Pixar Theory Timeline (headcanon)

The Comic Board - Collecting, Buy, Sell, Trade & Comic News, Reviews & Discussion

Help Support The Comic Board:

I don't want to just say the shorts are canon, so I wanna theorise with them to fit them in. However, the Pixar series Win or Lose I'm not so sure about, since I have no idea what it's about or how it would fit it in… I guess when I get to it I'll figure it out
 
They say Andy's moving on Friday, though no Friday is marked on the calendar (though others are) so I'm going to assume it's the first Friday of September, so day 1 is anywhere from September 28-30
 
It's hard to tell exactly what the numberplate says as it's very blurry, but I'm pretty sure it's placing the Lotso/Baby/Chuckles flashback in '62
 
It's hard to tell exactly what the numberplate says as it's very blurry, but I'm pretty sure it's placing the Lotso/Baby/Chuckles flashback in '62
A more clear numberplate says Nov 70, but I don't see 70 in the blurry one, which I'd say is more of a 63 that 62, so I guess it's just a really new car
 
On Day 2, Jesse says Andy's leaving "tomorrow", which was marked as the first Friday of September. This places the movie as happening from September 1 to September 3, and since the August calendar was drawn on a whiteboard it may just be early in the day, before Andy had a chance to change it to September (there's also a digital calendar in Sunnyside, but it doesn't line up with the days correctly anyway so I'm disregarding it's August reading).

I'm pretty confident with all these Toy Story placements, though I'm not so sure on the credit clips, I believe they just take place shortly after, though it would be nigh impossible to get exact dates for it.
I can't believe I'm going to be unironically watching Toy Story Toons now…
 
I couldn't find any concrete evidence, but Small Fry appears to take place at some point after Toy Story 3 (but before Finding Nemo) and Hawaiian Vacation takes place in December that same year (it's snowing a lot and Bonnie goes on vacation to Hawaii)
 
Last edited:
Immediately in Toy Story 4 we see concrete evidence as to where the flashback and main events take place. It states that the flashback is "9 years ago" and has a September calendar starting on Tuesday. Going 9 years back from 2005 (1 year after Toy Story 3) then going one year ahead from there, 1998 lines up with the September calendar, placing the main events of the movie in 2007, 3 years after the first. This makes Bonnie 3 in Toy Story 3, not 4, as is commonly believed. There is also a numberplate that appears to say February '99, though it's blurry in all the rain and appears to most likely say '10, which would be completely incorrect anyway.

There's no calendar for the first clip in the montage, though the second one is dated to August, 2000, making Andy 12, so he could still be playing with toys. Young Andy appears to be the same age throughout, so I'm going to assume they're close together, in the same month at least. It then cuts to college Andy giving Woody to Bonnie, which appears to soft retcon the ending of 3, though it could just be a retelling. It appears that the next clip takes place just after Andy leaves, as Bonnie's toys are strewn in what appears to be the same positions. There's nothing to help with the next clip, though the one after is Bonnie in a pool ring and snorkels, so I'll assume it's just after they get back from Hawaii. After this, there's no more indication, though it highlights that Woody now has "Bonnie" written on his foot, implying it's new, so I'll put this in January 2005 with the Snorkel clip, and the one before snorkels before Small Fry.

An older version of Boo can be seen in Bonnie's classroom, however since this was deconfirmed as being Boo, I'm assuming the one that appears in the carnival is a more accurate depiction of older Boo (it was never clarified if this was or wasn't Boo).

Dad says "Kindergarten doesn't begin for another week" (on day 1) and I'm assuming Orientation would begin a week before, not a day that could be said as a week.

The RV's numberplate says Jun 19. This cannot be the case, since Bonnie hasn't aged much since Toy Story 3, in 2004. I am assuming June 2019 was the month the added the numberplate, and not a conscious decision.

Not necessary for any timestamps, but Bo Peep says she's been lost for 7 years, meaning she was owned for 2 years after Molly, then in 2000 was lost. Billy, Goat, and Gruff also bring the Grape Soda badge to Bo (from Up) but I'm disregarding it as a true connection, since it's just a bottle cap.

Duke Caboom is based on Eric Knievel, who had an action figure release in 1972, and a stunt cycle in 1973. Since Rejean watches an ad for Duke, and there's a Christmas tree, I'm placing this flashback on December 25, 1973.

The credits have a few mini scenes, all taking place one after the other, on the same day/day after Toy Story 4 (Day 2). After this, Jesse says it's Bonnie's first day of 1st grade, so a year has passed (I think? British, I don't know how long Kindergarten lasts)
 
Partysaurus Rex is a hard one to fit in, though I'm going to assume because there's a paddling pool out and the green-ness of the flora, that it's the first Summer after Toy Story 3 happens (2005).

That Time Forgot is Christmastime, and Buzz says it's been 2 days since Christmas, so I'm placing it at December 27, 2006, the latest it could be, since Bonnie is old enough to comprehend and enjoy the "Optimum X", an AR video game (they'd be either 5 or 6, which isn't that old, but more believable than 3 or 4).

Toy Story of Terror! has a numberplate reading Nov 13, though since Woody is still with Bonnie it takes place before 4, and 8.5 years before this is any point after June 2005, and the intro is o segment of Pixar's rendition of Dracula, so that's February 12, 1931. A second numberplate dates to Jan 14, so anywhere after July 2005. Due to the nature of it being a Halloween special, I'll be placing it on October 31-November 1, 2005, after all the others, since it came out last.

I don't have the mental capacity to watch all of Forky Asks a Question right now to deduce when they take place, but they'll be somewhere before the epilogue of Toy Story 4.
 
Found another Incredibles short - TV Remote. I'm going to be putting this before Incredibles II, since they have their updated suits but are in a relatively small home (it seems) which I'll be assuming is the motel.
 
For some reason Disney+ has the Forky Asks a Question episodes as their own individual things, so for now I'm relying on Wikipedia's episode order, though I am still going to watch them to attempt to get a direct placement.
I may have to rely simply on flora I can see outside the window though…
 
Wow, immediately Forky says he "was made from trash, like 2 days ago". Forky, with all his flaws, usually doesn't estimate stuff (at least, he doesn't seem like the kind of person/toy to do that) so I'm gonna place the first episode 2 days after Toy Story 4, in August, and based on Forky's delivery of lines, it seems as though each episode takes place on the same day, until "What is Art?" which takes place at night, then the next ones take place the day after. I haven't seen the other episodes yet, but I'm going to assume they take place on that same day.
 
I've watched the others now and, other than the epilogue of What is a Pet?, they all seem to take place on the same day (Day 2, 3 days after Toy Story 4). The epilogue mentioned takes place 8 days after the episode, and 11 days after Toy Story 4.
 
Lamp Life has been the worst piece of media for me yet, however due to it being a storytelling I'm putting it where the story gets told, and since Bo says it all happened "more or less" I'm going to say it's under [Imagination?] when I get to the detailed timeline and just put it with the rest of Lamp Life (unless I get bored and decide to figure it all out)
 
There's no real indication as to when the Young Dory flashbacks take place, but once the montage starts I'm going to assume they're 1 month apart from each other (based on the maturation of fish) with the last one being Dory meeting Marlin for the first time in Finding Nemo.

It immediately says 1 year later, placing the movie in September 2005.

The only other thing I could find is a blurry numberplate that appears to say Feb 12. This lines up with the 2005 placement, however the numberplate looks too battered to be that new. All I'm going to say is that it's just the way the animation crew obtained the numberplate, since they seem to always be that rough in Pixar movies.
 
I've changed Brave to be set in "???" because I personally know when is, roughly, but since I can't put an exact date on it, I feel it should be left as an unknown date
 
I've added the Cars Toons, which I've just put in release order since they seem to line up pretty well with the movies that way
 
Last edited:
For Planes, I'm probably going to put them all directly after Air Mater, as this is when Mater retcons the timeline to involve one of the racing teams from Planes, but I'll add them after I watch them
 
For Planes, I'm probably going to put them all directly after Air Mater, as this is when Mater retcons the timeline to involve one of the racing teams from Planes, but I'll add them after I watch them
I was discussing this timeline with someone and they were like "they gotta include Planes!", so glad you're including that. :p
 
I was discussing this timeline with someone and they were like "they gotta include Planes!", so glad you're including that. :p
As a child, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with the Planes section of the Cars franchise. It didn't even spawn off a Cars obsession. I just watched the first movie and hyperfixated on it for months
 
I just read the description for Win or Lose and it looks like it's just sports related, no magic or sci-fi or anything. Guess I gotta pull an explanation out of my ass, but whatever
 
Since Planes takes place after Mater tells a Tall Tale, but released after most of the Cars shorts, I'm putting it where it would be, relative to release dates, like the shorts. I feel like there's a flashback at some point in the franchise, I have no idea how I'm going to place it with no date references
 
This should be later in the timeline, with Las Vegas appearing, and everything looking like present days.
That short is essentially the creation of the universe, with each entity representing Day and Night (though they switch between it - like The One Above All and The One Below All being the same person, but two separate personifications). Since they clearly just met, I'm assuming it's the first day/night, with the ending being the first sunrise/sunset and the creation of the Pixar universe.

As for the human references, fate is already established in Brave, and Monsters Inc. has time travel, so I'd say we can assume it's a window into the future, or a personification of humanity, one of the 3 leading forces in the Pixar Theory's overarching story.
 
Someone did a video explaining how all the non-movie related shorts fit into the Pixar Theory, I've linked it here.
They talk about Zero Point Energy creating life in this, which is a bit strange in my opinion as there's no evidence to suggest this. However, since magic and science are two predominant forces in the Pixar universe, I'm assuming every magical property has a scientific counterpart (and vice versa). The only thing given as a counterpart to "experiencing emotions with toys brings them to life" would be Zero Point Energy, I feel it works (and their explanations involving it backs up that Zero Point Energy is the counterpart)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top