The Many Spinoffs of Toy Story

With five feature length films in its core lineup, and many imaginative and colourful characters coming from each one, there’s certainly plenty of great material for spinoffs and side stories for the makers of Toy Story to sink their teeth into. As such, it’s perhaps of little surprise that there is a wealth of spin-offs available to watch that add to the lore of the characters and immerses us in the world of the toys time and again, through fantastically fun films and TV shows.

Here, we take a look at the many spin-offs from the films, and how they enhance the already well-known and much-loved Toy Story universe.

Toy Story Treats (aka Toy Story Shorts) – 1996

First produced for Saturday morning TV, these short vignettes appeared around the time that the first film was released on VHS. Eventually the shorts would also make their way onto DVD releases of Toy Story and Toy Story 2: Ultimate Toy Box box set, and the Toy Story 2010 Blu Ray.

Not considered canon, these were just light-hearted shorts that showed the characters in funny situations. With 54 episodes, there was plenty of hilarity involved.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command – (2000 – 2001)

Starting out with the film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, this led onto a 62-episode TV series where Buzz is depicted not as a toy but the character the toy represents. Here, he is a genuine Space Ranger navigating a galaxy of hazards and taking the fight to the evil emperor Zurg.

Coming in a more traditional form of animation, this was a step away from the 3D computer animated style that Toy Story became iconic for but it’s a great little twist on the characters we’ve come to know and love, with a few new additions, and an introduction to the universe Buzz inhabits in his head (at least initially). It also had a tie-in videogame where you can help Buzz on his many adventures.

Toy Story Toons

Returning to short films for the first time since 1996, three were released as Toy Story Toons, following on from the events of Toy Story 3 after Andy donated his toys to Bonnie. Fun little snippets of what the toys get up to on the daily, they gave fans some more insight into the world the toys now found themselves in after so many years with Andy.

Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation (2011)

Barbie and Ken stowaway in Bonnie’s backpack hoping to join her on the family holiday to Hawaii. However, when they emerge, they realise they’ve been left behind. To help ease their disappointment, the other toys set about creating a tropical paradise for them in Bonnie’s room.

Premiering with the release of Disney Pixar’s Cars, this was a fun way of further building on characters who don’t necessarily take centre stage in the full-length films.

Toy Story Toons: Small Fry (2011)

A fast-food restaurant is giving away miniature toys with their meals and a small variant of Buzz Lightyear switches with the real Buzz, who came with Bonnie in the car. When returning home, the obnoxious imposter begins bossing the other toys around while Buzz navigates the restaurant surroundings, trying to find his way back to Bonnie.

Adding a fun twist on the themes of being replaced and finding a way home, that are found in the first and second films, this time it puts Buzz in these situations to see how he would react to them.

Toy Story Toons: Partysaurus Rex (2012)

After playtime in the bathroom, Rex finds himself left behind. Meeting the bath toys in there, they convince him to turn on the tap, since they all lack arms, so that they can continue to party and have fun. This soon leads to some wild activities for all involved.

Yet again putting another less prominent character front and centre, it also introduced audiences to other toys around Bonnie’s house that don’t typically get screentime.

Toy Story of Terror! (2013)

A Halloween special that lampoons scary movies in a fun and family-friendly way, Toy Story of Terror saw the group stranded at a roadside motel when Bonnie’s mum gets a flat tire on a road trip. Stopping for the night, members of the group start disappearing and Jessie is left to discover what’s going on and how she can find them.

With the introduction of a new character, Combat Carl, and a different take on the genre of the Toy Story films, fans really enjoyed this little insight into another facet of the toy’s universe.

Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014)

When Bonnie goes on a playdate with her friend, she takes a few of the gang along who soon find themselves confronted by some delusional dinosaur toys. It transpires these toys haven’t yet been played with so don’t know they are toys yet, and while the others try to survive in combat against these battle toys, Trixie – one of Bonnie’s dinosaur toys- is tasked with turning off the games console Bonnie and her friend are playing with, so that they will play with the toys and rescue her friends.

Lightyear (2022)

Perhaps the most ambitious of all the Toy Story spinoffs, Lightyear was presented as something of a feature film within a film. Centring on the character of Buzz Lightyear, this is not the Buzz we know and love but rather the Buzz he is modelled on. While the main Toy Story films follow the action figure, this is supposedly the film from which the action figure’s character is based.

Following the space ranger on his mission to investigate signs of life on an unknown world, he and his crew become stranded on a strange planet. Looking for ways to get back home, they are attacked by Zurg and his Zyclops robots and an epic showdown ensues with a fascinating plot twist.

An interesting breakaway from the core universe of Toy Story, this had more of a typical sci-fi feel to it with plenty of action, adventure and new quirky characters.

With such a far reaching and comprehensive universe to play in, the many spinoffs from the main franchise add more and more to the stories and characters we see in Toy Story. New films usually mean more spinoffs to come thanks to the renewed interest in the franchise. With so much Toy Story out there, there’s plenty to keep even the biggest fan satisfied.

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