These Fun Toy Story Facts Will Blow Your Mind to Infinity and Beyond

Published on 6/13/2019 at 11:20 AM

Think you know everything there is to know about the Toy Story franchise? With the premiere of Toy Story 4 right around the corner — which will focus on the relationship between Bo Peep and Woody — we revisited the evolution of the insanely popular movie franchise over the years and uncovered some facts that even the most knowledgable fans probably don't know. From voice-actor changes to licensing disputes and even an insanely creepy ventriloquist doll that thankfully never saw the light of day, here are the craziest facts about the first three films featuring everyone's favorite talking toys.

The Characters That Almost Were

Rather than a cowboy, Woody was originally supposed to be a ventriloquist's dummy, but luckily, executives at Disney had the good sense to point out that ventriloquist dummies are actually terrifying and that Woody should probably be something less nightmare inducing.
Likewise, rather than a cowgirl, Jessie (who was introduced in Toy Story 2) was originally supposed to be Señorita Cactus, a sidekick to the Prospector who was "to sway Woody with her feminine wiles."
In original drafts of Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear was instead Tinny, the main character from Pixar's 1988 Oscar-winning short film Tin Toy. Deciding that Tinny was too antiquated, the character morphed into a G.I. Joe-esque action figure and later into a spaceman, first called Lunar Larry, then Tempus, then Morph, and finally Buzz Lightyear as a nod to astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
Though Woody later became the good guy we now know and love, his character was originally supposed to be kind of a jerk. In his book Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Creativity, creativity researcher Keith Sawyer mentions that the first drafts of Woody had him abusing slinky dog and pushing Buzz out of a window, but it was later decided that Woody should be a more likable character and that Buzz should fall out of the window by accident instead.

Toy-Licensing Snafus

Pixar decided that it wanted G.I. Joe to be one of the toys in the movie but, when Hasbro refused to license the rights to the action figure, Mr. Potato Head was added to the cast instead (along with the fictitious "Combat Carls").
Disney was sued by New Jersey company Diece-Lisa Industries in 2014 over Toy Story 3's evil "Lots-O'-Huggin'" toy (better known as Lotso), alleging that they had been selling their own "Lots of Hugs" toy bears since 1995.
Joss Whedon, who was brought on to do a script revision for Toy Story, wanted to include a kickass Sarah Connor-esque Barbie character in the first movie, but Mattel refused to license the doll to Pixar, fearing the movie would be a flop. They apparently changed their minds, as Barbie later appears in the movie's sequels.

Real-Life Inspiration For Andy and His Bedroom

It's rumored that the character of Andy is named after Andries "Andy" Van Dam, a legendary Brown University computer science and animation professor who had many of the film's makers as students, though Van Dam asserts that this isn't true.
The late Oscar-nominated animator Bud Luckey — who played a pivotal role in bringing Woody to life — also had a son named Andy, though it's unclear whether this had any influence on choosing the character's name.
Several books on Andy's bedroom shelf feature previous Pixar shorts titles, such as The Adventures of André and Wally B., Red's Dream, Tin Toy, and Knick Knack.

Fun Voice-Actor Facts

Billy Crystal was the original first choice to voice Buzz Lightyear, but he turned the role down, which was a decision he still regrets. The next time that Toy Story creator John Lasseter offered him a role, Crystal accepted right away, becoming the voice of Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc.
As well as Billy Crystal, Jim Carrey was another top pick for the role, but Tim Allen was recast as Buzz once Disney gave Pixar a much smaller budget for the film than they anticipated.
Producers also originally wanted Paul Newman to voice Woody opposite Carrey (with Newman representing Old Hollywood and Carry representing New Hollywood) but again couldn't get Newman on board due to budgeting constraints.
During a 2011 interview on The Graham Norton Show, Tom Hanks revealed that his brother Jim often contributes to the voice of Woody for merchandise — such as computer games and toys — when Hanks is busy with other projects.