Toy Story: What was life like when the first film came out?

Image source, Disney / Pixar

Image caption, Everyone's favourite pull-string cowboy sheriff Woody will be back on our screens this year - this time, with a new toy in town.

Toy Story 4 is out later this year and it's expected to be one of the hits of the summer.

The first Toy Story film came out more than 23 years ago.

It's one of the most successful film franchises of all time, making almost 拢2 billion at the box office.

But, what was life like when Toy Story first hit our screens in 1996? Here's our entertainment round-up...

Music

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Take That were one of the biggest bands around in the nineties. They shocked fans by splitting up in 1996.

It was a really bad year for fans of Take That. The boy-band decided to break-up after five years of success. Fans were so upset that a telephone helpline had to be set up. They finished off with a cover of the Bee Gees' "How Deep is your Love".

Life post-Take That was pretty good for Robbie Williams, but not so great for Gary Barlow. And, as I'm sure you already know, they came back in 2006 and did alright...

Football fever took over as the 1996 European Championships came to England. Comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner teamed up with a band called "The Lightning Seeds" to release a song called "Three Lions".

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Comedians Frank Skinner (centre) and David Baddiel (right)

As England got further into the tournament, the song became a staple for football fans in the stands. Two years later, it would reach number one in the charts and it even made a bit of a comeback last summer during the 2018 World Cup. It's coming home, isn't it?

The year belonged to the Spice Girls, who kick started their career and girl power in general with three number one singles including the million-selling "Wannabe". It stayed at number one for seven weeks!

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, 1996 was the year of the Spice Girls. They had three number ones!

Technology

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The Nintendo 64 was the must-have games console.

Nintendo launched the first ever Nintendo 64 console. It was the new gadget everyone wanted.

The world also said hello to little hand-held devices called Tamagotchis. They were virtual pets that you had to feed and basically try and keep alive.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The Tamagotchi was the must-have gadget.

The internet was still pretty new to people and only approximately 1% of the world's population had access to it. AOL was the biggest website around.

The first ever DVDs launched in Japan.

In July, Dolly the sheep became the first mammal to be successfully cloned.

Image caption, Dolly the sheep

Sport

The Olympic Games were in Atlanta and the British team weren't very good. Rowers Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave brought home Britain's only gold medal.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave bring home Britain's only gold medal at the 1996 Olympics

As you might have read above, England hosted the European Football Championships in 1996. They made it to the semi-final (sounds familiar) before being knocked out on penalties by Germany.

The current England manager, Gareth Southgate missed the crucial last penalty. He then bizarrely featured in a Pizza Hut advert making fun of the miss. Who would have thought he'd become a national treasure?

Film

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Will Smith at the premiere of Independence Day

Independence Day featuring Will Smith was the most popular film of 1996, making almost 拢800 million at the box office.

It was also the first time we got introduced to Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible.

And, obviously Toy Story was released in the UK. It wasn't the only big-hitting animation that year either. Disney released the Hunchback of Notre Dame and 101 Dalmatians.

Who was born in 1996?

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Dele Alli scores for England in the 2018 World Cup

England footballer Dele Alli was born in 1996. As was pop star Lorde and supermodel Bella Hadid.

Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland, was born in 1996 too, as was his co-star, Zendaya.