'm sure they were none too pleased at this but couldn't say too much to ruin the relationship they have with the Disney Company. Knowing Katzenberg's reputation and Michael Eisner's being OK with all this and pestering Jim Henson to buy Sesame street, I wouldn't be surprised that they went ahead and took the idea to make a feature length based on 'The Christmas Toy' Given that Pixar initially only had in mind to make a half an hour sort originally, but Katzenberg insisted on a feature length and said that Woody needed to be more annoying and mean. I'm sure the staff at PIXAR would liked to have acknowledged the inspiration of Jim Henson's xmas special more given how they compliment Ghibli alot and began life separate from the Disney studio, but if they wanted to do a film they would have to stay hush on the subject. Its a shame Disney wont allow Kermit to be in future releases of 'The Christmas Toy' as it shows that they somehow dont want to acknowledge the specials existence. Jim always stuck to his roots and never let go of Sesame street at least and I dought if he was still around that they wouldn't have been allowed the go ahead to make Toy Story the way it is without his permission. The similarities don't stop there as I feel Toy Story 4 certainly too inspiration from 'TSLOT' episode 'Dits and Datz' where an old bag is made into a toy and comes to life like Forky or the episode 'Queen Raisin' where Daffodil falls off the shelf and breaks like Bo Peep's arm. Again, thanks for talking about all this as I feel it needs to be acknowledged more. All the best :)
I grew up with The Christmas Toy, (love it!) so I saw the similarities when Toy Story came out. I often wondered about it, but I figured if the writers *were* influenced by the old special, they were probably legally ok since Disney was involved with both companies. 🤷♀️ (Lol, I'm not any voice of authority, though.) But it's interesting to wonder how many of the writers had it playing in their subconscious while they worked on the script. 😁
When I started drawing cartoon characters all of my characters were blatant rip-offs too. Later though, I came up with a host of original ideas. And I considered Walt Disney and Jim Henson to be my two greatest heroes of all time. Unfortunately, due to my accursed disability, my big mouth, almost endless fatigue and knack for the inappropriate, I did not do well in the Boston public school system and graduated without a real high school diploma and have yet to go to college or get a steady paying job in the fields of art and entertainment. But I am taking baby steps to change all of that. It's just I want to do it all, but when I tackle everything at once, my brain and body gets overwhelmed and overtired. The weird dreams in my sleep and medication don't help either.
Even if they did steal the idea, it doesn't matter now because disney owns the rights for both the muppets the secret life of toys and pixar's toy story, but what does it matter, anyway??? The way I see it artists inspire other artists. People see some form of art, take the elements of the concept, and make something new of it.
I read this controversy online for years. I have mixed feelings whether or not Pixar/Disney plagiarized Jim Henson's classic. I watched "Toy Story" before "The Christmas Toy" and I realized that the plot and the characters from each film are very similar to each other. On the other hand, I haven't heard anything about Jon Lassetter getting inspired to make "Toy Story" by "The Christmas Toy".
Good point , but given the fact that Jim passed away and Disney bought the muppets in 1990 and the fact that Toy Story got the go ahead in 1991, I wouldnt be suprised if they did steal and given Katzenberg was known for this at the studio. Plus the henson family needed to keep a relationship with the sudio if they wanted to make more mupets movies or TV, but its sad they havnt been able to speak about it
I sorta Like the Second Toy Story Movie🎬 and Was Good even The First Also The Toy Christmas Toy but I wish it was On Netflix or Hulu Man, Oh My Favorite character Is Rugby he Is So Cute I wish I had enough time and name him rugby too.
But one day, hopefully before they declare bankruptcy I'm going to get a job with the Walt Disney company and bring it into a new rennasciance of innovation and prosperity
@@ineedc3477 not a theatrical releases. Christmas Toy is a literal TV movie. It was on TV back then. Then, Kermit appearance was cut from the DVD released version because of Disney rights
Interesting… you can definitely find examples of where elements of movies like Toy Story were used in others films. I think what’s different is that, as far as I can tell, the creators of Toy Story never cited Raggedy Ann and Andy as inspirations like they have with The Muppets. It’s a little odd that Pixar’s biggest property has a very similar plot to the work of an artist that the teamed revered.
It’s possible. As stated, the concept of toys coming to life isn’t new. It’s also possible that The Christmas Toy might have also had an influence on the Pixar writing team who have stated their admiration for Jim Henson in the past
I dont see it, given the timeline of all this happenening and Katzenbergs repuation for stealing ideas to make movies out of them with the artists permission.
I noticed the plot similarities between "The Christmas Toy" and "Toy Story" years ago. However, I don't think Pixar ripped off the TV special considering "Toy Story" was inspired from "Tin Toy", their own childhood toys, and buddy comedy films.
Agreed - I don’t think it’s plagiarism but like you said there were many similarities between the characters and themes in both films. I’ve never heard any of the creators reference The Christmas Toy, but it does make you wonder if it had an influence on the writing of Toy Story/Tin Toy Christmas.
I remember thinking Toy Story ripped off The Christmas Toy the very first time I saw it. The plagiarism certainly would have been more possible after Henson's death.
Agreed
Meteora is like a mix between Buzz Lightyear and She-Ra
How could she be a mix of Buzz Light-year and anyone of Buzz Light-year came later?
That's like saying that your grandma was a mix of you and somebody else.
Thanks so much for doing this video as I both grew up with Toy Story and The secret Life of toys.
When coming across 'The Christmas Toy' a few years ago (the DVD in the UK is expensive), it doesn't surprise me that people think its a rip off.
I think you also have to remember sadly that Jeffery Katzenberg at Disney at the time was very well known for taking creative liberties from other movies without permission, such as the case with 'The thief of Baghdad' to Aladdin, Kimba the white Lion to 'The Lion King' and when he left Disney he created 'ANTZ' to compete with 'A bugs Life' .
Given the fact also (and yes I know Disney don't own 'The Christmas Toy) Disney bought The Muppets by 1990, so they were very well aware of all things that the Henson studio had created. While no one at the Creature shop has outright said anything about this situation, but given that both the deal to buy the Muppets by early 1990 wasn't a done deal yet and the sudden death of the families father, it wouldn't surprise me that they kept quite about this situation because of all the mess that was happening at the time and they needed a buyer. But I'm sure they were none too pleased at this but couldn't say too much to ruin the relationship they have with the Disney Company.
Knowing Katzenberg's reputation and Michael Eisner's being OK with all this and pestering Jim Henson to buy Sesame street, I wouldn't be surprised that they went ahead and took the idea to make a feature length based on 'The Christmas Toy' Given that Pixar initially only had in mind to make a half an hour sort originally, but Katzenberg insisted on a feature length and said that Woody needed to be more annoying and mean. I'm sure the staff at PIXAR would liked to have acknowledged the inspiration of Jim Henson's xmas special more given how they compliment Ghibli alot and began life separate from the Disney studio, but if they wanted to do a film they would have to stay hush on the subject.
Its a shame Disney wont allow Kermit to be in future releases of 'The Christmas Toy' as it shows that they somehow dont want to acknowledge the specials existence. Jim always stuck to his roots and never let go of Sesame street at least and I dought if he was still around that they wouldn't have been allowed the go ahead to make Toy Story the way it is without his permission.
The similarities don't stop there as I feel Toy Story 4 certainly too inspiration from 'TSLOT' episode 'Dits and Datz' where an old bag is made into a toy and comes to life like Forky or the episode 'Queen Raisin' where Daffodil falls off the shelf and breaks like Bo Peep's arm.
Again, thanks for talking about all this as I feel it needs to be acknowledged more. All the best :)
We should also included Stephen King: Battleground(1972) & Small Soldier (1998) in these topic
I grew up with The Christmas Toy, (love it!) so I saw the similarities when Toy Story came out. I often wondered about it, but I figured if the writers *were* influenced by the old special, they were probably legally ok since Disney was involved with both companies. 🤷♀️ (Lol, I'm not any voice of authority, though.)
But it's interesting to wonder how many of the writers had it playing in their subconscious while they worked on the script. 😁
At the time Henson wasnt
I love this movie. Toy Story def took a huge huge huge themes from a Christmas Toy!
When I started drawing cartoon characters all of my characters were blatant rip-offs too. Later though, I came up with a host of original ideas. And I considered Walt Disney and Jim Henson to be my two greatest heroes of all time. Unfortunately, due to my accursed disability, my big mouth, almost endless fatigue and knack for the inappropriate, I did not do well in the Boston public school system and graduated without a real high school diploma and have yet to go to college or get a steady paying job in the fields of art and entertainment. But I am taking baby steps to change all of that. It's just I want to do it all, but when I tackle everything at once, my brain and body gets overwhelmed and overtired. The weird dreams in my sleep and medication don't help either.
Even if they did steal the idea, it doesn't matter now because disney owns the rights for both the muppets the secret life of toys and pixar's toy story, but what does it matter, anyway??? The way I see it artists inspire other artists. People see some form of art, take the elements of the concept, and make something new of it.
They dont own The christmas toy or Secret Life of toys. I feel it matters because its a question of credibility to an artist works compared to another
I read this controversy online for years. I have mixed feelings whether or not Pixar/Disney plagiarized Jim Henson's classic. I watched "Toy Story" before "The Christmas Toy" and I realized that the plot and the characters from each film are very similar to each other. On the other hand, I haven't heard anything about Jon Lassetter getting inspired to make "Toy Story" by "The Christmas Toy".
Correct - there are examples of Lassetter and other writers praising Jim Henson and Toy Story. I couldn’t find anything about The Christmas Toy
Good point , but given the fact that Jim passed away and Disney bought the muppets in 1990 and the fact that Toy Story got the go ahead in 1991, I wouldnt be suprised if they did steal and given Katzenberg was known for this at the studio. Plus the henson family needed to keep a relationship with the sudio if they wanted to make more mupets movies or TV, but its sad they havnt been able to speak about it
I've seen both Toy Story 2 and The Christmas Toy. I think the latter one is better.
Yeah, i remember thinking that toy story was a lot like Christmas toy
I sorta Like the Second Toy Story Movie🎬 and Was Good even The First Also The Toy Christmas Toy but I wish it was On Netflix or Hulu Man, Oh My Favorite character Is Rugby he Is So Cute I wish I had enough time and name him rugby too.
But one day, hopefully before they declare bankruptcy I'm going to get a job with the Walt Disney company and bring it into a new rennasciance of innovation and prosperity
Wait… Kermit is Santa? 🐸 🎅
Yes he was! He’s in the beginning and end
I think they deleted his appearance & scene from The Christmas Toy in a final theatrical releases
@@ineedc3477 not a theatrical releases. Christmas Toy is a literal TV movie. It was on TV back then. Then, Kermit appearance was cut from the DVD released version because of Disney rights
I mean, if you really want to go far back in time to the late 70's, Raggedy Ann and Andy also has a very similar plot.
Just saying
Interesting… you can definitely find examples of where elements of movies like Toy Story were used in others films. I think what’s different is that, as far as I can tell, the creators of Toy Story never cited Raggedy Ann and Andy as inspirations like they have with The Muppets. It’s a little odd that Pixar’s biggest property has a very similar plot to the work of an artist that the teamed revered.
jUsT sAyInG
True, but a space toy that thinks their real and a jelous simple toy in the span of less than 10 years is far too similar
😊
The crismas toy is nice 👍
The Christmas Toy was surreal.
from where did you get the hd footage?
Maybe this could just be a really stupid coincidence.
It’s possible. As stated, the concept of toys coming to life isn’t new. It’s also possible that The Christmas Toy might have also had an influence on the Pixar writing team who have stated their admiration for Jim Henson in the past
I dont see it, given the timeline of all this happenening and Katzenbergs repuation for stealing ideas to make movies out of them with the artists permission.
If you haven't seen either of these movies... check your pulse...you might be dead!
RAT!!!! 0:28
I thought more like Toy Story is ripoff from the brave little toaster
But there it WAS by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft (even doing voice work), so the connection is no secret