The NFL’s International Series games in London are always a delight for American football fans who get to enjoy football from the time they wake up in the morning.
On Sunday, ESPN gave those fans another way to enjoy the first international game of the season, adding a Toy Story-themed animated broadcast of the Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars game to its streaming service.
In theory, it was a cool idea. ESPN is obviously owned by Disney, which owns Pixar, which created Toy Story. They kept it in the family to create a family-friendly broadcast, and who doesn’t love Toy Story?
In practice, there were a few technical glitches, but for the most part, NFL fans loved it. Just look at the animated version of this Bijan Robinson juke.
Here's what that @Bijan5Robinson juke looked like in Andy's room.
🏈 Toy Story Funday Football on Disney+ pic.twitter.com/g4eeZE2T8p
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023
BIJAN, NOT NICE.#ATLvsJAX on ESPN+
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/SZbOYsQ1rd— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023
Here’s a look at how fans reacted.
Yea the @nfl and @Disney got this Toy Story broadcast right! My mini-me is loving it 😂
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) October 1, 2023
There have been some glitches but the Toy Story game is really well done.
The NFL has a chip in each player's shoulder pads to track movement & then combines that with Hawkeye optical tracking (like tennis) to animate the game in real-time.
Great work 👏pic.twitter.com/8NBWg5MKdz
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 1, 2023
We love it. #ToyStory pic.twitter.com/oJR8tYrd2o
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) October 1, 2023
They’re having some technical issues on the Toy Story game, but my 3 year old just asked me to take her to a Toy Story game in London… so it’s working pic.twitter.com/kO5462B61k
— ThatsGoodSports (@BrandonPerna) October 1, 2023
it looks better than i thought it would honestly
— drae (@draeatl) October 1, 2023
The better version of the game
— Lebron in 1 𝕏 (@Lebronin1) October 1, 2023
I like the touchdown celebration 🤣
— Charles Jones (@ChasBWI) October 1, 2023
My son is locked in pic.twitter.com/9BSE3rH3cL
— VCruzzin (@V_Cruzzin) October 1, 2023
Do every game like this
— Megs 🪩🤠 (@MegzMurr) October 1, 2023
this toy story feed looks so cool ngl lol
— 🥷🏾 (@itsjustTaj_) October 1, 2023
Hahaha so awesome!!! 🤣😎💯
— Venom (@VenomInject) October 1, 2023
Fun way for my little kids to watch football
— GemStateStacker (@GemStateStacker) October 1, 2023
They nailed every detail of this
— Dave (@theheavydave) October 1, 2023
This looks better than madden
— TDAWG (@tdawgsmitty) October 1, 2023
Slinky Dog on the chains is truly the star of the show
— WHOOP (@WHOOP) October 1, 2023
— Scott Simpson (@NimblewNumbers) October 1, 2023
