Why does this change need to happen, and what’s going to make that happen?”Ĭooley made “Toy Story 4” his own by incorporating the way in which his wife, Erin, instilled confidence in him that he would one day join Pixar, despite his early self-doubt as a young, aspiring animator. Woody was the hardest part, as it should be. “And there were elements that I loved and held onto those, but making Bo Peep essential to Woody’s change was something I don’t think we ever fully had.
“When John asked me to direct, he said, ‘This is your film and bring what you need to it,’” Cooley said. However, even before the Pixar co-founder and former chief creative officer was forced to resign from Disney/Pixar, he handed the animated feature to first-time director Josh Cooley, a Pixar veteran who most recently served as a screenwriter and story supervisor on “Inside Out.” There was unfinished business there, and the team wanted to explore that.”Īnd so the basis of “Toy Story 4” become the promise of a love story between Woody and Bo, first intended by John Lasseter to direct. When ideas for ‘Toy Story 4’ started being discussed, it didn’t take long for Bo to resurface. “I can’t even tell you how many letters I got from folks mourning her loss and feeling sad for Woody. “We were all caught off guard by the outpouring of distress felt by many audience members over Bo being gone,” he said. While Bo Peep’s absence was inadvertent from Pixar’s perspective, the audience took it personally. “I think that if Bo Peep had been present in the opening, it would have been that much more powerful to discover that she’s gone when we jump forward in time to Andy’s high school years.” “In all honesty, it’s the only thing I regret and wish I could change about the film,” Unkrich said. At that point, they were forced to move forward without Bo beyond Woody mentioning her as one of the toys that they’d lost it was too late to have the character modeled and shaded. Given our previous challenges, we made the decision to have Bo Peep be that toy it killed two birds with one stone.”Īnd then the prologue changed: Rather than visualize the toys concocting their own play scenarios without Andy, it became a fantasy Western. “We thought it would be powerful if one of the beloved toys from the ensemble was missing from the room. “We wanted to show in a concrete and dramatic way that any toy at any time could be outgrown and given away,” he said.
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Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt tried a different tack while developing “Toy Story 3,” in which they wanted to start the movie with a prologue in which the toys faced an existential threat. It would be unbelievable for her to be going through the same intense physical things the other toys went through without getting broken. “Our thinking at the time was that she was made of porcelain, so it didn’t seem safe for her to be out in the world on an adventure.
“We had previously struggled to find ways to have her be part of the story in ‘Toy Story 2,’ he said. She enjoys being a lost toy on her own, and offers an opportunity for growth and change.īo Peep has been largely absent since the original “Toy Story,” but director Lee Unkrich said that wasn’t for lack of trying. The Sheriff feels duty bound to find him, but the plot thickens when Woody is reunited with Bo. “Toy Story 4” finds Woody still eager to please Bonnie when her favorite new toy, Forky (Tony Hale), a neurotic spork she made in school, runs away in a state of existential confusion. This left the door open to “ Toy Story 4,” which reintroduces a free-spirited, badass Bo who turns Woody’s life upside down.
“Toy Story 3” seemed to offer the perfect ending to Pixar’s beloved trilogy, but there still was one loose end: the absence of Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who was Woody’s ( Tom Hanks) BFF until Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) came along.