The subject as a kid and teen/young adult respectively.
Yup, I've got another Toy Story-related removal to make. Don't worry, I'm almost done... at least with the ones I want to do for characters from this particular franchise.
What's the work?[]
The Toy Story franchise is a series of critically acclaimed computer-animated movies produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. So far, there have been 4 main movies, a couple of TV specials, some shorts, and even a couple of series based on it. They revolve around the concept that toys are sentient beings, with the main focus being on a group of toys that were originally owned by a boy named Andy Davis and led by a toy cowboy named Woody. They interact with each other like people when humans aren't around, often ponder existential questions like what their main purpose in life is or what really gives them value, and often unexpectedly end up going on adventures that challenge or change them in some way.
Who is he and what has he done?[]
Andy Davis is a major character in the series. He starts out as a young boy with a rather active imagination and a rather enthusiastic love for all his toys, but especially his Sheriff Woody doll, and a Buzz Lightyear he gets as a gift in the first movie. However, he is also very kind and good-natured, and for these reasons, he is very well-liked and practically adored among his sentient playmates. However, as is pretty much always the case, he eventually grows up, his hobbies mature and he loses interest in playing with them. However, he still has fond enough memories of his favorite ones that not only has he kept them regardless, but he decides to store them in the attic before leaving for college. However, thanks to some quick thinking from Woody and a note that he writes after they go to Sunnyside Daycare, survive their ordeal there, and make it back to him in time, he believes his mom suggested for him to donate them to a young girl named Bonnie Anderson that lives nearby who will take good care of them and give them the kind of love he used to give them (and whom Woody came across earlier, hence why he thought of doing so). He then goes to see her personally, and although it pains him to do it, he decides to give them all to her, including Woody, who he actually intended to take to college with him. He even takes the time to introduce each of them to her, as well as play with her and them for a little bit before finally heading off into the next chapter of his life, while the toys wish him a heartfelt goodbye at a point when no one's around.
Why he doesn't qualify[]
Simply put, most of Andy's actual actions are pretty minor or mundane to the point that they're more like everyday good deeds, such as helping his sister Molly carry a heavy box that's she having trouble dealing with herself in the third movie. And the few actions he has to his credit that can be considered heroic are either unintentional or don't stand out very much from a human perspective, like fixing Woody's arm at the end of the second movie by sewing it up, or of course, donating his favorite toys to Bonnie, including Woody, despite the fact he was going to actually keep and take him to college, which both made her happy and, unknowingly, gave his toys an actual future to look forward to as well as a second purpose. So he may seem quite heroic from the toys' perspective, but obviously, he's not aware that they're sentient, so from his or any other person's perspective, his most significant act, at least that we know of, is parting with his childhood toys to make a girl he barely knows happy.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't think that counts for nothing. In fact, I think Andy's a very good person. I would even say he doesn't have any real corrupting factors. After all, the most negative moments of his that I can think of are when he unintentionally hurts Woody's feelings by temporarily neglecting him in favor of Buzz when he first receives the latter in the first movie, and calling the toys "junk" in the third movie. However, the first case was just a natural case of a child going through a phase where they enthusiastically play with a new toy and are not as interested in the others for a bit. He didn't have any way of knowing he was actually making Woody feel bad. And in the latter case, it was just a minor case of saying something he didn't really mean as a result of of being frustrated with everything that he had to take care of and sort out before leaving for college; in fact, as evidenced by how upset he got when his mom accidentally mistook them for trash and threw them out, he actually still treasured them to an extent. And of course, again, he had no way of knowing he was actually hurting anyone's feelings. So in short, that's not really a problem. It's just that he happens to exist in a universe where toys are sentient, and even the ones that don't get as much focus have way more clear-cut heroism to their credit that can actually involve risking their lives, or at least, their well-being. This includes minor characters like the trio of squeeze toy aliens who save Woody, Buzz and all his other favorite toys from the incinerator. Honestly, I think if Andy were more fleshed out and he were some sort of humanitarian or activist that went out of his way to make the world a better place, he could actually fit the category pretty nicely, but outside of that one critical scene at the climax of Toy Story 3, he's just too consistently out of focus and underdeveloped.
Final Verdict[]
As much as this one kind of pains me, since he's a very decent, good-natured and all-around likable guy, I have to firmly lean on cutting him from Pure Good. I still think he does enough generous and unintentionally heroic things from the toys' perspective to deserve a page here (unlike, say, Wheezy or his sister Molly), but he still does too little to truly stand out, especially since he's featured in 3 movies of a franchise where even some of the minor toys do more than him in terms of actual heroics, which simply makes this label seem like an exaggeration. I won't be inclined to argue if others feel differently, but that's where I stand. Thanks for reading and enjoy the upcoming weekend!