Toy Story "Black Friday Reel" (partially found rough cut of Pixar animated film; 1993)

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Toy Story BF.PNG

A still from the infamous "Black Friday Reel" rough cut.

Status: Partially found

Video from the Toy Story Special Edition Blu-Ray and DVD discussing the changes Disney wanted to be made and the infamous "Black Friday" reel.

Toy Story doesn't need much introduction. It was the first PIXAR feature-length film, the first all-computer-animated film, and the film that ultimately started the downfall of 2D animation. It has been highly regarded as one of the best-animated films ever, lauded for its presentation and innovation.

What many people don't know, though, is that Toy Story almost didn't end up happening at all. When Disney started working with PIXAR on the project, they wanted the movie to be targeted for adults and to be released via their Touchstone company. This early version, dubbed the "Black Friday Reel", was notably a lot more cynical, crude, and dark than the final product. Due to a lack of information shared, it is not known how far this version got before the plug was pulled and full re-write was put into action. It is known that this version was full-out storyboarded and scripted. When Disney executives looked at the final product, they were less than enthused. They thought they had just seen one of the worst ideas for a film ever. The incident sparked Roy Disney to ask John Lasseter (PIXAR founder) "You seriously listened to us?".

Thankfully, the original adult version was scrapped in exchange for the classic that is known and loved today. It hasn't stopped the curious from looking for the original, however.

Known Clips

The most we've seen from this version is a 2-minute sample from the 2010 Toy Story Blu-Ray special feature Black Friday: The Toy Story You Never Saw. It's an alternate version of a scene from the finished film where Woody tries to push Buzz behind the desk so that Andy will take him to Pizza Planet instead of Buzz. The biggest difference in this version is that instead of Woody accidentally tossing Buzz out the window; he unmistakably does so on purpose.

A very small handful of pictures from the storyboard has been revealed via a "Making of" documentary.

A tiny clip from this version can also be seen in the 2007 documentary The Pixar Story, which features Woody saying "You're all acting like you've never seen a new toy before! Get a grip, okay?" to the toys during the

Beyond these clips, PIXAR possibly remains too humiliated by it to let it come to light.