The “big, big decision” in 1999 that cost Tim Allen an “obscene” amount of money
Against the odds, Toy Story 5 was actually pretty damn good, serving as a much better sequel than the last one, which I can barely remember but seemed to have Jimmy Carr in it as some kind of ventriloquist doll and an irritating fork character. The latest one is warmly familiar, though, with Woody relegated to a supporting role and Tim Allen stepping up to play not just one but several Buzz Lightyears.
An army of Buzzes is no bad thing; Woody is something of an egomaniac with bullying tendencies anyway, and so in this film, which focuses on telling us how terrible consumerism and the internet are (while introducing some new characters in order to provide Disney with more merchandise for kids to buy) you get to hear Allen’s dulcet tones in stereo as he tries to get Jessie the cowgirl to marry him.
It’s now 33 years since Allen first stepped into a Pixar recording booth to make the first Toy Story film, the first mainstream, full-length, entirely computer-animated movie to ever hit cinemas and one that completely changed the landscape of kids’ films permanently. It had a budget of $30million, which was considered huge at the time, but it brought in north of $400m and had a cast of characters that almost instantly became household names.
Allen landed the role of Buzz Lightyear after some big names passed on the role, notably Billy Crystal, who was so annoyed by his mistake after seeing the film that he was first in line when Monsters Inc. was being put together five years later. But it’s not as though Allen was an unknown at the time, far from it in fact. In November of 1994, just as Toy Story was getting a full rewrite after a disastrous first showing, Allen had the number one selling non-fiction book in the US, plus the number one movie with The Santa Clause, and the highest rated sitcom too, Home Improvement.
The show he starred in as Tim ‘The Tool Man’ Taylor had been a revelation since first airing in 1991, with Allen mixing his grunting antics hosting a home improvement cable show with interacting with his family and next-door neighbours. He continued to make it while Toy Story was being produced, and by 1996, Home Improvement had grossed half a billion dollars in syndication revenue, while Allen was one of TV’s best-paid stars.
By the time the much-awaited Toy Story 2 was ready to be released in 1999 with Buzz Lightyear returning, Allen had been doing Home Improvement for eight seasons, but it was still at the top of the ratings. Nevertheless, Allen decided to hang up his tool belt.
Recalling his choice to bring the show to an end, Allen told CBS News, “It was a big, big decision, because the powers-that-be at Disney, the offers were obscene, I mean, to keep [going].”
Pushed on whether he would be specific about just how obscene those numbers might have been, Allen added, “No. It’s rude. But it’s just, it was like, ‘Are you kidding?’ Their first offer was more than you’d ever think. And I’d go, ‘Oh boy.'”
It is reported that the amount of money ABC, owned by Disney, who would go on to take Pixar over, offered Allen to continue for one more season of the show was $50million, with the actor who played his wife, Patricia Richardson, offered half that amount.
Allen returned to the Toy Story franchise for the third film in 2010 and then again in 2019 for the fourth. This year’s instalment, despite being one of the most expensive films of all time to make, has so far brought back $888million at the box office.
