Madeleine McCormick | News Editor
Imagine what it would be like to live in your favorite Disney Pixar film surrounded by the very characters you knew as role models and inspiration growing up; waking up every morning in Andy’s room from Toy Story right next to Buzz Lightyear and Woody.
This vision became a reality for Buena Vista University sophomore Morgan McGrew and his brother Mason, 17, when they transformed their bedrooms into real life, exact replicas of Andy’s room from Toy Story 3.
Morgan and Mason’s story takes place in Ankeny, Ia. The brothers and their parents took a trip to the theatre on June 18, 2010 to see Toy Story 3 when Morgan was a junior in high school.
“It was the best movie I had ever seen, literally the best movie on earth,” McGrew said. “Really, it is just a perfect movie.”
The McGrew brothers were so captivated by the movie they began remaking scenes from the film in real-time, using dolls and other toy characters from the movie. Morgan and Mason started with a few scenes here and there, but then decided that it was time to move on to something bigger: remaking Toy Story 3 in real-time.
“A year after, in 2011, we realized that we loved it so much that we just had to do something, so we decided to remake all of Toy Story 3. It’s the best one out of all of them,” McGrew said. “We just got truckin’.”
The process began by remodeling rooms in the McGrew household to resemble rooms and scenes from the movie. McGrew’s dad enjoys DIY projects, so he encouraged the boys and helped them “basically do all of it,” according to McGrew.
“It took about two years,” said McGrew. “My dad actually helped us do a lot of it. He helped us paint it, helped us put down the wood floor, built the beds and the desk. A lot.”
The process of remodeling hasn’t stopped as the boys and their father continue to constantly remodel different rooms around the home.
“It’s kind of constant, like if we see something that’s a little off we’ll adjust it,” McGrew said. “It sounds dumb, but if there’s a word on his white board that looks off we’ll erase a little bit and make it look better. It’s all in the details, I guess.”
The McGrew brothers have transformed their home a few times over the years and have no problem living among the Pixar paraphernalia.
“It’s my brother’s room and he sleeps in there,” McGrew said referring to “Andy’s room,” where his brother Mason sleeps each night. “I sleep in the little girl’s room. That sounds weird, that sounds really freakin’ weird,” said McGrew referring to “Bonnie’s room,” the little girl who ultimately gains possession of Andy’s toys at the end of Toy Story 3.
It’s hard to believe that anybody wouldn’t want to live among their favorite Disney Pixar heroes, according to Morgan, and the McGrew brothers couldn’t be more comfortable.
“We love it, actually. Who wouldn’t want to live in that room? It’s cool,” McGrew said.
The support the brothers have from their family, in particular their parents, who live with them in their house, is full. Mr. and Mrs. McGrew love Toy Story and grew up with the three-film series along with their children, according to Morgan.
“We built it up from nothing,” said McGrew.
The McGrew brothers have an interesting dynamic because of Morgan’s absence from home during the majority of the school year and while Mason finishes high school. Mason does as much as he can to fill in for Morgan, according to McGrew.
“He does as much as he can at home, but I understand that he is busy too,” said McGrew. “I do editing and stuff here sometimes, if I have time, and yeah. We just kind of make it work.”
The brothers’ dedicate much of their time to their remake and know that all of their hard work will pay off in the end, according to McGrew.
The brother’s love for Toy Story stemmed from early childhood and the release of the first Toy Story film in 1995.
“If you look up in the dictionary the definition of “Morgan’s childhood” it will say: Toy Story. It basically is just, like, me. Every time I see something Toy Story, it feels like home,” McGrew said.
Morgan hopes to create a film that portrays how much Toy Story means to him and how much it has impacted him and his life.
“[The characters] are like my family, so I want [the film] to be really good,” McGrew said.
McGrew says he has had a great time recreating the movie and working with his brother.
“It’s a lot of fun getting to translate our favorite movie into the real world,” said McGrew.
The McGrew brother’s photos and progress are available to view on Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook and have been featured on sites like Buzzfeed, boosting their popularity and support from fans.
