Presented by SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival in partnership with ACM SIGGRAPH Pioneers, the tribute will be held on Sunday, 10 August 2025, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The celebration will begin at 12:30 p.m. PDT with a featured introduction by Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar and a pioneering figure in computer graphics. In “Pioneers Featured Speaker: Catmull Story: To SIGGRAPH and Beyond”, Catmull will share personal reflections on the breakthroughs, challenges, and triumphs that made “Toy Story” possible.
Following the talk and a live audience Q&A, attendees will enjoy trivia and giveaways before a special 4K screening of “Toy Story”, transporting audiences back to where the magic — and CG revolution — began.
SIGGRAPH itself played a vital role in “Toy Story’s” journey. Catmull explained that the technical hurdles to make the film were tremendous. Rendering realistic surfaces, modeling characters, and creating lifelike lighting were challenges no one had solved for feature-length storytelling. But SIGGRAPH’s annual gathering of researchers and artists helped Pixar find answers. Innovations like new illumination models from Cornell, early ray tracing from the University of North Carolina, stochastic sampling methods developed at Lucasfilm, and advancements that led to the creation of Pixar’s “RenderMan” were all born from SIGGRAPH papers and conversations.
“SIGGRAPH wasn’t just a conference; it was our lifeline,” Catmull emphasized. “We published everything we did because we believed in growing the field together. The breakthroughs shared openly at SIGGRAPH — on lighting, shading, rendering — they became the building blocks that we stitched together to make ‘Toy Story’.”
Before Woody and Buzz became household names, Pixar presented early test footage at SIGGRAPH, holding its breath before an audience of computer graphics pioneers and artists. “Showing work-in-progress footage at the conference was a milestone moment for us at Pixar,” said Bill Reeves, supervising technical director of “Toy Story”. “We didn’t know how it would be received. Everyone sat in silence as we waited for the footage to finish. When it ended, and the applause exploded in the room, it was a mind-blowing moment for us. We were in shock. We were excited. We knew we were on to something big. The audience at SIGGRAPH that day gave us a much-needed boost of confidence.”
Released in 1995, “Toy Story” redefined what was possible in animation and storytelling, creating a new standard for the industry. The film’s success showcased not just technical innovation, but the power of blending technology and art to craft compelling stories that would stand the test of time.
“Looking back on making ‘Toy Story’, I realize now that none of us really knew what we were doing,” said Pete Docter, who served as a supervising animator on the film and is now Pixar’s chief creative officer. “At the time it didn’t feel that way; the young, talented team was brimming with confidence and optimism, too inexperienced to seriously consider that the whole thing might fail. Maybe that was why it worked! What we did understand early on was that the film’s success would depend on the strength of its story and characters. Without that, even the world’s first fully computer-animated feature would just be a gimmick. Thirty years later, people around the world are still enjoying ‘Toy Story’ and its sequels, shorts, and theme park attractions — so I guess we got something right!”
The 30th anniversary tribute will not only look back on the film’s historic legacy but also spotlight its enduring influence. The modern CG animation pipeline, still rooted in the innovations pioneered for “Toy Story”, has since fueled countless advancements in visual storytelling.
“‘Toy Story’s’ place in history is a remarkable milestone for computer graphics,” said Dawn Fidrick, SIGGRAPH 2025 Computer Animation Festival Director. “It showed CG wasn’t just about producing images — it proved CG images could create the illusion of life, emotion, and storytelling. It paved the way for everything that followed.”
Thirty years since the film’s release, SIGGRAPH continues to embody the same spirit of innovation and collaboration that nurtured Pixar’s earliest ambitions. Today’s animators, researchers, and technologists stand on the shoulders of a community that believed creativity and technology could, together, transform what is possible.
SIGGRAPH 2025’s tribute to “Toy Story” is more than a celebration of the past. It is a call to the next generation of dreamers and pioneers: to keep pushing, collaborating, and telling stories that change the world.
To learn more about the production and animation content featured at SIGGRAPH 2025, check out the Computer Animation Festival and Production Sessions programs. More information about SIGGRAPH 2025, including registration options, is available at s2025.siggraph.org.
