Earlier this week, I watched Toy Story on the twentieth anniversary of its release (22 November 1995). I've watched it a lot, but I hadn't seen it recently, so I found some things I hadn't noticed before.
There's a great change in lighting during the scene when Buzz decides to help Woody because he (Buzz) can still be Andy's toy even if he isn't a space ranger. At first, when Buzz is depressed about learning that he's not a real space ranger, the weather is rainy and overcast:
But after Woody cheers him up and gives him hope again, the storm ends, and the sun comes out, resulting in a brighter palette:
The second thing I discovered is that carpet in the upstairs hallway in Sid's house seems to have some resemblance to some carpet in The Shining:
I haven't seen The Shining (I'm not much for horror movies), but I found this frame on the Wikipedia page:
Both carpet designs are interlocking patterns based on hexagonal shapes.
The only reason I noticed this similarity is that I follow Lee Unkrich on Twitter and a few months ago he posted pictures of a shirt and a watch band with the same pattern. He was one of the editors for Toy Story, so I don't know if he had anything to do with that design element, but it seems possible.
Finally, during the end credits, "You've Got a Friend in Me" is sung by Randy Newman and Lyle Lovett, where - earlier in the film - it's sung by Newman alone. In a way, it follows the same arc as the movie: at the beginning, Woody is Andy's favorite toy, and there's only one singer. By the end though, Woody and Buzz are Andy's two favorite toys, and the song is sung by two singers.
