Why That ‘Toy Story’ Theory to ‘Monsters Inc.’ Just Isn’t True

Sometimes an Easter egg is just an Easter egg!

On the surface, Toy Story and Monster, Inc. have little in common, but both Pixar franchises feature a pair of unlikely friends who didn't get along when they first met and have a habit of finding trouble. Despite these similarities, the two stories occur in different worlds, one with monsters and the other with living toys. But Monsters, Inc. includes a child from the human world, giving little information about her home. This is how fans believe the two franchises may connect, and some even point to evidence from the films. It's widely known that Pixar includes a constant stream of Easter eggs in each one of their films. From the Pizza Planet truck in each movie to the hints for their new films, Pixar always creates several references to their other works, usually in small, subtle ways. Fans search for these Easter eggs and try to use them to connect otherwise unconnected films.

The Easter eggs began a fan theory that claims Boo (Mary Gibbs) from Monsters, Inc. actually shows up as a character in Toy Story. By connecting a few points, this theory suggests Boo grows up to be Andy's mom. If it is true, it would be mind-blowing, but first, it must prove itself. Unfortunately for the fans of this idea, the connection is thin, even before Pete Docter weighed in on it. Docter is the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and has been involved with several of the studio's films, including Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Inside Out, and the new film Elemental. The truth is that Pixar's Easter eggs aren't meant to impact either film, but that doesn't stop theories from spreading.

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Despite being a significant part of Monsters, Inc., little is revealed about Boo's life. She doesn't speak and, as a human, is meant to be a mystery to the monsters of Monstropolis. Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) spend a lot of time with her but don't even know her real name. Yet the film does show one familiar thing that inspired this fan theory. Among the toys in Boo's room is a doll that looks like Jessie (Joan Cusack) from Toy Story. This single Easter egg leads fans to believe that Boo was Jessie's original owner seen in Toy Story 2's flashbacks.

Jessie tells Woody (Tom Hanks) of her life with a little girl named Emily, who grew up and forgot about Jessie, eventually abandoning the doll. As a young girl with a Jessie toy, Boo fits the description of Emily, though the girl's rooms seen in the films are different. However, the theory assumes the doll seen in Monsters, Inc. and the character in Toy Story are the same when that is not necessarily true. Toy Story 2 shows a toy store aisle filled with Buzz (Tim Allen) toys, so why can there be only one Jessie doll in existence? Boo has a Jessie doll, but that doesn't mean it's the same Jessie. Another problem with the theory is that Boo's name, which is signed on her artwork as Mary, is not Emily. Theoretically, Boo could live in the same world as Toy Story, but that doesn't require her to be in the film itself.

Yet this fan theory ignores those facts. So, assuming Boo and Emily are somehow the same, the theory goes further to make Boo an even more significant character in the Toy Story films: Mrs. Davis (Laurie Metcalf), Andy's mom. Though Andy's mom is a driving force for the plot in several of the films, she doesn't have a large part, meaning there is no information about her life before the franchise begins. One detail has driven speculation that Emily (who is Boo, in this theory at least) grew up to be Andy's mom.

The Jessie toy has been around long enough for an owner to grow up, but the theory focuses on Andy wearing a red cowboy hat. Despite his favorite toy, Woody, having a brown hat, Andy's hat looks like Jessie's. Emily also wears a red hat that matches Jessie's, leaving people to suspect that Emily grew up and passed her hat down to her son. This, again, ignores the fact that toys are mass-produced. Andy could be wearing his mother's old hat, but that doesn't mean it's Emily's as well. And it would be strange for her to keep the hat to pass on to her child and not the doll that was her favorite. This theory does nothing to explain the flaws, though it is a nice thought that Jessie makes her way back to the same family.

Though unlikely, it is theoretically possible, but the evidence is thin. Yet the theory was debunked by Pete Docter, who wrote the story for Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc. If anyone would know the validity of this theory, it's Docter. When asked if Andy's mom could be Emily, Docter said that the filmmakers created a different backstory about that, yet didn't explain, in case it became important to later films in the series. As far as the crossing over of the two worlds, Docter explained that for each story, they created different worlds with no intention of a connection. He even admitted that the idea of them being the same "breaks my head a little bit, to be honest."

Yet the Easter eggs do exist. Docter's explanation here is logical but less exciting. Each object in an animated film takes individual work, so at first, reusing different objects was simply a time saver. But it quickly became a fun tradition that the studio keeps up. These visual references are exciting and provide something for fans to discover even after multiple watches, but they don't have to mean something. Sometimes a character doesn't need a backstory, and a reference to another film is nothing more than a cute addition that saves the studio time. Connections can be fun, but they are often blown out of proportion. The idea that Boo is Andy's mom is far-fetched and debunked by Docter, but fans can believe it if they choose. Yet this theory was never the creators' intention and shouldn't be stated as fact.