Why The Toys Come To Life In Toy Story

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I may have the answer of how toys come to life. A common theory is that in order for a toy or an object (like Forky) to come to life, they must be played with by a child and are believed to be a toy by that child. But this theory may be more specific than that.

Look at Buzz Lightyear. He was manufactured in a factory by the thousands, perhaps by the millions. As such, no care, no love, no heart was put into making him. Being a manufactured toy, he can only come to life when he is loved by a child, and he was and he did. Look at the Battlesaurs from the short "Toy Story That Time Forgot"; they had been unboxed and loved by their owner, but since they were never played with, they believed themselves to be Battlesaurs and not toys. This lack of identity stems from the fact that they are just cheap clones of many others of their kind. Just like the Battlesaurs, Buzz is a carbon copy; he would not have had any individuality if it for were not the events that transpired in Toy Story. Therefore, he had become more than a toy (and thus fulfilled his purpose)... he, like many other toys, had stepped outside the box, pun not intended. Also, a scene in Toy Story 3 involved Lotso trying to convince Ken that millions of other dolls exist that are just like Barbie, but Ken disagreed.

Now consider Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete.

Another common theory says that all four members of the Roundup Gang are one of a kind toys. Many years ago, back when Andy's dad was a child, there was a cereal brand created by the company behind Woody's Roundup, called "Woody's Roundup Cereal". If a kid bought enough of them and got enough tickets, they could get some/all of the Roundup Gang dolls. However, the competition fell flat and it was scrapped. Nothing is mentioned of the fate of Jessie, Bullseye, or Stinky Pete after this, but allegedly Andy's dad sent the company a rather heartbreaking letter, and someone gave him the Woody doll.

Since Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete are hand-made and were thus made with the utmost love, imagination, and care, they didn't need an owner to play with them in order to come to life. By being made this way, they had enough imagination and love put into them by their makers to allow them to come to life without even being played with. (A toy that needs to be played with in order to come to life has to be a manufactured toy.) Stinky Pete remembers being on a dime store shelf for years (watching every other toy be sold), and as far as we know, he has always been mint in the box. Then how could he be alive? Surely his creator didn't play with him? These questions reinforce that statement above.

My paragraph above can also apply to Forky. He is unique, made by hand, and had thought and love put into him by Bonnie. He was either imagined by her to be a toy, or a "human quality" was thought of him by her, if you know what I mean. (When a child puts a face, arms, and legs onto something, they may not see it as a toy... but as something more... human. Or at least, living.)

The theory still stands that a toy needs love in order to come to life, be it a traditional toy or not.

But what about the lawn gnome that Hamm was communicating with in Toy Story 2 when the toys were searching for Woody's hat? It wasn't a toy, and it was manufactured in a factory (or at least we assume), so he must have been played with by a kid at some point.

What do you all think?

Edited December 3, 2018 by Literatel

[Misty Shadow 7,084]

That's actually not a bad theory. Better than The Force in Star Wars being explained by midichlorians or most of what Game Theory puts out now, that's for sure. 

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13 minutes ago, CloudMistDragon said:

That's actually not a bad theory. Better than The Force in Star Wars being explained by midichlorians or most of what Game Theory puts out now, that's for sure. 

The Force is actually a religion as well, inspired directly by Star Wars. Just a fun fact.

[Discordian 6,013]

There's a theory that all of the Pixar movies are connected. In a roundabout way it's thought that the toys are somehow powered by the same life/energy source that powers the vehicle people in Cars and were made smaller to take care of and watch over humans instead of attempting to live without them.

[Literatel 144]

1 hour ago, Discordian said:

There's a theory that all of the Pixar movies are connected. In a roundabout way it's thought that the toys are somehow powered by the same life/energy source that powers the vehicle people in Cars and were made smaller to take care of and watch over humans instead of attempting to live without them.

Oh, I know of the Pixar theory.