Disney’sToy Storyseries is already dark enough as it is, but it got a lot darker when a toy designer claimed to have inside information about the fate of Andy’s father. TheToy Story franchiseis massively popular, grossing nearly $2 billion worldwide, and setting box office records while gaining critical praise along the way for tackling childhood in a realistic and somewhat depressing manner. Many fans have wondered over the years why Andy was raised by a single mother and where his dad is with many speculating that his parents had just gotten a divorce.
SuperCarlinBrothers' YouTubechannel posted a video last week that claimed to have the answer that everybody has been waiting for in regards to Andy’s father. Mike Mozart, a toy consultant onToy Storyand artist claims that he got the inside scoop from the late Joe Ranft who co-wroteToy Storyand apparently Andy’s dad died before thefirst Toy Story moviefrom polio. According to Mozart, Andy’s dad’s name was also Andy and he was Woody’s first owner. Andy was able to save a few of his precious toys from when he was a child before all of his stuff was burned as a quarantine measure.
Mozart went on to describe a tragic scene that apparently “rivals the first ten minutes ofUp.” Andy’s father is on his deathbed and he asks his son to go retrieve the toys from a chest in the attic, but by the time he returns, his father has passed away. Fans started to spread the video and many took it as the truth because it seemed to fill in so many holes. Now this is some tragic stuff, even forToy Story, but thankfully it has been debunked and called a total fabrication.
Pixar writer and director Andrew Stanton who also co-wrote all threeToy Storymovies took to social media to debunk the heartbreaking story. He says “Complete and utterfake news. Everyone go back to your homes. Nothing to see here folks.” To add to the post he added the hashtag #Iwasthere. So thankfully the story is untrue, but it’s entirely possible that Ranft could have talked about the idea to Mozart in an off the cuff type of manner while thinking out loud during the initial writing process forToy Story. Even though proven to be false, the story will probably end up turning into a Disney myth and never really going away despite the facts being presented. Point is, we may never knowWoody’s origin story, and Disney may not ever tell that story.
In addition to co-writing all three of theToy Storymovies, Stanton is working on the fourth at the moment, which is set to come out in 2019.Toy Story 4 was officially announced by Disney in November of 2014, but has hit some speed bumps and delays over the past few years. The movie will not be a direct continuation of the first three movies, but a standalone sequel and has an official release date of June 21st, 2019… unless it gets delayed again. In the meantime, check out Mozart’s false story below as well as Stanton’s rebuttal.
