These Brothers Spent 8 Years Remaking 'Toy Story 3' Using Real Toys

If you’ve ever wanted to see Toy Story 3 in stop motion with all real toys, it’s now on YouTube, thanks to these incredibly dedicated brothers

I used to think that I was the biggest Disney fan on the planet, but I can admit when someone loves the House of Mouse even more than I do. Morgan and Mason McGrew, two brothers from Des Moines, Iowa, have officially taken over that title, and I’m not even mad after seeing what they did with it: They created a shot-for-shot remake of their favorite movie, Toy Story 3, using real toys and stop motion animation.

Toy Story 3 is hands down the best movie in that franchise (and possibly the best movie that Pixar ever made), so kudos to the McGrew brothers for having impeccable taste. Their love for the movie made them undertake this absolutely bonkers project, and eight years after they started, it’s finally finished and posted to YouTube for all to see.

When the McGrew brothers started trying to recreate Toy Story 3, Morgan was 15 and Mason was 12. They’re now full-blown adults — Morgan, now 23, just graduated from Buena Vista University with his degree in digital media and business, and Mason, now 21, is about to graduate with the same degree. They hope to keep working on stop motion animation together, and we sincerely hope they do, because everything about this project is just incredible.

From the opening, which features the Disney castle and fireworks that kick off every Disney film, you can tell this is going to be something really cool and special.

Every scene in the entire movie is then painstakingly recreated with the McGrew brothers’ set of real-life toys. Stop motion provides all the movement, and they overlaid the entire project with the actual audio from the movie, which lines up perfectly with their shots.

It’s a shot-for-shot remake, so every scene is perfectly recreated.

Yes, even the ones that will completely break your heart.

“As soon as we saw Toy Story 3, it became our favorite film, and will forever be,” Mason McGrew told Buzzfeed. “We’d always been [such] huge fans of Pixar and the Toy Story franchise that we eventually decided we wanted to pay tribute to the studio and film that we love so much.”

He explained that what made the project so difficult is that a one-second clip could contain up to 25 stop-motion frames, and added, “Overall, the hardest thing about this film was staying disciplined. It was very important to us that we finish what we began as kids.”

We’re so glad they finished this masterpiece, and can’t wait to see what else these brothers do.