Toy Story Journey

In the 1995 film Toy Story, the toys must learn to accept new challenges and to let go of the “old” way of doing things. They learn that they must stick together, forgive one another, and trust each other even when it is the most difficult thing to do. We mainly see the interactions between the cowboy, Woody, and the space ranger, Buzz who must learn to overcome their differences. Throughout their journey we are able to see and learn from their experiences as they are engulfed in the daily challenges of being toys.

In the beginning of the film, it is the day of Andy’s birthday party. All of Andy’s toys are afraid that they will be replaced by new toys and that Andy will forget about them. The toys want to know what his new presents are

as he opens them. The green soldiers are sent on a mission to find out the information. To get down the stairs, they use a jump rope like a fireman’s pole and slide down it (Toy Story, 1995). Later in the movie when Woody and Buzz are trapped in Sid’s bedroom, they can see that Andy’s bedroom is straight across from Sid’s. Woody throws a string of Christmas lights across to Andy’s room to the other toys to use as a rope to climb across (Toy Story, 1995). Even later in the film Buzz, Woody, and the remote control car, RC, are trying to catch up to the moving van and RC runs out of battery. They make a plan to light Buzz’s rocket with Woody’s match, but the match goes out as soon as a car drives by. They think that there is no way they will be able to catch up now. Woody then realizes that he can use Buzz’s helmet to reflect the sunlight through it to concentrate it on the end of the string that attaches to the rocket on Buzz’s back. Once the rocket is lit, they are able to soar over all the other traffic and make it back to Andy and the moving van (Toy Story, 1995). All of these examples show that the toys have the ability to use whatever they have available, to be able to accomplish a task they have at hand. The toys clearly do not experience functional fixedness. Functional fixedness is a type of fixation that causes us to only think of using objects for their designed purpose instead of thinking of other ways that they could be used (Myers, 2011). The toys are able to come up with ways to solve their problems by using objects that would not normally be used.
When Woody first meets Buzz, it would be an understatement to say he does not like him. Woody already knows that he is being replaced by a mass produced, fake space ranger who can't even fly. He is angry and he wants to reclaim his title as Andy's favorite toy. As his dislike for Buzz grows, Woody sees an opportunity to get rid Buzz, at least for a while. His plan does not go the way he planned because instead of going behind the dresser, Buzz goes out the window. The other toys are in shock of what they think they just saw. Some of the toys such as Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, and the green Army soldiers believe Woody did this on purpose and start arguing with him about what he did. A couple of the other toys are on Woody’s side such as Slinky Dog and Bo Peep who continue to try to calm the others down throughout the arguing (Toy Story, 1995). We can see that these toys are involved in group polarization. Myers (2011) describes this process as ‘the enhancing of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion’ (p. 659). The longer they argued about what they felt, the stronger they felt about what they were saying. This caused chaos and hatred between the toys which made it hard for them to forgive Woody later on.
When Buzz and Woody finally escape Sid’s house, they just miss Andy’s car pulling out of the driveway.

Their next option is to try to chase down the moving van that is right behind it. As they start running, Sid’s dog starts to chase them. Buzz is able to get himself onto the truck while Woody struggles to climb up the rope. This is when the dog gets ahold of Woody. Woody tells Buzz to take care of Andy, but Buzz isn’t going to let the dog take Woody. Buzz willingly sacrifices himself by jumping on the dog and getting left behind with it so that Woody is able to get onto the moving van (Toy Story, 1995). In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he describes the many ways we are motivated throughout our life in a pyramid form. When we meet our basic needs such as food, safety, love, and esteem, we are able to live up to our fullest potential. This need is called our self-actualization need. McLeod says that “in self-actualization, a person comes to find a meaning to life that is important to them” (2014). Buzz finds that his friendship with Woody is very important to him. It is so important that he would risk his life for Woody. Some of the characteristics listed by McLeod that show that Buzz is a self-actualized person are that he accepts himself and others the way they are, he is spontaneous in thought and action, he is capable of appreciating basic life experiences, and he establishes deep relationships with a few people (2014). Buzz demonstrates all of these characteristics throughout the film. His self-actualization leads him continue to do good for others and to look out for

them.
Through these three psychological principles of non functional fixedness, group polarization, and self-actualization, the toys show that the most important thing is being able to count on each other and to trust them. With non functional fixedness, they showed that everyone needs to do their part. In group polarization, they showed that chaos and yelling are not how you settle an argument. Last, with self-actualization, they show that we should not be focused on ourselves, but on helping others when they are in need. As they finally accept each other, they are happier and more willing to be there for each other.