Coming out this week in 3D theaters and IMAX 3D from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar is the Lee Unkrich-directed sequel Toy Story 4, which features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Jeff Pidgeon, Blake Clark, and Tony Hale.
Woody’s journey in “Toy Story 4” includes a visit to a carnival where he meets Ducky and Bunny, two carnival prizes who are eager to be won. But when their plans are rudely interrupted by Woody and his friends, they find themselves on an unexpected adventure with a group of toys who have no idea what it feels like to be tacked to a prize wall.
Annie Potts, who is the voice of Bo Peep, talks about her character’s transition since Toy Story 2 when she last appeared. Potts has a deep connection with the role primarily because of her own life experiences.
In Toy Story 4, we get the chance to understand Bo Peep as a survivor and here’s what Annie Potts had to say about the newly developed plot structure:
What are some of the similarities that you have with your character Bo Peep?
Annie Potts: “Well, I’ve lived a long time and I’ve been through a lot and kept on going. I was in a car accident when I was 21, and I broke every bone below my waist, but one. And so I had to put myself back together and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to walk well enough to have a career. I’ve always been a super optimistic person and I said,I’ll just put my life back together. And instead of it hampering me, it really gave me fuel to go on.
I mean if you live long enough, you realize that the things in the beginning look like the end. You think, this is the end of me, this is going to completely ruin all my hopes and dreams and then you go, wait a minute, no, actually, this is the thing that is going to bring me everything I need because it’s very empowering when you survive something. And I almost didn’t. I mean, I’ve had a remarkable career and I limp a little bit but most people don’t notice so much. I’m grateful for what I went through because I really see now all the richness that it brought to my life, so I have a lot to relate to when it comes to Bo Peep. And while I don’t drive a skunk car, I do have a super groovy, old electric car that I am zipping around.”
What’s something you look forward to each and every time while filming Toy Story?
Annie Potts: “Well, I just love the Pixar folks. They’re wonderful to work with. They really honor actors. Of course they get some extraordinary ones because everyone loves to be part of something that they know is going to be significant in a child’s life. But they make it such a joy to come into work and they’re just marvelous. When you get in a Pixar picture, it’s like winning a lottery.”
To what extent is it helpful, in your career development to have this experience with animation? Does that inform or impact other styles or ways of acting?
Annie Potts: “I think any work of any kind in your field helps the other thing. You learn things all the time. With the voiceovers, you don’t have your body so you’re just voice and spirit and the rest is up to the animators. That’s pretty interesting. I’m so lucky that I have a profession that I have loved and it has brought me such joy. I’m just thrilled to go to work everyday for 5o years.”
What do you think is one of the features that compels both adults and children in this series?
Annie Potts: “There’s so many things. I think that they’re able to address the dual thing that’s completely satisfying to a child and completely satisfying to an adult, I mean, it’s a hat trick, I don’t even know what it is or how they arrive at it, to have that kind of humor and that kind of touching momentous thing, but they really get children and they really get the mind and heart of a child.”
On relating to the movie’s theme of transitioning…
Annie Potts: “It’s not easy to be an actor. We go through periods of too much work and there’s not enough work and then there’s no work at all and then no one ever wants to hear from you again. I’m in a top rated comedy on television and then I have this movie coming out, but I thought that I was retired. I thought the world had retired me; I’m having a really great time. The last three years have been sensational. And so I know a lot about those ups and downs and transitions. It’s kind of like the weather. Just hang out, the sun’s gonna come back out in just a second if you have patience and faith.”
If there was one particular scene from this film that you could show yourself whether as a motivator or some source of hope, which would it be?
Annie Potts: “I think when Bo rips off her arm and says, that’s nothing.”
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