On Sunday (October 1), NFL viewers had a choice: watch the game as they always have on ESPN, or watch the same game, in real-time, in Andy's Bedroom from the Toy Story franchise on Disney+.
The NFL's annual London game took place at Wembley Stadium with the Jacksonville Jaguars up against the Atlanta Falcons and as part of an alternate telecast, the NFL brought 'Toy Story Funday Football' to viewers screens.
Everything was animated in real-time, made possible by chips in the players' football pads, combined with an overhead tracking camera on the field.
It was a pretty impressive pull-off from the collaborative efforts of the NFL, Disney and Pixar, with viewers loving the game, which included a halftime show featuring Duke Caboom:
Not only is it a fun alternative to watching the regular game, but it also entices children to get involved in watching, and potentially playing, football. To say fathers across the globe were grateful is an understatement.
One dad shared that his daughters had never watched football with him until the Toy Story game:
A video uploaded to TikTok showed two children staring up at the screen, with the text overlay reading "Thank You NFL - Sincerely, Dads Everywhere":
@calibreezybabyI have my Sundays back 😂 #tiktok #foryou #fyp #video #toystory #nfl #haha
And there are plenty of other videos showing children glued to the screen whilst parents watch the game in peace:
@arosales92Watching Toy Story Funday Football with my girls #fyp#CCfyp#disney #disneyplus #pixar #toystory #football #twins #momsoftiktok #toddlersoftiktok
There were a few glitches during the animated game, such as not cutting back to the game in time, but it was an extremely impressive and original watch, with many asking the NFL to have a Toy Story game every week.
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