Lasseter pitched the concept for "Tin Toy" by storyboard to Pixar owner Steve Jobs, who agreed to finance the short despite the company's struggles, which he kept alive with annual investment. The film was officially a test of the PhotoRealistic RenderMan software and proved new challenges to the animation team, namely the difficult task of realistically animating Billy. "Tin Toy" later gained attention from Disney, who sealed an agreement to create "Toy Story" starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, which was primarily inspired by elements from "Tin Toy".