The Pixar movies are stuffed with details and easter eggs and in-jokes. The details are part of what makes the movies so special, and it’s clear that the people behind the films put an immense amount of thought into every decision they make.

Which is probably part of the reason fans latch onto unanswered questions, like what’s the deal with Andy’s dad in Toy Story?

When the series starts, Andy’s dad is already absent from the picture. He’s being raised by his mom, all on her own. Are they divorced? Is Andy’s dad still alive somewhere else? Based on a live stream from 2017, toy creator/reviewer Mike Mozart, claimed the answer to both of those questions is no. Andy’s parents are not divorced, and Andy’s dad is not alive.

Apparently, Mozart was friends with Joe Ranft, a co-writer on the movie, and he’d actually consulted Mozart when writing it. During one of those chats, Mozart asked about Andy’s dad, to which Joe replied, that he “died before Toy Story 1 started.'”

Andy’s father was named Andy Sr., which means it’s his name on Woody’s boot. Woody is such a rare toy because he’s a prototype. In Toy Story 2, Stinky Pete said that “children only wanted to play with space toys”. Andy’s mom also calls Woody “an old family toy.”

That would certainly explain his absence from the films and the other details seem to add up. But perhaps Mozart is toying with us because one of the film’s other writers, Andrew Stanton, disputed his account, saying, “Complete and utter fake news. Everyone go back to your homes. Nothing to see here, folks. #Iwasthere,” he tweeted out.

It does seem a little strange that a studio owned by Disney wouldn’t show the death of a parent onscreen. We all know how much Disney loves traumatizing children, whether it’s Bambi’s mom getting shot, Simba’s dad getting murdered, Nemo’s mother being eaten, or even the old guy’s wife dying in Up! It seems like a real missed opportunity here, if it is indeed true.

Check out the livestream where Mozart made his claim:

2020 has been insane, and unlike any year we’ve ever experienced. If we saw all of this stuff in a movie, we’d probably consider it science-fiction. In fact, on Twitter, many people have cracked that 2020 is an episode of Black Mirror.

It isn’t. But it may soon be. Sort of.

Charlie Brooker is the man behind the dystopian nightmares of the Black Mirror series, and apparently, he plans to make this year from hell his next project, starring Hugh Grant.

Grant, who is currently in the news for his role on HBO limited series The Undoing, gave an interview earlier this year to New York Magazine in which he spilled the beans on Brooker’s idea.

“Charlie Brooker has written a mockumentary about 2020. It’s for Netflix,” Grant said, indicating that his role will be as “an historian who’s being interviewed about the year. I’m pretty repellent, actually! And you’ll like my wig.”

Netflix makes sense, as that’s where Black Mirror has been living, after starting out on the BBC. And 2020 should make good fodder for a mockumentary, although mockumentaries are usually comedic in nature (see Spinal Tap or Best in Show or What We Do in the Shadows), and there haven’t been too many laughs in Black Mirror. Or in 2020.

Maybe this is just what we need, though. Someone to look back on this nightmarish year and poke some fun at it. Hopefully, by the time Netflix drops this movie, we’ll be far enough past the pandemic and the election and the wildfires and the Loch Ness Monster and Vin Diesel’s music to enjoy a good laugh about it all.

“I’m currently battling terminal brain cancer and I’m not backing down. Despite my diagnosis I decided to attempt an Ironman triathlon and dedicate my race to my daughter.

A month after my second brain surgery I started radiation and chemotherapy… and I started training for Ironman.

My first radiation treatment left me feeling nauseous and fatigued but I made a promise to myself, so I pushed through the uncomfortable feelings and went to the gym and ran a mile on the treadmill. Each day I went in for radiation and chemo treatments I also went for a run.

After 5 weeks of treatment I worked myself up to running 20 miles a day. My radiation treatment was over, but my chemotherapy was stepping up a notch. So I stepped my training up.

I learned how to swim competitively and how to cycle efficiently. By the end of one year worth of chemotherapy I had trained my body to be able to attempt a full distance Ironman – 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling, and 26.2 miles of running… all in under 17 hours if possible.

Training while undergoing cancer treatment was difficult. Pushing my body to race 140.6 miles was extra challenging due to the many side effects of chemotherapy. However, if my daughter was going to see me knocked down by brain cancer I wanted her to see me get up, find strength and press on.

I wasn’t sure if my body was going to be able to make it the full distance, but for my daughter’s sake I had to try.

When I crossed the finish line in under 14 hours, seeing her made everything worth it. I had nothing to prove, but I had an example I needed to set.

At the finish line I looked my daughter in the eyes and said, ‘If I can do it, you can do it. Dream big and never give up hope. Find strength and press on.'”

– Jay Hewitt

Want to share a story about fatherhood? Email [email protected]

On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 10:23 AM Mike Julianelle wrote:
“I’m currently battling terminal brain cancer and I’m not backing down. Despite my diagnosis I decided to attempt an Ironman triathlon and dedicate my race to my daughter.

A month after my second brain surgery I started radiation and chemotherapy… and I started training for Ironman.

My first radiation treatment left me feeling nauseous and fatigued but I made a promise to myself, so I pushed through the uncomfortable feelings and went to the gym and ran a mile on the treadmill. Each day I went in for radiation and chemo treatments I also went for a run.

After 5 weeks of treatment I worked myself up to running 20 miles a day. My radiation treatment was over, but my chemotherapy was stepping up a notch. So I stepped my training up. I learned how to swim competitively and how to cycle efficiently. By the end of one year worth of chemotherapy I had trained my body to be able to attempt a full distance Ironman – 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling, and 26.2 miles of running… all in under 17 hours if possible.

Training while undergoing cancer treatment was difficult. Pushing my body to race 140.6 miles was extra challenging due to the many side effects of chemotherapy. However, if my daughter was going to see me knocked down by brain cancer I wanted her to see me get up, find strength and press on. I wasn’t sure if my body was going to be able to make it the full distance, but for my daughter’s sake I had to try.

When I crossed the finish line in under 14 hours, seeing her made everything worth it. I had nothing to prove, but I had an example I needed to set. At the finish line I looked my daughter in the eyes and said, ‘If I can do it, you can do it. Dream big and never give up hope. Find strength and press on.'”

– Jay Hewitt

Want to share a story about fatherhood? Email [email protected]

Finding ways to be there for your kids is a constantly-evolving challenge. As kids grow up, they may start communicating with you less and their friends more. Even finding time throughout the day to sit down and talk becomes more difficult as kids’ schedules fill up with extracurriculars and plans of their own, making an already challenging aspect of parenting even harder. One dad named Chris Yandle found a unique way to share life lessons, advice, and love with his daughter during a time when her brain was already primed for learning – he did it through notes, small nuggets of wisdom that he slipped into her lunch box when she went off to school every day.

Dr. Yandle wanted to support his daughter through an especially difficult year, as Addison’s transition to fourth grade meant she’d attended four different schools in five years.

“It wasn’t how we planned it, but as someone who moved around a lot as a kid, I knew this school year was going to be tough,” Dr. Yandle explained on his website. “Every morning, I wrote my daughter a note about life, school, or growing up, and I’d slip it in her bookbag or her lunch box to find later in the day.”

For over three years, Dr. Yandle has been sending his daughter to school with his “#DadLunchNotes,” a hashtag he coined when he started sharing his notes on social media. Though the notes are written for his daughter, the wisdom this loving dad shares is universal.

“These words of encouragement and life lessons are my way of connecting with my daughter and offering her the advice and anecdotes I wish I received at her age,” Dr. Chris Yandle told The Dad.

Inspiring and motivating kids to be the best versions of themselves is something all parents hope to accomplish, but finding the right method is difficult. Fortunately for Dr. Yandle, his extremely efficient method of delivering words of wisdom has become something Addison (and her teachers) look forward to every day.

“With each passing day, parenting in the digital age is getting more and more difficult,” Dr. Yandle explained. “As a dad to a pre-teen junior high girl, I thought you and other dads might be interested in a non-digital way to connect with their kids in our heavily connected world.”

The desire to share his unique method of communication led Dr. Yandle to post his Dad Lunch Notes on social media, and recently, he even compiled them into a book called Lucky Enough.

A parent friend told me: “I’d love it if you could mass produce #DadLunchNotes, as to have others (like myself in the morning – running like a chicken without a head) throw them in the lunch box every morning. Please say yes.”

I don’t know where to start. @Postit, whatcha say? pic.twitter.com/LKuwRZfO8y

— Chris Yandle, Ph.D. 😷 (@ChrisYandle) November 16, 2020

“One of the notes I wrote to Addison during her fourth-grade year was a quote from Taylor Swift: ‘If you’re lucky enough to have something that makes you different from everybody else, don’t ever change.’ When I read that quote, I knew I found the right title,” Dr. Yandle explained on his website.

For years to come, Addison will be Lucky Enough to have a stockpile of dad wisdom when she needs it most. And undoubtedly, this unique method of building a dad-daughter connection will be treasured by both forever.

I wrote this November 18, 2019.

It’s amazing how much I still feel the same even when I get small victories.

I’m still scratching and clawing to share what I do.

DEEP DOWN, if I’m able to help others then that’s more important than what’s in my bank account.#DadLunchNotes pic.twitter.com/7BuVPJakjI

— Chris Yandle, Ph.D. 😷 (@ChrisYandle) November 18, 2020

2020 hasn’t provided us with a lot of good news. It’s been a pretty consistent shit show. Movies we were anticipating got moved, concerts we would have loved to have gone to got canceled, restaurants and bars were completely closed for much of the year.

But we have had a few decent developments in the entertainment world, from cool castings to cool trailers to cool movies that landed on TVs before we expected them to. And now there’s news of a new album from an old favorite or two.

Dr. Dre’s latest LP won’t come out in 2020, but learning that it’s complete, and seems to feature his protege Eminem, counts as a win for this terrible year.

Detroit rapper Page Kennedy has the inside scoop, and he let it loose on Twitter, tweeting, “This Dr. Dre album sounding [fire emojis]” he wrote. “Hope y’all get to hear.”

This Dr. Dre album sounding 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. Hope y’all get to hear 😈

— Page Kennedy (@PageKennedy) November 17, 2020

And then, when another person asked about Eminem’s next album, Kennedy dropped more news:

“Wait, also need to know when is Em dropping his…please,” a fan wrote, to which Kennedy replied: “Well he def on this one lol.”

Well he def on this one lol.

— Page Kennedy (@PageKennedy) November 17, 2020

No date yet on when Dre’s follow-up to 2015’s Compton will drop, but these hints from Kennedy bode well for fans of Dre, Eminem, and former presidential candidate Kanye West, who tweeted earlier this year that Eminem is actually featured on the album’s remix of one of his tracks was on the album.

“Eminem Thank you for rapping on the Dr. Dre remix of my daughter’s favorite song of mine USE THIS GOSPEL,” tweeted West.

Rap fans have something to be thankful for this holiday season. Hopefully, we get the actual album before Easter!

The pandemic has given us all a lot more free time.

When we were quarantined, we caught up on our favorite shows and binged new sensations like The Last Dance and Tiger King. But now it’s months later, and we’re just about out of TV to watch. And if you work in show business, odds are you don’t even have any work to do, as most productions have been shut down. One person that’s kept us entertained is Ryan Reynolds. If he’s not trolling Hugh Jackman for charity he’s sending a heartwarming video message to a fan.

Luckily for Ryan Reynolds, one of his movies was recently able to finish production, after having been shut down in March, and the star knows how challenging it was for everyone to get it done. So despite being busier than many actors, he used some of his free time over Thanksgiving to show his gratitude for the people who make his job easier.

Reynolds posted a photo on Instagram to celebrate the wrap of his film Red Notice, which co-stars Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot, acknowledging how difficult it was for the actors and the crew to film under extreme conditions.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ryan Reynolds (@vancityreynolds)

But he didn’t just post to social media. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Reynolds recorded over 400 messages to thank each member of his crew for their hard work and sacrifice. he thanked them and their families for enduring the months of isolation necessary to safely complete the film.

He even thanked their dogs.

“I made videos for their dogs,” he said. “Morale was so low because everyone was in lockdown. They couldn’t go anywhere but work or the hotel. In some cases, their families were at home less than a mile away. I can’t imagine that kind of longing.”

When the movie ended, he also made sure every member of the crew left with a bottle of his Aviation Gin, (no word on whether or not it was the homeschool edition) and a personalized note.

“Awesome group of people,” he said. “What they did was so hard.”

He’s pretty awesome too.

All good things must come to an end. Over the past few years, The Office has had a major resurgence. It’s not that the show wasn’t beloved when it was on the air for its 7 seasons – it was one of the biggest shows on television throughout its run. But after it ended, and was harder to get a hold of, people moved on, as people do.

And then it appeared on Netflix, where, like Friends, another NBC megahit, it caught on with an entire generation who hadn’t experienced it live. Suddenly the world was awash in Office memes and Office jokes and Office Buzzfeed articles and podcasts by Pam and Kevin. Superfans even created highly detailed LEGO sets. There is no denying that Netflix was good to the Dunder-Mifflin crew.

Alas, The Office’s time on the popular streaming service is coming to an end.

Netflix announced that the show will be leaving its platform on December 31st. But don’t despair! The sitcom isn’t leaving the world of streaming, it’s just changing homes.

As of January 1st, 2021, The Office will only be accessible on Peacock, NBC’s new streaming service. And it will feature new material!

Over the summer, Matt Strauss, the chairman of Peacock and NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises, promised that when the beloved sitcom lands on Peacock, it will feature elements that were never aired before.

“We will be reintroducing ‘The Office’ in a more complete way, incorporating elements that were not part of the original broadcast,” Strauss told Bloomberg.

We’re not entirely sure what he means – but speculation is that there will be extended episodes, and perhaps extras or bloopers that were included on DVD sets, or deleted scenes – but something tells me Office fans will be scrolling past Netflix and hopping onto Peacock to find out.

Well well well, how the turntables…

Moving can be hard on kids. You’re in a new school, your old friends are gone, and it can take some time to get adjusted. Moving right before a birthday sucks even more, and just serves to amplify that lonely feeling. An 8-year-old boy in British Columbia (that’s in Canada, for you less than Cosmopolitan types) was struggling after a recent move and was worried about turning 9 without any friends. So his parents put the call out on social media to have strangers send him cards, so his birthday would still be special.

Turns out he got 1,000 of them. And even better, movie star Ryan Reynolds sent the boy a video message relating to his struggle and wishing him a happy birthday. Let’s pause 10 seconds for our routine Ryan Reynolds appreciation. The Deadpool star, and girl-dad seemingly has a heart of freaking gold. He (and his wife Blake Lively) have donated millions this year to charities supporting COVID-19 response and charities focused on children. Reynolds helped reunite a child with his lost toy, bought a soccer team with Always Sunny star Rob McElhenney, and also found the time to write 400 thank you notes to the crew working on his new movie during the pandemic. He even went above and beyond to connect with a Deadpool cosplayer. And this isn’t even covering half of the great stuff he’s done this year.

So we are not surprised that Reynolds would make little Damien’s birthday one he will never forget.

Reynolds, who is also Canadian, told Damien he relates to his story because he went to a new school when he was a kid (a few of them) and remembers how alienating it felt. “I remember how alone I felt and unseen I felt,” he said.

“I guess the point is that you’re not alone.”

Reynolds wished him a happy birthday and said he hopes he gets to meet him in person one of these days.

His family told local media they were blown away by the message and were thrilled to see Damien’s expression change when he realized what was going on. They said the entire project of making their kid’s birthday extra special left them feeling profoundly grateful.

Now Damien can proudly go to school knowing Deadpool himself took the time to wish him a happy birthday.

Remember when we used to wake up and get out of bed and our body didn’t mysteriously hurt for no reason whatsoever? Or when we could stay energized all day long with just one cup of coffee? (#tbt) We could go on, but you get it, and probably don’t need to relive it. As we get older, life gets…more rickety. But luckily, there’s a solution. Multiple solutions, actually, based on your concerns.

Vault Health offers health kits that can help with energy, focus, fitness, and libido. The Brain, Body, and Sex Kits provide personalized health and wellbeing care that actually works.

The Brain Kit

If you find yourself losing focus, easily getting anxious, or forgetting simple tasks or details, the Brain Kit is designed to combat all of the above problems. It includes a vital peptide called semax (which has been shown to fight cognitive decline, dementia, and sometimes even brain injury), which increases production of BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), and that amplifies brain cell production and creates a barrier to keep brain cells from dying. It also includes other natural supplements such as Ashwagandha and Schisandra will help keep stress and anxiety at bay. The Brain Kit can help with overall focus, mood, and creativity. 

Get your work done, hang with the kids, and still have brain power left at the end of the day to actually stay up (!!!) and do date night with your partner, or even get through a few chapters. Like ye olde days.

The Body Kit

It used to be that dragging our limbs to the gym was the problem. Now it’s finding the energy and stamina to just get out of our office chair. With the stresses of 2020, you’re not the only one who’s deprioritized gym time, and maybe you’re really starting to feel that difference. The Vault’s Body Kit will help by providing you with science-backed growth hormone-releasing peptides CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin at-home injections. The process is super safe, physician-approved, and effective. You’ll get the energy you used to have to go for a run, do weight training, and this kit will also help increase muscle mass and lose body fat.

The Sex Kit

If you’re overhearing, “It’s okay, it happens,” we have a solution for you: The Vault’s Sex Kit. The Vault’s medical team created this kit to solve super common issues in the bedroom; the two treatments include oral supplements containing tadalafil and apomorphine. Tadalafil increases blood flow, and apomorphine helps the brain stimulation of erections. The second treatment is a dose of oxytocin, which is a bonding hormone. Basically, it’ll get you in the mood and ready to perform and help you stay in the mood. Great success!

**If you have any of the following conditions, we don’t recommend you try these supplements and treatments, or see your healthcare provider before starting**

-Diabetes

-Active cancer (i.e. cancer that has not been cured yet or is in remission)

-Congestive heart failure or poorly controlled hypertension

Some side effects include:

-With CJC-1295, some people can experience joint pains, increased intensity of dreams, numbness or tingling in extremities.

-Ipamorelin can cause headaches, nausea or aches and pains in the joints.

-Ibutamoren can cause an increase in appetite.

Scientific studies have shown the efficacy of these medications for the indications we recommend them for, however every individual is different and may not be an appropriate candidate for every treatment. That is why at Vault, we have you speak with a men’s health specialist before confirming your order.

After receiving your kit, Vault clinicians are available to you with questions or concerns. If you feel the medication isn’t working, your Vault provider may recommend you try them multiple times or adjust your dose or try taking them at different times.

Check out more at Vault Health.