History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / AnimatedFilms

** While the composition of the elements is still impressive, watching the original ''Toy Story'' over 20 years later it's noticeable how certain textures (hair and fabric) are left rather ambiguous and that the faces of human characters other than Sid are often out of frame. This was due to the technology not yet being at point where it could render organic things realistically: it wasn't until ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' that they took the plunge and made a film about people, and then highly stylised. It also wasn't until six years later Pixar got certain textures (hair and fabric) right starting with ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc''.

** The first ''Toy Story'' film is noticeably a lot darker and more adult in tone compared to its three sequels, relying far more on frightening imagery, dark humour and character conflict; Woody in particular is noticeably quite arrogant and aggressive in the original film, and at times, physically violent. Even small things, such as sound effects, are a lot harsher than its sequels, and the film contains some pretty grotesque and unnerving visuals (in the United Kingdom, it's the only Toy Story film to receive a "Parental Guidance" certificate). The third film does bring back some of this darkness, however.

** Plot-wise, conditions for toys coming to life and staying put in the presence of humans seems somewhat more lax in the first movie compared to later films. Notably, the second film has Woody allowing himself to be stolen in order to prevent the discovery of toys being alive (and later, Jessie reverting to being motionless even as she's being loaded into a plane bound for Japan), while the third film has the toys subjecting themselves to being abused by toddlers and remaining as toys no matter what happens. As such, the original movie's iconic moment where Woody and the mutant toys publicly come to life to scare Sid seems to contradict rules in the sequels.

** Plot-wise, conditions for toys coming to life and staying put in the presence of humans seems somewhat more lax in the first movie compared to later films. Notably, the second film has Woody allowing himself to be stolen in order to prevent the discovery of toys being alive (and later, Jessie reverting to being motionless even as she's being loaded into a plane bound for Japan), while the third have the toys subjecting themselves to being abused by toddlers and remaining as toys no matter what happens. As such, the original movie's iconic moment where Woody and the mutant toys publicly comes to life and to scare Sid seems to contradict rules in the sequels.

** ''Toy Story'' doesn't have Pixar's VanityPlate shown before the film (although it does appear after the credits). Instead, the Walt Disney Pictures logo, rather than fading to black, actually transitions into the movie proper, by having the camera pan away from the castle until it fades into the wallpaper of Andy's room. Retconned with the 3D re-release in 2009, as it opened with the current Disney logo ''and'' the Pixar logo.

** The first film had a dramatic moment near the end, but overall focused much more heavily on fast-paced humor and pop culture references than the (somewhat) more emotional later films. Also, [[ArtifactTitle it takes place in Madagascar]].
** The characters' movements were much stiffer and bouncy than the latter films which have more fluid and smoother movements. It was also slower paced and felt like a bunch of related shorts put together instead of a consistent plot.

** While the composition of the elements is still impressive, watching the original ''Toy Story'' over 20 years later it's noticeable how certain textures (hair and fabric) are left rather ambiguous and that the faces of human characters other than Sid are often out of frame. This was due to the technology not yet being at point where it could render organic things realistically: it wasn't until ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' that they took the plunge and made a film about people, and then highly stylised.

** While the composition of the elements is still impressive, watching the original ''Toy Story'' over 20 years later it's noticeable how certain textures (hair and fabric) are left rather ambiguous and that the faces of human characters other than Sid are often out of frame. This was due to the technology not yet being at point where it could render organic things realistically: it wasn't until ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' that they took the plunge and made a film about people, and then highly stylised.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': The first film had more adult humour and was much more satire-based (with Lord Farquaad looking like then-Creator/{{Disney}} CEO Micheal Eisner). Also, since they weren't created at the time, it was the only instalment where neither Puss in Boots nor Far Far Away appear.

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'': The soundtrack features a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT43Aafi92I Minion Mambo]] that's credited as being sung by The Minions. However, instead of Pierre Coffin doing the voice of the Minions, they're voiced by Music/LupeFiasco (with his voice being sped-up) and they're speaking English instead of Minionese. The song also has a verse that says "we don't die, we multiply", something that has been disproven in later entries.

** Amongst their first films, ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'', ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'' and ''WesternAnimation/SinbadLegendOfTheSevenSeas'' were traditionally animated instead of the now-omnipresent CGI. Also, ''Prince'' and ''Spirit'' were serious dramas, and ''Road'' and ''Sinbad'' were adventure films that contained many comedic elements, both in stark comparison to the zaniness the studio developed by ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' (even if later franchises like ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' and ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' showed that they could still be a little more serious when called for).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'':