Dreaming is a need
“Toy Story”

We have to dream. It is a real need. Show me a child that has never dreamed his (or her) toys were alive. The girls’ dolls would rise and go to small kitchens or to their cars, take care of babies or brush their hair. Dinossaurs and articulated action figures would adventure themselves on hunting, riding their vehicles, hiding from their opponents or talk about their secret operations.

I believe that children on their particular world give life to their toys and create as many adventures as possible in the period they are playing with their balls, dolls, teddy bears or cars. When I say that they truly live these moments don’t you, webreader, think that I am getting crazy. I think that I preserved my childish world inside of me, at least all of its energy. I can still see on toys a lot of energy and it is not coming from long-life batteries…

Have you ever imagined yourself as one of the game pieces of games such as Monopoly or Detective? Have you ever thought that Chess, Checkers or Backgammon can be some of the best amusements that exist? Did you forget it or are you telling your children and students that they ougth to know these games?

I played a game called “War” with a group of students some time ago to begin the “Imperialism” subject. It was a middle school group of students. I wanted to mobilize them so that they could understand from the game the fight for territories in Asia, America or Africa. Each one of them had a secret objective they had to achieve to win the game. I believed that all of them knew this game (it is very popular in Brazil, or at least was). Surprisingly, more than 80 % of the students never played it before. For my happiness all of them liked the experience and we were able to teach the concepts related do imperialism with easeness.

I have thought about other class possibilities with games and toys. We have even developed a proposal with high school students in which they were supossed to create a game related to Freedom. The result? It was fantastic. We had many games from the ones that copied Monopoly, War or Detective formulas to others that were more like card games. Some of them created pieces based on historical characters such as Gandhi, Hitler, Bob Marley or Nietzche.

We have achieved a learning action that, I truly believe, it was really fun. The games and toys used on them were gaining life. Our experience increased considerably. The creativity of the students received stimulation and the learning process reached the level we wished (maybe even a little ahead of what we proposed). The “kid’s stuff” turned out to be pleasure and reward…

The Movie

Woody is a cowboy that is very successful with Andy, his owner, a seven year old boy. Like many boys of his age, Andy has many toys. They are kept in trunks and closets. Besides the good sheriff Woody, this boy has dinossaurs, action figures, a mr. Spell, mr. Potato head, cars, games and balls.

Woody is, however, his favorite toy. He is always chosen to go with the boy in his trips. Even with birthday parties or Christmas celebrations, when new toys were incorporated to Andy’s toys community, no one among them overcame the sheriff. No baseball bats, games, action figures, cars or any other toy were capable of stealing from Woody the heart of the boy. But one day, there was Buzz Lightyear, the space patrol commander.

Incrivelmente moderno e arrojado, com um design inovador e botões que acendem luzes ou movimentam asas, Buzz vem para ocupar o lugar de Woody no coração de Andy. Ou pelo menos é isso que pensa o bom e velho cowboy. Abalado em sua credibilidade junto a seu dono e carente de atenção, Woody percebe que mesmo os outros brinquedos parecem estar passando o respeito e a admiração que tinham por ele para o simpático e vigilante Buzz. With modern lines and drawing, accessories such as hidden wings and flashy lights, Buzz came to make Andy forget Woody. At least this is what Woody is thinking. He believes that his credibility within Andy is being lost and he wants more attention from his owner. Besides that, Woody realized that the other toys seem to admire more Buzz than him.

“Toy Story” was the first big blockbuster made by the Disney and Pixar association. It captivates the children and gets the adults attention on telling us the story of toys that are alive. They walk, run, talk, are involved in many adventures and help each other. Everybody should watch it. Guaranteed fun!

For teachers

1- Ask your students to bring to school some of their dolls or action figures. Tell them to bring scrap. Try to write with them the story (a shorter version) of the movie “Toy Story” and make the group of students understand what were the ways chosen by the characters. Propose to the children that they create with the scrap (use glue, scissors, colored pencils, crayons, magazines to cut,…) the places in which the action of “Toy Story” happens. See if you can stimulate them to get as close as possible to what they have seen on the movie. After they make the model allow them to play with their toys reproducing the story or creating some others.

2- Other good possibility would be asking the students to make, in groups, a children’s book based on the story of the movie. It should be illustrated. The group should organize this work on doing a list of materials needed, the division of functions (some students could work with the text, others with the images and drawings), the definition of the technique chosen (collage or drawings). Another variation of this proposal would be ask the students to rewrite the plot of the movie, defining new roles, the destiny of the characters and the development of the story.

3- Trabalhar com a sucata para produzir brinquedos que reproduzam a realidade brasileira ou a cultura nacional pode ser também uma experiência bem interessante. Nesse sentido seria imprescindível resgatar personagens típicos do folclore nacional ou ainda a obra de Monteiro Lobato e os personagens da turma da Mônica, de Maurício de Souza. Working with scrap to produce toys that can show the reality of the country or the national culture could also be an interesting experience. In Brazil it would represent the recall of folk stories, the books written by Monteiro Lobato or even the comic books (Mônica, Cebolinha,…) made by Maurício de Souza.

4- Another interesting project would make children donate their oldest toys, the ones that are forgotten in their trunks or closets, to poor children or to sick ones. It could be more effective if the school could take this kids to the institutions or hospitals that take care of these poor or sick children so that the students can donate the toys, talk, see how is the life of the ones that are living in a worse condition,… This is a lesson that will never be forget.

João Luís Almeida Machado
Master Degree in Education, Arts and History of Culture (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, in São Paulo); Professor at Faculdade Senac in Campos do Jordão; Middle and High School teacher; writes weekly columns for the website Planeta Educação

Send e-mails, comments, suggestions and critics for:
profjoaoluis@planetaeducacao.com.br

Technical Information

Toy Story

Country/Year of Production:- USA, 1995
Length of Time/Gender:- 81 min., Cartoon
Director: John Lasseter
Screenwriters: Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen e Alex Sokolow
Cast (voices):- Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, John Morris, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Erik Von Detten.

Links

(in portuguese)
- http://www.adorocinema.com.br/filmes/toy-story/toy-story.htm
- http://e-pipoca.cidadeinternet.com.br/filmes_zoom.cfm?id=676

(in english)
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709