A while back, I was on holiday in Alabama. I was at this gas station store just getting some more food, drinks and supplies for the drive to the hotel. I noticed there was a box with videos in it. The guy at the cashier explained to me that those videos were found outside the store and that I could take the entire box for free. Seeing as they were all labeled, and that the man was being friendly,I picked up the cardboard box and paid for my snacks.
When I arrived at the hotel, I noticed they had a VHS player. I looked through the videos, and I was astonished what I found. They were tapes of various Pixar films. The eerie fact is that about five of the tapes had a stamp that said "DECLINED PLEASE DESTROY - JL". I then realized JL stood for John Lasseter, and that I was in possesion of deiscarded property of Pixar. I put on the first tape, which was a collection of old Pixar shorts. I haven't seen all of the shorts, so I coudn't tell if they were legit. The odd fact about the first tape is that whenever one short transitioned into another short, it was just static. After about five shorts, I could start to see something in the static. Before I could clearly see what was in the static, the tape ended. Go figure.
I put on the second tape, which had a more familiar name. It was labeled "Toy Story animation test 01". I was excited at watching the evolution of what at the time was my fvourite Disney movie. All was about to change with one button on the remote called PLAY. It appeared that it was actually a full movie rather than a few tests.
The movie began with a white title card that read "A TOY'S STORY © 1992 Pixar Productions". It then cut to what looked like a commercial advertising a Woody doll. It zoomed out to reveal a boy (I assumed it was Andy) watching TV in the living room. The living room looked entirely different and so did the boy. He had freckles, and orange hair, and didn't look or sound at all like Andy. Besides that, his name was Max. I assumed that this must be an early version of Andy, and that the character had not yet been developed yet. "Come on Woody, let's go to school", said Max as he belted out the door. Max kept talking to Woody about how he was going to show Woody for show and tell.
Suddenly, a shadow fell upon him. It was at this point, when I discovered about ten sheets of paper in the box. I was shocked to realize that this was the script of this early version of Toy Story. The script read that in this scene, Max is tormented and attacked by the bully Sid. I found this interesting as Sid and Andy (a.k.a. Max) had never met in the finished movie. Much to my surprise, Sid was gigantic. He looked nothing like the 1995 version of Sid, and he was Hulk size. He began to punch Max in the face and he put his hands around Max's neck. The sky turned darker, and there were sounds of people screaming and saying "NO". It was like a nightmare, it just kept going on. Yoy could also hear Max crying for his mom. Eventually, you bcould hear an ambulance arrive. But in the background you could see fire, and you could see gigantic horses chasing people. The doctors were carrying Max's small body onto a stretcher.
The nightmare moved onto a gravesite where it was a cloudy day and there was a church bell ringing and there were gravestones. Remember that this was all computer animated. A faint organ could be heard. The scary part is that there were pages missing from the script that were lying on my bed seconds ago. It cut to static and then it resumed to an early version of the scene where Woody is calling a meeting for all the toys about Max's birthday party. It was all in Russian and the sky was dark outside. None of this movie made any sense, and nothing fit together. It cut back to static where it showed Max getting molested by two very big men in a toolshed. I vomited when I saw this and I kept seeing Sid's creepy face fade in and out. Finally, one of the men stopped and bellowed "you're too old for toys!" I looked back at the script to find some information on the early Toy Story.
The cast sheet was missing most of the characters, and had characters that either were deleted from the film or appeared in the sequels. For example, the Prospector and Bullseye were in the castlist (no sign of Jessie though). It mentioned other characters like Scooter the Walrus, Mr. Wiggly, ScarBear, and a character called Dino-ray (wich I presume was an early version of Rex). Near the top of the list was the scariest name of all, it read "Death". I looked back at the TV and it was now browsing through a dark Al's Toy Barn. The store was closed and the camera was moving back and forth at all the aisles. Some of the toys didn't even exist yet, such as Tickle Me Elmo. There was a line of toys called "Satan & Friends", and a sale for Toy Story 3 on Blu-Ray. I froze in shock at the latter, because Blu-Ray wasn't even invented yet, nor was Toy Story 3 in development (or so I thought).
It then cut to the Al's Toy Barn commercial that appeared in the final film, except the Buzz Lightyear toy was called Lunar Lenny, and he was a green alien astronaut. It zoomed to Woody who was complaining about Lunar Lenny. It then for some reason cut back to the scary scene where Sid is ripping Max's stomach open by using Woody and his foot. Sid then stops, and looks towards the camera. He begans to walk over until his face ic voering the entire screen. He gives this creepy smile.
Suddenly, the TV caught fire. The entire hotel was on fire, and everyone had to get out fast. I forgot the tapes, so they were burnt. I tried to reach Pixar, but all the calls are computer automated and they ask you bullshit questions. Even though I still have nightmares about the early Toy Story, I only wish I could of watched the rest of the tapes. Toy Story, or any computer animated movie at that, has never been the same for me.
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