Tom Hanks Was Initially Hesitant To Do Another Toy Story. What Changed His Mind
Pixar has a friend in Tom Hanks.
The toys of the Toy Story movies may be there until the end of the line for Andy and Bonnie, but how about the voice actors behind them? Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are Woody and Buzz, but is there a future where they won’t be? Luckily, there isn’t one right now, but Hanks did get honest about asking “why” they should do Toy Story 5.
When CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb sat down with the stars of Toy Story who’ve been voicing these characters since the original movie 30 years ago, Hanks commented on his initial reaction to reprising the role of Woody for the fifth movie. Check out the exchange (also in the video clip above):
Tom Hanks: “In all honesty, when they say, ‘Would you like to do another Toy Story?’ My question was, ‘Well, why? What are you going to talk about?’ And Andrew [Stanton] had the thing of, ‘Well, we're sort of going to take on tech because Bonnie now has a device.’ ‘Got it!’”
Tim Allen: “And really low key. You go wow!”
Tom Hanks: “All the writers and producers are, you know, preoccupied with other stuff that's going on. They just kind of give us the bare bones.”
Very few franchises get to the fifth film and retain the quality of the original movie. And sometimes, it even leads to cast members who started with the leading characters being swapped out because it’s no longer what it used to be. When Hanks was first approached for Toy Story 5, it sounds like he wasn’t totally sure about another one, but then he was quickly grabbed by the concept.
Toy Story 5 follows the toys, previously of Andy’s room, as they navigate Bonnie getting a tablet named Lilypad. When the tech device starts to demand all her attention, the toys start to freak out about an impending doom where they are stored away in a box collecting dust in the garage, and Jessie tries to fix things. You can check out the latest Toy Story 5 trailer below:
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The latest of the upcoming Disney movies tackles a timely concept of how screen time is not only affecting young children these days, but everyone. It totally makes sense why Tom Hanks and Tim Allen would instantly be drawn in to return to their iconic characters thanks to some ingenuity by the Pixar filmmakers. They've also clearly built years of trust after all the great Toy Story movies.
In addition to Toy Story 5 tackling technology, it also gives Jessie a central plotline she never got to have before. In a previous interview with the Toy Story 5 filmmakers, director Andrew Stanton told us that the first draft for the sequel didn’t include Woody at all. However, he missed the cowboy in the mix, and he felt like it would make sense for Jessie to ask for help from the toy even if he’s enjoying a retirement elsewhere with Bo.
Toy Story 5 had its world premiere last week, and first reactions to the fifth Toy Story are calling it a “genuine home run”, “deeply profound” and “top tier.” You can see it yourself in theaters starting this Friday, June 19.

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.
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