Toy Story of Terror! premiered on ABC on Oct. 16, 2013, with nods to The Shining, Predator and Night of the Living Dead. Here’s the story behind Pixar’s first TV special and where to watch it.
Pixar has made a lot of Toy Story, but only one Toy Story horror movie.
Toy Story of Terror! is a 21-minute Halloween special that sends Woody, Buzz and Jessie to a creepy roadside motel. Toys go missing one by one.
There’s a monster in the shadows. And there’s a lot of love for classic horror movies hiding in the corners.
It premiered on ABC 13 years ago this month. Today it’s streaming on Disney+, and Freeform has it on its 31 Nights of Halloween schedule, too.
Here’s the full story, from the “Predator” joke to the Pixar gravestones you probably missed.
What is Toy Story of Terror about?
The special picks up where “Toy Story 3” left off, according to D23, Disney’s official fan club. Bonnie, her mom and the toys are on a road trip to grandma’s house when they have to stop overnight at an empty roadside motel.
Then Mr. Potato Head disappears, Disney’s official description says. The rest of the gang has to figure out what happened to him before they suffer the same fate.
Mr. Pricklepants, the toy hedgehog with a flair for drama, tells the gang a scary story along the way. Combat Carl, a tough-talking action figure, warns Jessie about the dangers of the Sleep Well Motel, Disney’s official stills show.
D23 promised a vacant motel, a suitcase that feels like a coffin and a monster lurking in the shadows. That’s a lot for a half-hour on ABC.
The voice cast includes Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Joan Cusack as Jessie and Carl Weathers as Combat Carl, according to Disney. Timothy Dalton plays Mr. Pricklepants, Kristen Schaal plays Trixie, Don Rickles plays Mr. Potato Head and Wallace Shawn plays Rex. Stephen Tobolowsky is in the cast, too.
When did Toy Story of Terror premiere?
It premiered on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, at 8 p.m. on ABC, according to D23 and Pixar’s own promo. It was Pixar’s first made-for-TV short, D23 noted.
Angus MacLane directed it. He’d already directed the Pixar shorts “Small Fry” and “BURN-E,” D23 said.
Pixar posted this promo ahead of the premiere:
It did well. The special averaged a 3.0 rating among adults 18 to 49 in early numbers, The Hollywood Reporter reported the next morning.
It opened at No. 1 among total viewers and adults 18 to 49, giving ABC its best showing in that time slot in nearly two years, Animation World Network reported. With kids 2 to 11, ABC had its highest rating in that half-hour in almost six years.
What horror movies does Toy Story of Terror reference?
A bunch. The Halloween theme gave Pixar’s team the freedom to pay tribute to favorite horror films like “The Shining,” “Predator” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” D23 said.
The Shining. The motel key in the special was inspired by the key from the Overlook Hotel, D23 noted. MacLane said it wasn’t Pixar’s first Shining joke, either.
“Sid’s house from the first ‘Toy Story’ movie also makes reference to ‘The Shining’ with its carpet,” he told D23.
Predator. Carl Weathers played Dillon in 1987’s “Predator,” and Combat Carl’s entrance in the special is a direct callback to one of his lines in that movie, MacLane said.
Night of the Living Dead. One line in the special, “I’m coming to get you Betsy,” borrows from “I’m coming to get you Barbara” from the 1968 zombie classic, D23 noted.
Pixar’s own graveyard. “All of the gravestones in the horror film scene have deceased Pixar character names on them,” MacLane said.
They’re hard to read.
But if you look closely, you’ll find Gusto from “Ratatouille,” Coral the clownfish from “Finding Nemo” and Simon J. Paladino, better known as Gazerbeam from “The Incredibles,” he said. Gazerbeam’s stone calls him “a public servant with a unique vision,” a joke about his laser eyes.
Why did Pixar bring back Combat Carl?
Combat Carl only appeared briefly in the first “Toy Story,” D23 said. MacLane wanted more of him.
“I wanted to bring him back because he worked so well in the first movie as far as elevating the danger and telling the audience what’s at stake,” MacLane told D23.
He also called Combat Carl “the ultimate personification of the ’80s action movie hero.” MacLane based the character’s look on the G.I. Joe Adventure Team action figure, D23 said.
Getting Weathers to voice him was a nice touch, given his “Predator” history. Weathers died in February 2024 at 76, The Associated Press reported.
How did commercial breaks change Toy Story of Terror?
This is where it gets fun. Pixar movies don’t usually stop for ads, but an ABC special does.
“One of the most satisfying format differences was having the ability to end on a down beat,” MacLane told D23.
“We had to figure out how to put the characters in bad situations right before the commercial break. And each gets progressively worse. So we kept trying to outdo each one,” he said.
He even guessed how that might play at home. “I’m personally very excited about seeing it with commercials because I think it might play unintentionally hilarious when you cut to a fabric softener commercial right after Jessie gets buried alive.”
Is Toy Story of Terror a Jessie story?
Yes. For all the horror jokes, MacLane said the heart of the special belongs to Jessie.
He told D23 it’s about her “revisiting her unfinished fears of being abandoned and being stuck in a box.” If you remember her story from “Toy Story 2,” you know why a dark, locked box is the worst place Jessie could end up.
Did Toy Story of Terror win any awards?
It won three Annie Awards in February 2014, according to ComingSoon and Skwigly:
Directing in an animated TV or broadcast production, for Angus MacLane
Storyboarding in an animated TV or broadcast production, for Daniel Chong
Character animation in an animated TV or broadcast production, for Kureha Yokoo
Where can you watch Toy Story of Terror?
It’s streaming on Disney+, according to JustWatch, and Pixar’s YouTube channel says so, too. You can also buy it digitally from Amazon, Apple and Fandango at Home, JustWatch says.
It came out on Blu-ray and digital on Aug. 19, 2014, according to Pixar’s trailer for that release:
If you’d rather catch it on TV, Freeform is airing it during 31 Nights of Halloween on Monday, Oct. 19, at 2 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 11 a.m. EDT/PDT, according to Freeform’s schedule. Toy Story of Terror! is rated TV-G, according to Disney.
What came after Toy Story of Terror?
Pixar went back to ABC a year later with a Christmas special, Toy Story That Time Forgot. It aired on Dec. 2, 2014, with Trixie the triceratops in the lead, according to D23. Steve Purcell directed that one.
MacLane went on to direct a feature for Pixar, too: “Lightyear” (2022), the movie about the space ranger who inspired Andy’s toy.
And the main series kept going, with “Toy Story 5” hitting theaters this June. Still, for a Halloween night with the toys, this one’s hard to beat.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
D23, Oct. 10, 2013: Dead Toys Tell No Tales, a first look at Toy Story of Terror! with director Angus MacLane
D23 Disney A to Z: Toy Story of Terror and Toy Story That Time Forgot entries
Disney Movies: Toy Story of Terror! official page (cast, rating, runtime and stills)
Michael O’Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, Oct. 17, 2013: TV ratings for Toy Story of Terror
Jennifer Wolfe, Animation World Network, Oct. 17, 2013: Toy Story special reaps big ratings
ComingSoon, Feb. 2, 2014, and Skwigly: 41st Annie Awards winners
Freeform: 31 Nights of Halloween 2026 schedule, Sept. 16, 2026
JustWatch: Toy Story of Terror! U.S. streaming listing, checked Oct. 10, 2026
The Associated Press, Feb. 2, 2024: Carl Weathers dies at 76
Pixar on YouTube: Toy Story OF TERROR! ABC promo (Oct. 5, 2013) and Blu-ray trailer (May 19, 2014)
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.