 There were two premieres of Toy Story in November 1995 . Disney organized one at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles , and built a fun house , Totally Toy Story , next door featuring the characters . Jobs did not attend and instead rented the Regency , a similar theater in San Francisco , and held his own premiere the next night . Instead of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen , the guests were Silicon Valley celebrities , such as Larry Ellison and Andy Grove . The dueling premieres highlighted a festering issue between the companies : whether Toy Story was a Disney or a Pixar film . " The audience appeared to be captivated by the film , " wrote David Price in his 2008 book The Pixar Touch . " Adult @-@ voiced sobs could be heard during the quiet moments after Buzz Lightyear fell and lay broken on the stairway landing . " Toy Story opened on 2 @,@ 281 screens in the United States on November 22 , 1995 ( before later expanding to 2 @,@ 574 screens ) . It was paired alongside a reissue of a Roger Rabbit short called Rollercoaster Rabbit , while select prints contained The Adventures of André and Wally B .. 
