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Catherine Shuttleworth
Oct 02, 2023
Dads are delighted by NFL's 'Toy Story' Broadcast
NFL /Twitter/X
On Sunday (October 1), NFL viewers had a choice: watch the game as they always have on ESPN, or watch the same game, in real-time, in Andy's Bedroom from the Toy Story franchise on Disney+.
The NFL's annual London game took place at Wembley Stadium with the Jacksonville Jaguars up against the Atlanta Falcons and as part of an alternate telecast, the NFL brought 'Toy Story Funday Football' to viewers screens.
Everything was animated in real-time, made possible by chips in the players' football pads, combined with an overhead tracking camera on the field.
It was a pretty impressive pull-off from the collaborative efforts of the NFL, Disney and Pixar, with viewers loving the game, which included a halftime show featuring Duke Caboom:
DUKE CABOOM YOU LEGEND.\n\n\ud83d\udcfa: ESPN+/Disney+— NFL (@NFL) 1696172810
Well, ESPN almost made it through three quarters without a drug reference on the Toy Story kids game broadcast— Deadspin (@Deadspin) 1696175651
i'm dying at the Disney + Toy Story NFL broadcast, where the announcers are just doing sincere, adult-focused play-by-play and analysis but every once in a while they have to go "and oh no, Zurg is here!"— Pat Reber (@Pat Reber) 1696171031
Not only is it a fun alternative to watching the regular game, but it also entices children to get involved in watching, and potentially playing, football. To say fathers across the globe were grateful is an understatement.
One dad shared that his daughters had never watched football with him until the Toy Story game:
My girls have NEVER watched football with their ol' dad... Until today!!\n\nThank you Toy Story and #FundayFootball!\n\nThey're laughing and loving it. I think my newborn said her 1st word during the game!— $sirgeorge \ud83d\udcac (@$sirgeorge \ud83d\udcac) 1696173982
A video uploaded to TikTok showed two children staring up at the screen, with the text overlay reading "Thank You NFL - Sincerely, Dads Everywhere":
@calibreezybaby I have my Sundays back 😂 #tiktok #foryou #fyp #video #toystory #nfl #haha
And there are plenty of other videos showing children glued to the screen whilst parents watch the game in peace:
@arosales92 Watching Toy Story Funday Football with my girls #fyp#CCfyp#disney #disneyplus #pixar #toystory #football #twins #momsoftiktok #toddlersoftiktok
As a father of two young kids I love the #NFL always working to expand its audience. \n\nWell done @NFL \ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f— Vince Biegel (@Vince Biegel) 1696170735
There were a few glitches during the animated game, such as not cutting back to the game in time, but it was an extremely impressive and original watch, with many asking the NFL to have a Toy Story game every week.
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