Toy Story 2 was Never Meant to be a Big Deal

Toy Story made $244 million worldwide, including almost $30 million during its 1995 opening weekend. This film helped Pixar gain notoriety and establish itself as the industry leader in animation that they are today. It was practically a given that there would be a sequel.

Toy Story 2 has since become Pixar's highest rated movie. But that size was never anticipated. In actuality, it was intended to be a direct-to-video sequel, one of those lesser works that normally only appeals to diehard fans and is seen a success if it generates any sort of revenue.

Instead, Disney upped the movie to a full theatrical release because the production crew was so confident they had something special. The team was under pressure to get the film up to that level on a tight schedule and ultimately created their greatest film to date, which was the result of an unanticipated success.