There’s a fan theory that sounds ridiculous, but has been gathering steam. The claim goes that Toy Story and The Walking Dead basically have the same characters and plot. Redditor JimmyLegs50 — real name John Wray — made the claim via a pretty amazing gallery that focuses on the many similarities.
Wray — co-creator of animated web series The Micros — first made the connection when he realised that Lots-O-Huggin Bear and the Governor are similar characters with similar intentions, welcoming rag-tag groups into Sunnyside/Woodbury respectively, but with seriously sinister motives.
Speaking to Business Insider, Wray explains, “It struck me that both were pitted against sheriffs. Just to amuse myself, I cast The Walking Dead with Toy Story characters… When I figured out the Rick/Shane/Carl and Woody/Buzz/Andy triangles I started to dig deeper.”
Joining the dots of those two triangles was easy, from the relationship between Woody/Rick and their kids being similar…
…to Buzz/Shane getting in the way…
…and that resulting in a pretty serious disagreement.
We’re also pretty fond of the Stinky Pete/Hershel comparison that Wray makes.
Plus, there’s the whole humans/toys coming back from the dead to attack the living thing going on.
And while some of the examples feel like Wray is reaching somewhat, he’s also made a pretty compelling video that strongly states the case. And has been viewed more than 3.5m times.
The comparisons end at Toy Story 3/Season 3. But with Toy Story 4 currently in production, it will be interesting to see if the connections continue. For now, you can check out Wray’s awesome gallery here.