Toy Story 2 (1999) - 5 questions

Question: During the introduction to Woody's Roundup, as Woody watches himself come through the swinging saloon doors, the area around his holster appears blurry. Was this in keeping with the degraded quality of the tape footage, or is this censorship of a gun?

Answer: It isn't Woody's holster that's blurred, it's his hand. And yes, the blurred effect is due to the video tape's degeneration.

Question: When the toys are trying to get into the big building, Rex comments that they can use balloons to float to the 23rd floor. Could this have possibly been a reference to Up, or just a coincidence? The teaser trailer for Wall-e shows that they had the idea for Wall-e almost 15 years before it being made, so was the idea of Up being developed around the time of Toy Story 2?

Answer: It's pretty safe to say that this is purely a coincidence; most sources suggest that the idea for Up was developed in the very early 2000's, at least a couple of years after Toy Story 2 was released. It's possible that the seeds of the idea were in place prior to that, but, regardless, it's highly unlikely that Pixar would put in an intentional reference to a film that would not be released for another decade and would certainly not have been greenlit at the time.

Question: When Al is talking to the Japanese man on the phone, he ends the phone call with "Don't touch my mustache." What does he mean by this? Is this a Japanese term that sounds like don't touch my mustache? (Similar to when everybody yells "have a paper bag!" at Harryhausen's in Monster's Inc?)

Answer: "Douitashimashite" is the Japanese word for You're welcome. Phonetically, it sounds like "Don't touch my mustache." It's how we were taught to say it while living in Japan in the military. If you say it fast enough, you can sound like you are pronouncing the word decently enough (although clearly not THAT accurately.)

Question: Near the beginning, Buzz says something about drinking hot smores. What are smores?

Answer: S'mores are chocolate and marshmallow sandwiched between graham crackers, held over a campfire to warm up, but many love it so much they just make them in the oven or microwave. It's said to have originated in the 1920's by the Girl Scouts and received its name when kids asked for "Some more!"

Question: During an outtake with the 3 aliens hanging from the roof of the car, one of them asks another if he made it into the first Toy Story movie. The other alien says, "On the letterbox (widescreen) copy." Is this true?

Answer: Um, this is a joke. Pixar reframe their films for full-screen releases, so as not to lose any of the action, so, in terms of aliens appearing, there shouldn't be any difference between the widescreen and full-screen versions.