On Saturday, June 8, the cast of Toy Story 4 attended the press conference, which was held at Disney World’s very own Toy Story Land. Among the participants were Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), Annie Potts (Bo Peep), Keanu Reeves (Duke Caboom), Christina Hendricks (Gabby Gabby), Tony Hale (Forky), Director Josh Cooley and producers Jonas Rivera and Mark Nielsen.
Some of the major themes discussed were the transitions that these characters faced and the welcoming of new comers Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, and Tony Hale, along with their respective characters.
Viewers assumed that after Toy Story 3, when Andy donated his toys and went off to college, that the series had ended. But according to the creators, there was more of Woody’s story that was left to tell.
Here’s what the cast and crew had to say about the production and decision making behind Toy Story 4:
Many were surprised to see a continuation in the series after the trilogy. Can you talk about the decision to create another Toy Story?
Josh Cooley: “We had the same questions everybody else had. What? I thought you guys were done. We loved the end of Toy Story 3 and feel like that’s the completion of Woody and Andy’s story, but there was more of Woody’s story to tell.”
Jonas Rivera: “We thought Toy Story 2 was the last one. We finished that one and we thought that was the end of the story. And how we approached this was with the end of Andy’s story and the end of Woody’s story–Woody as the antagonist. And as filmmakers, we feel satisfied with [how] this is where you could end it. There’s an applied future to all these films and we sort of never say never at Pixar but as storytellers, we’re satisfied with this as the closing chapter.”
Can you talk about joining the already established franchise?
Tony Hale: “It’s overwhelming, which helps because Forky is overwhelmed. And I remember one day they brought me up to Pixar and said, ‘Forky is kind of nervous,’ and I was like, check. They said, ‘he asks a lot of questions,’ check, and ‘he’s kind of gullible to a fault,’ and I was like, bingo. And I just love that he sees everything as new. Mainly I love that he’s a character whose whole place is trash. That’s all he knows, is to help people eat soup. And then Woody comes along and shares that he has a greater purpose. And I think that in life, anyone who sees themselves in that way, they have worth, they have purpose and that’s just a beautiful message that Toy Story is giving us.”
Keanu Reeves: “It was a great honor to be invited. For me, I was really excited. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to work with Tim and Tom, but I knew that working with Pixar and these characters and performers, [that I would be] getting a chance to be a part of something that’s legendary. So I was really excited and then Pixar gave me a great character with Duke Caboom.”
Christina Hendricks: “Gabby Gabby’s so lovely. I like that when children see this movie, she comes across as the villain at first and then you realize that she’s coming from a very loving place. I think that’s very important to say that maybe you don’t like someone at first but how did they get there? Why are they there? And understanding their story. So I think she’s very special in that way and then she sort of gets embraced by the group and then it’s about support. I honestly thought that it was a joke when they asked me. I kept thinking that there were three other people up for the same role.”
What do you do to make new actors and new characters feel welcome?
Josh Cooley: “Well, we looked at the new characters in the film, we looked at the toys that we grew up with, the ones that we played with. And if you look at the original Toy Story, some of them are the more classic toys like Slinky and Potato Head, so we went to more of the 70s and 80s in terms of toys. And then we tried to figure out characters that weren’t just characters to be on the screen, but actually help the story move along and supported Woody as much as possible, but also entertaining as well. But it’s a really great question because it’s really hard to do. People love Toy Story already and then to try and introduce new characters into it and go, I hope you like these characters just as much, and hopefully they do.”
Mark Nielsen: “Yeah, you don’t do it just for the fun of it. Gabby Gabby for example, the story would not work without Gabby Gabby. She’s an echo of Woody. And we needed her to be this real and legit and truthful human character and the same thing for Duke Caboom and Giggle and everybody, so they’re not just for fun, although we love them, but this movie wouldn’t work without them so that’s sort of our metric.”
Keanu Reeves: “I think that what’s cool about this character and Disney/Pixar and all the creators of this story, the characters themselves and their performances, is that I think we can identify so many different kinds of people going through so many different kinds of things. And Duke Caboom just happened to be a cry baby with a super big heart, and brave. He loves life and I think there’s a bit of Duke Caboom in all of us.”
On the decision to add a doll character…
Josh Cooley: “We realized we never did a doll before, just a regular doll. And we all have daughters so we looked at our own kids and their toys and our toys for truths. And I just love the idea of the Godfather and having minions. That to me was my favorite scene. We’ve never done that before.”
On the differences between acting for animation and non-animation…
Keanu Reeves: “In an odd way, you’re doing the same thing. You’re finding the emotion of the character, the timing of the character, the voice of the character. I think that’s really cool about the film, how they physically embody Lightyear’s movements and Gabby’s kind of thing. You’re finding the emotion and timing of the character and it’s really kind of the same as [a non animated project].”
Can you talk about the memory of Don Rickles and bringing back Mr. Potato Head?
Mark Nielsen: “We love Don. He’s been a huge part of these films all the way back to the very beginning. We had signed him on to be part of the project before we lost him, and at the request of his family, and it was an idea we had been talking about as well, we wanted to see if we could craft a performance from all the incredible sessions we’ve had with Don over the years. He recorded for theme park rides and toys and commercials, short films, feature films, a lot that we hadn’t used before. So we were honored to be able to keep his memory in the film, and our editorial team did a great job in creating a performance from his own voice, out of past projects.”
How has your characterization grown over the years?
Tim Allen: “At one point, Woody, because he’s mean, yelled, ‘you are a toy.’ Because Buzz has always been wonderfully ignorant about who he was, that he was a toy. But his transition has always been, ok, that was a terrible moment for me, let’s regroup, and his core has always been authentic, soft-hearted, with no heart at all. So you’ll see in this movie, it’s kind of weird about that. And Woody has this inner voice that Buzz doesn’t understand. He’s innocent. And you’ll see through this thing, that’s the journey, how cool of friends these guys are.”
What feature or addition was new in developing this film?
Josh Cooley: “We researched a ton on porcelain, how porcelain reacts to light, how it breaks, we broke all this stuff and and filmed it… The technical challenge with this one was the antique store because there’s 10,000 items in the antique store that all had to be built and shaded and set dressed and everything and we didn’t even know if our computers could render so much stuff. Early on we did some tests and it turned out pretty good and we said ok, we can actually do this. And then we just had to make more stuff to go into that antique store, so a lot of it was made for this film. There’s a lot of easter eggs in this movie because we just got lazy, and so you can find, I swear, if you pause any frame in the store, you’ll see something in the background.”
Mark Nielsen: “From every movie Pixar has ever done, there’s something in the antique store.”
What does your character mean to you?
Tom Hanks: “Woody has been the great gift that I’ve seen play out again and again in my own family as well as around the world. Even in the cultures where it’s not my voice, whether in Spanish, Mandarin, or what have you. Woody still is this three dimensional, emotional bag that kids carry around with them. What I have truly appreciated is that no matter how old you are now, when you see one of the movies, you’re the same age as when you saw the first one, and there’s not a bump, there’s not a jolt, there’s no nostalgia, it’s exactly as it was and sort of always will be. In some ways, it’s like the definitive Disney enterprise is that there is a cohesiveness and an internal quality, not to just the stories and the characters, but [also] the emotional bonds that we all have with each one of them. And I have always been dazzled when they have come back and said, we’re going to try another one.
Because the question always is, oh, really? Well ain’t you guys bold. You think you can match that last one we did? Well good luck. And as soon as they start talking about Gabby Gabby or Duke Caboom or the true catalyst of Toy Story 4, so much that it’s calledToy Story Forky [laughter], because look what he is. He is a bunch of stuff that has been empowered by the imagination of his creator and that’s what being a toy is, that’s what the great power of being a toy has, so they did it. These 900 or so geniuses at Pixar that operate in their darkened rooms and eat take out food for months at a time.”
Annie Potts: “Well, I’m 66 years old. I’ve said goodbye to a lot of people and hello and held hands and looked out into a new future, and it was sweet to play that out. And as we said earlier, I never saw the full script. I never knew exactly what I was doing. Over time I became aware of how important the role was going to be but not until three weeks ago when I saw the thing. I told Josh afterwards, I said, ‘thank you so much for putting this crown on my head.’ I think she’s so lovely and my wish was to bring all the experiences of my long, colorful life to kick ass Bo.”
Did you anticipate such a huge impact that Toy Story has had throughout the years?
Tim Allen: “Similar to the way my life began with Home Improvement, I never thought about the future, I just thought about getting through this. I had no idea of what the results would be and the same with Toy Story. It’s a very difficult process for me to do these movies because I don’t get to work with the other actors and it’s just difficult. I have a hard time doing this, it’s not the easiest thing. One, I hope everybody likes it, I hope you appreciate what these guys have done. I loved it [but] never looked forward past that. It was great. Number two, was an amazing occurrence. And I look at it like, I’m a Mickey Mouse guy. I told them at Pixar, I don’t know why we don’t do a Pixar Mickey Mouse movie! But I like the fact that this is a series of stories… There’s a theme park out here! A theme park! And a really, really good one. A spectacular one that’s about this movie we started 25 years ago. I can’t describe it except: I’m humbled and honored to be apart of this thing.”
What were some of the emotions coming to the end of the story?
Tom Hanks: “We were all there and when we ended up recording the very last line, there was a realization where it was like, oh, was that the last line, and they all said, that’s it. We were in Stage B, and Doc, the mixer, was through the glass and that’s where it all began and that’s where it was all ending. Earlier, the sessions before that, Tim had texted me, knowing that we were going to be in this territory. So I asked if it was ok, because usually you have the mic and the stand and they’re all at a table in front of you, and so I asked if we could turn it around so that my back was to them because I didn’t want to have any self-consciousness for what I knew was going to be the last [line]. And when it came to pass, I felt as though I was on the other side of the river waving to everybody back in the old country. It was pretty profound. There’s so much muscle memory that goes into it. You drive into the lot, you park in the same spot they have for you then you go through the same doors, you get in your car and you drive back through and you think,I recorded the last moment of the current Toy Story.”
On the overall theme of the movie…
Josh Cooley: “If I could just sum it up in one word, it would be transition. So every character in this movie has gone through a transition, or is struggling through one or has not gone through one. Bo Peep has gone through a transition that we learn about while working on the movie. Woody is struggling with moving from Andy’s room to Bonnie’s room, Forky doesn’t even want to transition at all, and Gabby Gabby is kind of stuck in time. That’s part of the reason we put her in an antique store. Things are not changing around her, there’s dust everywhere. And even Duke is haunted by his past as well, so that’s how we approached it while we were working on it. All of these characters kind of having the same theme in that way.”
Are there any shorts or spin offs coming in the future?
Mark Nielsen: “Right now I’m producing some shorts for Disney Plus which star Forky, our very own Tony Hale. It’s a series called ‘Forky Asks a Question,’ and there’s ten episodes that will be on Disney Plus when it comes live in November.”
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