ASMR videos are all the rage on social media, providing that delightful combination of visuals and audio that can create the feeling of a tingling brain massage. With Toy Story 5 now showing at cinemas, Pixar's tapping into the trend.
The animation studio is getting nostalgic and taking us back to the second installation of the franchise, with a fresh take on a classic scene. Pixar recommends watching the sequence below using headphones to get the most spine-tingling experience (see our guides to the best wireless headphones and the best budget wired headphones).
It turns out that Pixar understood the joys of autonomous sensory meridian response long before it became a social media fad. Its Toy Story 2 ASMR post revisits a sequence from Toy Story 2 but strips it of any music or dialogue. Instead, we hear only the sounds of Woody's restoration as he's lovingly cleaned, polished, painted and stitched back together.
The sequence feels like it could be entirely new. Obviously, there's a place for music, but stripped down to the sound effects only, this scene seems more engaging, as well as relaxing to watch. Nothing else is needed (compare this version with the original version from the movie in the video below).
While those ubiquitous AI ASMR videos can be excruciating to watch, Pixar's nostalgic throwback is pure satisfaction. The dedication of the expert toy restorer seems to mirror the animation studio's own mastery of its craft and precise attention to detail. It's a perfect example of Pixar's storytelling pedigree (see the timeless Pixar rules of storytelling).
For more animation news, see the debate over Disney's Hexed and DreamWorks' Forgotten Island trailers, and don't miss Pixar's Gatto trailer reactions video.
