Shortly after Christmas, Trixie is becoming tired of being cast as everything but a dinosaur during playtime with Bonnie. When she, Woody, Buzz, Rex and a Christmas ornament named Angel Kitty are taken by Bonnie to a playdate with a boy named Mason, they end up being left to explore while the kids are distracted by a new video game console. While traveling through Mason's room, they stumble upon a complete set of 80s-90s-esque dinosaur warriors called Battlesaurs. Trixie and Rex are quickly accepted by the powerful Reptillus Maximus, but soon find that much like a more dangerous Buzz, the entire set is unaware of their toyhood and the pterosaurian Cleric leading the Battlesaurs has been taking advantage of this ignorance...
It was the final Toy Story production to feature Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head due to the actor's death in early April 2017, though he technically reprised the role in Toy Story 4 via unused recordings of him voicing the character.
Toy Story That Time Forgot provides examples of:
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Trixie introduces herself and her friends as being from the Bonnie Tribe, which the Battlesaurs mispronounce as the "Bonn-Yee Tribe."
- The Ace: Reptillus Maximus
- Broken Ace: Briefly. Upon seeing the plastic casing he came packaged in, you can see his emotions cycle through fear, confusion, and anger.
- The Armorer: Ray-Gon is a short armored dinosaur who gives attachable armor parts and weapons to Trixie and Rex.
- Artificial Limbs: The Cleric has a mechanical arm. Rex is given some mechanical arm extensions to make him stronger but it turns out to be part of something called "the supplicator" and allows the Cleric to control him. Later, the arms from the deactivated supplicator are given to the armless sock monkey. Ray-Gon even appears to have a metal tail!
- Arc Words:
- "Surrender,"
- "Be the dinosaur!"
- Beware the Nice Ones: Trixie at first is just playing along with the warrior tribe. Then Reptillus tries to attack Buzz and Woody, nearly getting them injured. She goes full Triceratops and throws him like a ragdoll.
- Call-Back: In Toy Story 3, Woody mentioned "Those guys from the Christmas decorations" living up in the attic. While this is Bonnie's house rather than Andy's, Angel Kitty is a call to that - sweet, adorable and wise, who knows that even though she only gets used a few weeks a year, she can make the very most of it rather than being upset and bitter.
- During the fight with Reptillus, Buzz's sound effect button is pressed and goes "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!" just like when he and Woody were fighting in the first Toy Story and when Utility Belt Buzz and Zurg were fighting in Toy Story 2.
- Christmas Special: Though the holiday is pretty downplayed. The Battlesaurs were Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, so was the Optimum X.
- Contortionist: Being made of cloth and stuffing, Woody uses his flexibility to hold his own for a while in the gladiator games, dodging most of Reptillus' attacks.
- Curb-Stomp Cushion: Despite having no weapons or armor to defend themselves, apart from Buzz's suit, Buzz and Woody put up an impressive fight against Reptillus when realizing that he's not going to accept their surrender. Woody makes great use of Buzz's wings to throw a backhand punch.
- Cute Kitten: Angel Kitty. To the point that several of the Raptorian Guards show signs of Cuteness Proximity at work upon extended exposure to her innate sweetness.
- A Day in the Limelight: Andy's toys take a backseat to Trixie, who really shines throughout this special.
- Decapitation Presentation: The battle arena has the heads of several defeated toys mounted on pikes. They aren't dead, but it's unpleasant nonetheless.
- Didn't Think This Through: The Cleric tries to wipe out Bonnie's toys so they can't reveal to everyone that they are just toys and this was supposed to be a playdate. As Woody, Buzz and Trixie realize, the Cleric didn't anticipate how Bonnie would react if she had realized her toys were missing at Mason's house. She quickly comes to the rescue and plays with them, and likely would have done so when it was time to head home. This was only a playdate, after all.
- Dissonant Serenity: The most Angel Kitty ever gets to being scared or worried is a few almost unnoticeable surprise looks.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Bonnie and Mason's playdate is wrapping up, and we see Reptillus and Trixie lying on the floor, side-by-side.Reptillus: [breathless] That was... glorious.Trixie: It was, wasn't it?
- Dramatic Entrance: Reptillus' first appearance. He leaps from his tower, tucks and rolls, twirls his staff, and strikes a pose. Trixie is understandably impressed.
- Easter Egg
- The snowman from Knick Knack can be seen in his snow globe in the opening scene.
- The famous Luxo Jr. ball can be seen on the Battlesaurs' packaging, most noticeably when Reptillius finds his packaging and realizes he is a toy.
- Evil Chancellor: The Cleric
- Expy: Angel Kitty looks a LOT like Hello Kitty, except with an angel dress and a Holy Halo.
- Fake Kill Scare: The sock puppet monkey is seemingly ripped to shreds by the vicious little piranha-dog like dinosaurs The Battlesaurs keep as pets. At the end it's revealed he survived, he just had his arms ripped off and was successfully able to replace them with the mechanical robotic arms Rex was using earlier.
- Fictional Video Game: The Optimum X console
- Gadgeteer Genius: Ray-Gon, the short, stubby stegosaurus who mans the Battlesaurs' armory
- Gladiator Games: The Battlesaurs engage in this with other toys in Mason's room they have captured.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The sock monkey falls out of the arena and is beset by the piranha-like dimetrodons while his stuffing flies out every which way.
- Heart Light: The Battlesaurs all have one mounted in the center of their armor.
- In the Stinger, you can see Reptillus' Heart Light beating, as he gazes longingly out the window.
- Hot Guy, Ugly Gal: Reptillus is a tall, agile, anthropomorphic T-rex with a lovely British accent and baritone voice, while Trixie is a short, plodding, anatomically-correct triceratops.
- Hypocritical Humor:Woody: The Battlesaurs are not playing! They've never been played with! They don't even know they're TOYS!Buzz: Incredible, isn't it?
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Woody tells Rex to try and resist the Cleric's control over his body before Rex drops Woody and Buzz into the ventilation shaft.
- Improvised Weapon: Woody uses a crayon at one point. It's hilariously ineffective.
- Karma Houdini: Nothing really bad happens to the Cleric in the end. He just loses his power over the Battlesaurs. However it appears that after being played with for the first time he has gone through a Heel–Face Turn.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: Reptillus sports one, atop his Heroic Build.
- Lost World: One of the genres the crew was aiming for. The Battlesaurs themselves are isolated from the rest of Mason's room by a wall of their partially unwrapped boxes.
- My God, You Are Serious!: Trixie assumes the Battlesaurs are just playacting, goofing around, and having fun with their Proud Warrior Race motif... until she sees how terrified Mason's other toys are when they're thrown gladiator-style into the arena.
- Only One Female Mold: All the female Battlesaurs share the same mold and design, resembling the crested dinosaur species Parasaurolophus.
- Overly Long Gag: You can hear the exasperation in Woody's voice when he realizes they once again have to deal with toys who don't know they're toys.
- Power Armor: Rex's especially. Unfortunately the Cleric uses it to take control of Rex's body.
- People Puppets: Rex's armor is controlled by the Cleric.
- Rage Against the Reflection: Maximus does this to the box he came from when he realizes his origins.
- Raptor Attack: Justified with the raptor Battlesaurs in that they're toys, although they appear to have a few feathers on their heads and backs.
- Schizo Tech: In-Universe. The Battlesaurs have Power Armor, missile launchers, and intricate robotics, but live in a city built of stone and bones, while fighting with fairly basic melee weapons.
- Shaped Like Itself: This joke occurs between two of the warriors when the Cleric makes his sinister boast after Reptillus pursues Trixie:Cleric: My Battlesaurs have no use for play; they have everything they need, content in their ignorance.
Battlesaur 1: What's ignorance?
Battlesaur 2: I dunno. - Shout-Out:
- The slow-motion shot of Reptillus breaking Woody's crayon with red flecks flying everywhere seems to evoke 300.
- The sock monkey that fights the Battlesaurs references King Kong.
- The Cleric resembles the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal,
- The 'Saurs toyline evokes everything from Masters of the Universe, ThunderCats, and Transformers.
- The title of the special is a huge one to the novel The Land That Time Forgot.
- The Cleric's line: "I find their lack of armor disturbing."
- When the Goliathon sucks Woody's arm in, it's very reminiscent of the Rancor eating the Gamorrean guard.
- Slow-Motion Fall: When Trixie convinces Maximus how great it is to be a toy, he shuts off the power to Mason's game system, then freezes in position and begins to fall back in slow motion — into Mason's hand. The framing and music are designed to imitate any number of similar suicide scenes in film.
- Spell My Name With An S: It's Reptillus, not Reptilius.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Parodied in the Stinger.Reptillus: Farewell, Trixie of the Bonn-Yee tribe. My heart will burn bright, until the moment of your return... Tuesday, around 3:30.
- Status Quo Is God: In the end, Trixie doesn't convince Bonnie to see her as a dinosaur. But she's fine with that because sometimes getting what you want means your friends could get caught in the crossfire. Trixie also knows that Reptillus sees her for what she really is, and he enjoys playing with her.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Angel Kitty at the end.
- Stunned Silence: Trixie is dumbstruck when Reptillus makes his initial Dramatic Entrance
- Tomato in the Mirror: While chasing Trixie, Maximus encounters the box he came in, even sees his own reflection on the transparent molding. This is when he starts to realize that he's just a toy.
- Ironically he's still quicker on the uptake than Buzz, who spent some time around his own packaging and needed an actual commercial to prove it to him.
- Vile Vulture: The Battlesaurs toy line has a Pteranodon as The Cleric, who serves as an Evil Chancellor. While not technically a vulture, his long beak and hunched stance definitely evoke the appearance of one.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Cleric genuinely believes that it is the best thing for his people that they remain in the dark about their true nature, as he thinks, since Mason is not interested in playing with them, they would experience an identity crisis. He snaps out of it by the story's end.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Trixie calls out Reptillus for beating up Woody and Buzz while they're unarmed. She points out that this brawling was only supposed to be fun because it's a playdate. Reptillus is shocked when she calls him a "bully" and knocks him down to save her friends.
