Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story

Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story

CD cover art
Developer(s) Media Station
Publisher(s) Disney Interactive
Series Disney's Animated Storybook
Platform(s) Computer
Release date(s) April 24, 1996
Genre(s) Point-and-click adventure, interactive storybook
Mode(s) Single-player

Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story is the fourth entry in the Disney's Animated Storybook point-and-click adventure interactive storybook PC game series, based on theatrical and home video releases. The game was developed by Media Station and published by Disney Interactive. It was released on April 24, 1996.[1] It is the only Animated Storybook title to be based on a Pixar film.

History

Conception

The vision of Marc Teren, VP of entertainment for Disney Interactive, was to create games with a "true and fair representation of the original property",[2] and aim to capitalise as "ancillary products to successful theatrical and home video releases".[3] To achieve this, Teren helped ensure the games were animated by Disney animators.[2] From December 1994 to February 1995, the company had hired 50 new employees.[4] Children's Business suggests the series came into fruition because in the contemporary entertainment market, it was "customary now for entertainment companies to release CD-ROMs to support a film or TV show".[5]

Development

Disney and Media Station collaborated to create more than 12,000 frames of digital animation for each game, as well as 300 music and vocal clips. Digital music and sound effects were composed, orchestrated, arranged, edited, mixed and synchronized at Media Station.[6] The games had hundreds of clickable hotspots that produced animated gags, as well as many mind-challenging interactive games.[7] The voice cast sometimes consisted of actors from the films reprising their roles;[8] meanwhile, at other times voice soundalikes were used.[9]

Commercial performance

On May 13, 1996, PR Newswire reported that in the three weeks since the release of Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story, the game had sold more than 100,000 copies at retail.[10] Revenues from Toy Story were included in Pixar's second quarter financial report.[11]

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly gave the game an A rating, commenting that Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story contained "all the familiar scenes" from the movie it was based on, albeit augmented by entertaining point-and-click activities. The site also praised the animation, noting "the sequences in Animated Storybook (which so closely mirror those in the film) have an immediate, you-are-there quality", in comparison to other video game adaptions of movies which "present scenes from the original flick in a truncated, non-interactive manner that can be mildly off-putting for both kids and adults".[9] WorldVillage gave Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story the ratings of: Ease of Use – 5, Learning Value – 3, Entertainment Value – 4, Graphics – 5, and Sound – 3. It added that the game is "indeed a work of art".[12] AllGame gave Toy Story a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.[13] The Washington Post said the absence of the flim's two main stars "does not diminish the enjoyment" of the game.[1] The Buffalo News said the game "captures the spirit and humor of the film".[14] The Record thought the game had "first-rate production values".[15] Robertson Stephens analyst Keith Benjamin said "This is the most compelling CD-ROM title I have ever seen".[16] The Mirror said the game was "brilliant".[17] MacWorld praised the game for its visual similarity to the film it was adapted from, commenting that "the 3-D imaging is superb".[18]

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[13]
Entertainment WeeklyA[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Disney's `Toy Story'". 1996-05-20.
  2. 1 2 Nielsen Business Media, Inc (1995-02-18). "Billboard": 69.
  3. ↑ "Disney jumps into interactive software: McBeth to lead new unit with ambitious CD-ROM, game plans. (Steve McBeth, president of Disney Interactive) (Telemedia Week: The Interactive World of Video, Voice and Data)". 1994-12-12.
  4. ↑ "MOVIE STUDIOS FOCUS ON BUILDING INTERACTIVE DIVISIONS". 1995-02-13.
  5. ↑ "E3 preview: state of the edutainment market. (educational entertainment)". 1997-06-01.
  6. ↑ "Media Station develops "Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King" for Disney Interactive. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  7. ↑ Media, Working Mother (July–August 1996). "Working Mother".
  8. ↑ "CD-ROM ROLES PULL STARS INTO CYBERSPACE. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  9. 1 2 3 Bob Strauss (1996-05-17). "Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story Review". EW.com. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  10. ↑ "DISNEY'S ANIMATED STORYBOOK, TOY STORY SETS SALES RECORD DURING FIRST THREE WEEKS OF RELEASE – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  11. ↑ "Pixar Announces Financial Results for Second Quarter of 1996. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  12. ↑ "Disney's Animated StoryBook, Toy Story". Worldvillage.com. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  13. 1 2 House, Michael L. (2010-10-03). "Disney's Toy Story Animated StoryBook – Overview". allgame. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  14. ↑ "WOODY AND BUZZ GO ON AN ADVENTURE". 1996-05-09.
  15. ↑ "FROM DICK AND JANE TO BUZZ LIGHTYEAR". 1996-10-21.
  16. ↑ "California's Pixar Reports Solid Earnings.(Originated from Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.)". 1996-04-26.
  17. ↑ "Jurassic Lark's a Bite of History". 1996-12-06.
  18. ↑ "Toy Story Animated StoryBook". MacWorld. September 1996.
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