TOY STORY 5 has been making headlines for its massive ticket sales, but the movie’s studio has also been making some massive donations to children’s hospitals across the country.
“As part of the TOY STORY 5 rollout, the film became available to patients in more than 400 children’s hospitals globally, including more than 300 across the United States,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote. “Disney says it distributed more than 18,000 TOY STORY 5-themed toys and 34,000 character-inspired hospital gowns to children and families across participating hospitals.”
Disney partnered with the Starlight Children’s Foundation to put on these screenings and distribute toys; the organizations have been partners since 2001.
In addition to these donations, Disney also enlisted the cast of TOY STORY 5 to write messages of encouragement to hospitalized children that were later shown at hospitals in Washington, D.C., Oakland and Orlando.
“TOY STORY has always celebrated the connections that bring us together, and the cast, crew and premiere guests carried that spirit onto the red carpet by writing personal messages for children in hospitals before the world even saw the film.” Disney’s Lisa Haines, senior vp corporate social responsibility, said of the partnership. “Whether it’s a beloved character by a child’s side or a note from the voice of Buzz Lightyear, those simple gestures are incredibly powerful and can create moments of comfort and joy for kids when they’re needed most.”
TOY STORY 5 has been one of the biggest hits of the summer — “The fifthquel is now Pixar’s ninth all-time grossing movie around the world ahead of MONSTERS UNIVERSITY ($746M), UP ($735M) and THE INCREDIBLE ($633M),” Deadline reported — and is expected to cross the $1 billion mark any day now.
The TOY STORY series has been a huge success since the original movie debuted in 1995, with each new installment tackling a new topic children are facing today.
“When we made TOY STORY 2, we realized we could just let life progress,” director Andrew Stanton, who is now Vice President, Creative, at Pixar Animation Studios, said in a press release from Disney. “By the time we let Andy grow up and go to college in TOY STORY 3, we realized the toys don’t age, but the kids do. These movies move along in parallel [to the audience] — maybe not exactly in real time, but you have a different point of view in life, and things have changed for you.”
Through their partnership with the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Disney is bringing some TOY STORY magic to children in need.
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