Tom Hanks Says Woody Isn’t Balding in Toy Story 5
Tom Hanks wants you to know one thing about Toy Story 5: Woody does not have a bald spot.
The trailer for the new Pixar movie revealed a glistening area on the back of the beloved cowboy’s head when his hat falls off, prompting a flurry of “old man” jokes from the franchise’s familiar cast of characters, but Hanks is adamant during Fandango’s Big Ticket interview: “It’s worn!” he said. “It’s worn from people patting him on the head… and also the hat coming on and coming off.”
Whether it’s a case of balding or not, Woody’s new look is just one sign that the land of children’s play and imagination is not the same as it was when the first Toy Story came out over 30 years ago — a fact that Toy Story 5 is confronting head on. While many of our favorite toys are returning (including Hanks’ Woody, Tim Allen’s Buzz Lightyear, and Joan Cusack’s Jessie), they’re all dealing with an existential threat as Bonnie (the young girl who receives Andy’s toys at the end of Toy Story 3) becomes more and more obsessed with technology.
(Photo by Pixar)
The physical manifestation of that crisis comes in the form of Lilypad, a frog-shaped tablet voiced by Greta Lee. As the leader of Bonnie’s toys, Jessie sees Lilypad as the ultimate villain, but for Lee, the toy — well, device — is just another thing that exists in Bonnie’s repertoire of fun.
“That was something that was very fun for us, from the beginning, to think about — a character who’s completely unbothered by the rest of them and unburdened by how stressed they are by the arrival of this device and how it’s changed the way Bonnie plays,” says Lee, who joined Hanks, Allen and Cusack during the interview. “I love that even though Jessie and Lily are polar opposites, they both fundamentally care about Bonnie.”
But while Bonnie’s attention may be drifting, something that hasn’t changed over the years is the affection that people still have for the Toy Story movies, something that Lee, who says she was 13 when the franchise debuted, is proof of. “It is such an honor to be here with these people — our national treasures,” she says, gesturing to her co-stars. “It’s such a wild thing to be part of something that I experienced myself as a kid, and now I’m part of this and getting to experience it again with my own kids.”
Check out the full interview above. Toy Story 5 comes out in theatres on June 19. Get your tickets here.
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