--- title: The One Thing Toy Story Writer Andrew Stanton Would Change description: Screenwriter Andrew Stanton can only watch Toy Story once every year or two. canonical: https://time.com/4122568/andrew-stanton-toy-story-change/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-20T20:25:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:53.423Z article:section: History og:title: The One Thing Toy Story Writer Andrew Stanton Would Change og:description: If he could go back, he would add a single thing to the movie og:url: https://time.com/4122568/andrew-stanton-toy-story-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2d8c1cd89fb5c4/69887160196cf4462e039048/8.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Toy Story og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The One Thing Toy Story Writer Andrew Stanton Would Change twitter:description: If he could go back, he would add a single thing to the movie twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2d8c1cd89fb5c4/69887160196cf4462e039048/8.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The One Thing _Toy Story_ Writer Andrew Stanton Would Change About the Movie ## Video: The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far) [Watch (HLS stream): The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S3M25t5U.m3u8) (4:16)  _Published 2012-05-17. TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). For the full, list go to time.com/entertainment_  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Nov 20, 2015 8:25 PM UTC  A still from the final version of 'Toy Story' (1995) A still from the final version of 'Toy Story' (1995)Deborah Coleman / Pixar  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Nov 20, 2015 8:25 PM UTC Screenwriter Andrew Stanton can only watch _Toy Story_ once every year or two. It’s not that he’s not proud of his first Disney-Pixar film, but quite the opposite. “I don’t watch it often because I know it will depress me how good it is, and make me give up whatever I’m working on at the time,” Stanton tells TIME. “Frankly, I’ll probably never make a film that’s better.” This is from a writer whose other credits include _Finding Nemo,_ _Monsters Inc._ and _Wall-E._ But _Toy Story,_ Stanton’s first feature-length film, still looms large in his memory. (Not being able to outdo _Toy Story_ is “a nice problem to have,” he admits.) Still, when asked if, in the [20 years since _Toy Story_‘s release](http://time.com/4118006/20-years-toy-story-pixar/) as the first 3D computer-animated, full-length movie on Nov. 22, 1995, Stanton has found anything he would change about the film, he was able to think of a moment. Prefacing his desired change with, “This is honestly just me” and “I know other people don’t agree,” Stanton recalls when Buzz and Woody are on top of Sid’s desk, with rain falling outside and Woody trapped under the crate. “Woody builds up Buzz and says ‘You’re a toy, you’re the greatest toy,’ and that leads to him confessing how much he’s never seen himself as much of a great toy. It’s his own insecurity for being this raggedy cowboy doll against this sexy astronaut space toy,” Stanton explains. Buzz then looks down at his own foot to see the word ‘Andy’ and makes up his mind to save Woody. At this moment, Stanton says, he wishes Buzz did something else, too. “I always wanted him to just add one more beat and have him look over and see ‘Andy’ also written under Woody’s foot. Just to make that extra bit of connection of how they’re brothers, and they both have value,” he says. “I think at the end of the day the argument was that it didn’t need that. Or I didn’t have as much influence as I do today then to push it.” Stanton calls this “the granular stuff,” but says he thinks of it every time he sees the scene. He adds, “I always feel like ‘Oh, that would just be the cherry on top for me.” **_Read more:_** [How _Toy Story_ Changed Movie History](http://time.com/4118006/20-years-toy-story-pixar/) ### See Original _Toy Story_ Concept Art for Buzz and Woody  Buzz Lightyear and Woody drawn by Bob Pauley Deborah Coleman / Pixar  Buzz Lightyear drawn by Bob Pauley Deborah Coleman / Pixar  Woody designs by Bud Luckey Deborah Coleman / Pixar  Woody drawn by Bud Luckey, with color by Ralph Eggleston Deborah Coleman / Pixar  Art for 'Toy Story' (1995) by Ralph Eggleston Deborah Coleman / Pixar  Woody drawn by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher Deborah Coleman / Pixar  Buzz Lightyear drawn by Bud Luckey Deborah Coleman / Pixar  A still from the final version of 'Toy Story' (1995) Deborah Coleman / Pixar ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4122568/andrew-stanton-toy-story-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4122568/andrew-stanton-toy-story-change/"},"headline":"The One Thing Toy Story Writer Andrew Stanton Would Change About the Movie","datePublished":"2015-11-20T20:25:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:53.423Z","description":"Twenty years after the movie's release, Andrew Stanton explains the only thing he would add","url":"https://time.com/4122568/andrew-stanton-toy-story-change/","keywords":["movies","Pixar"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2d8c1cd89fb5c4/69887160196cf4462e039048/8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc2d8c1cd89fb5c4/69887160196cf4462e039048/8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Toy Story","caption":"Toy Story","creditText":"Deborah Coleman / Pixar","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4122568/andrew-stanton-toy-story-change/","name":"The One Thing Toy Story Writer Andrew Stanton Would Change About the Movie"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)","description":"TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). 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