Buy and Throw: Anxieties of Obsolescence in Toy Story

One of the running themes throughout the Toy Story film franchise is the anxieties of obsoletion. Although we experience these fears from the toy’s perspectives, this does mirror larger societal concerns of consumerism and obsoletion of toys. “Woody whose continual fear of plastic corrosion and his despair about the hostility of the outside world,” (Meinel, 2016, p. 45) and the entry of Buzz Lightyear, an advanced toy with more interactive features such as a laser beam, buttons, mechanical helmet and wings, fuels the narrative between old and new. 

Studies on modern toys show that their designs are not circular with their life cycles often ending in landfills (Levesque et al., 2022). Modern consumer products are not built to be long-lasting, rather their obsolescence is planned and incorporated into their design (Satyro et al., 2018). The obsolescence of toys differs from the argument that Satyro et al. (2018) put forward. They suggest ways to design for product longevity and making technologies easier to fix, however the obsolescence of toys differs in that it is largely dependent on social and technological trends (Levesque et al., 2022). 

Woody and the other toys feared becoming obsolete in the first film partly due to the introduction of newer toys with modern interactive features that might be favored by children and in the second film due to Andy outgrowing them. Both of these fears are a natural part of a toy’s life cycle. Toys mimic fashion trends, in that they are replaced before they are worn out as minor changes in their features make them go out of style (Appadurai, 1996, p. 77). 

 Depictions of obsolescence in animation is shown thematically in Toy Story and overconsumption is further condemned in WALL-E. In her chapter, Cortez (2012) discusses the meaning that we infuse into objects outside of their obvious economic value.

^{Image Credits:} 

^{1. Screenshot: Toy Story 4 trailer / Youtube. Copyright Pixar.}

^{2. Screenshot: Toy Story 2 film/ Disney Plus. Copyright Pixar}