woody, a pull-string cowboy doll, is the leader of a group of toys that belong to a boy named andy and come to life when humans are not to be seen. with his family moving to a new house and having a birthday party for andy, the toys stage a reconnaissance mission to discover andy's new presents. andy receives a space ranger buzz lightyear action figure, whose features replace woody's position as andy's best toy. buzz does not know that he is a toy when woody tries to convince him and thinks that he is a real space ranger. while the other toys befriend buzz, woody hates buzz and he doesn't want buzz to become andy's best toy.