Toy Story: The True Identity of Andy's Mom Makes The Movie More Epic

Andy's mom has always been a bit of an enigma. In the first Toy Story, we barely even saw her face. That's all fine because throughout the movies, the real focus has been on Andy and the love he has for those toys.

But this is Pixar, and it stands to reason that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the Davis family (Andy's last name).

In order to understand who Ms. Davis really is, we have to start with something seemingly simple: a hat.

In the picture below, you see Andy's cowboy hat that he plays with throughout his childhood. Study it closely.

Notice anything weird about the hat? It looks nothing like the hat worn by his favorite toy, Woody. Why wouldn't Andy wear a hat that was brown?

We don't think about it because most of us are normal human beings with things like jobs and tax exemptions. But I want you to take a quick journey with me: Andy got this hat from his mom.

In Toy Story 2, young Andy Davis left for summer camp, and his mom held a yard sale. \"The Chicken Man\" found Woody in one of the boxes (he was trying to save a fellow toy) and pleaded with Ms. Davis to sell him because Woody is a collectible from the 1950s.

Ms. Davis refuses, acknowledging that Woody is \"an old family toy.\" Not that much time has passed between the Toy Story movies, but we know that Andy has had Woody since Kindergarten, according to Mr. Potato Head. Andy's 6th birthday is in the first Toy Story, which makes him 7 or 8 in this movie. Woody doesn't seem all that old in comparison.

Further, Woody has no recollection of who he is. Many have suggested that this is because he was owned by Andy's father, who is never mentioned in the movies. Molly is a baby in the first movie, which means Andy's father either died or walked out not long before the movies started.

A reasonable assumption is that Andy's mom gave Woody, his father's toy, to him on his 5th birthday. After all, she gave him Buzz Lightyear on his next birthday. If Woody had been a new toy when Ms. Davis gave him to Andy, then he would know exactly who he is was, which is unlikely because he is so rare.

Now, back to the hat. I believe Andy received the hat from his mom, as well. There's another instance in the movies when this hat is shown:

This kind of trivia stuff has always fascinated me.

As the youngest of 8 children in a very impoverished family. All my toys were hand me downs. LOL. Even my cloths were, if they lasted before my older siblings grew out of them.

As A young boy, I used to carry on the same theme of identity when I received a toy from an older sibling that they had already created. So it was like a long epic story for each toy I was handed down.

I have always believed that there are few things as precious as the way a child will make up a whole world of identities for their precious friends made of plastic, cloth, metal, and leather. Worlds they can get lost in for hours.

Sadly, today we purchase toys for our children that come with identities and stories from those who only wish to make a buck off us. Identities that are so far removed from the child life that they seem to have caused children to lose their ability to create a imaginary life out of nothing, because they have everything.

If your my age, you can probably remember when your Mom gave you an old doll she used to play with who's arms or legs have been sewn back on so many times she looks more like Frankenstein's Bride than the Cinderella doll it once was.

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Or the Tonka truck, given to you by Dad, after he spent two hours at the local junk yard searching for the universal joint needed to fix the drive shaft on the family Oldsmobile. Instead of finding the part, he found you an old Tonka truck with a bent fender that he convinced you had more character than the new models you saw on Captain Kangaroo, but he couldn't afford.

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Don't get me wrong, I am a proud capitalist who begrudges no man for making money. My point is more about the way our culture has become such a toss away society, that our children lose interest in a toy after a few weeks of use. After all, they now desire the newest 2.0 version of the current toy they have. Which by the way, they only wanted because their friends all had one.

Well, it's just another part of life in America that is a casualty of having the ability to buy your child so many toys they all get lost in a box that will end up one day in the trash, because there younger siblings will get even newer versions of the same thing.

Anyway, I found this tidbit about Toy Story and Andy's Mom, and thought some of you may appreciate it.

I still have (or can get, on a few hours notice) a lot of the toys and books I had as a child. I took care of them, and most of them are still in good condition. I had hoped to pass them on to my own children.

God had other plans. I am blessed with a wife, but there will be no children.

Best I can hope for is to keep them available in case young relatives or kids of friends and neighbors visit.

When my time comes, I’ll pass them along...

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