In a world where toys are sentient beings and live and interact in their own universe whenever their owners or other humans aren't around, the ones in Andy's (voice of JOHN MORRIS) home are an eclectic and amusing bunch. There's Woody (voice of TOM HANKS), the friendly but somewhat neurotic cowboy doll and Buzz Lightyear (voice of TIM ALLEN), a toy who's finally become comfortable with the fact that he's just that and not an actual space ranger.
When Woody accidentally ends up in a yard sale and is then stolen by a greedy and unscrupulous toy collector, Al McWhiggin (voice of WAYNE KNIGHT), Buzz and his fellow toys, Mr. Potato Head (voice of DON RICKLES), Slinky Dog (voice of JIM VARNEY), Rex the Tyrannosaurus (voice of WALLACE SHAWN) and Hamm the piggy bank (voice of JOHN RATZENGERGER) set out to rescue him.
It seems that McWhiggin, who runs Al's Toy Barn, has been looking for the evidently rare Woody toy to complete his highly valued collectible set from the 1950's TV show, "Woody's Roundup." Once in Al's high rise apartment, Woody meets the other toys from his show, Jessie the cowgirl (voice of JOAN CUSACK), Stinky Pete the prospector (voice of KELSEY GRAMMAR), and his faithful horse, Bullseye.
Learning that he's to be sent off with his "old acquaintances" to a toy museum in Japan, Woody wants to get out of Dodge and back to the safety of Andy's room. Yet when he sees all of the memorabilia from his old TV show and then learns that Jessie and Pete desperately don't want to be put back in storage if he leaves them, Woody finds himself torn about what he should do.
As Buzz and his pals make their way from Andy's room to Al's Toy Barn and then to the high rise apartment, they must contend with various obstacles including Buzz's archenemy, Emperor Zug (voice of ANDREW STANTON), while Woody must decide what world he wants to live in.