Sometimes, all it takes is a single scene to change moviemaking for good. (“Rosebud . . .” comes to mind.) And while many of the last quarter-century’s films have awed, inspired, and offered up iconic entries into the cultural canon, only some—and particularly, only a few individual moments—have genuinely influenced how future films were made. So, what makes that list?
To mark the 25th edition of the Hollywood Issue, Vanity Fair’s film critics pinpointed 25 film scenes since 1995 that changed the industry, the art form, and even the culture, and our reporters spoke to the performers and filmmakers who made them happen.
A brief note from the editors on magazine math: Vanity Fair has published 25 Hollywood Issues beginning in 1995. In the spirit of our anniversary, we have taken that as our start date. Those decrying a lack of Pulp Fiction etc. on this list can get their Tarantino dose elsewhere in this year’s edition.
IT’S ALL BEEN THERE from the very beginning: the consummate genre cleverness, the animation with its affectedly rounded edges and warm tones, and the emotional appeals to not only kids but their nostalgic parents, who wish they were kids.
All of this—what would come to be identified as the Pixar trademark—springs to life, fully formed, in the opening moments of the company’s 1995 debut film, Toy Story, as a boy named Andy plays cowboys with his delightfully mismatched toys: a cowpoke named Woody, Mr. Potato Head, and the rest.
