If you love Toy Story then you will know one of the main characters; Woody.
Made famous by Pixar, the admirable cowboy embarks on brave adventures with his fellow toy friends.
But why is Woody the main character and who created him?
Here are 11 facts about Woody that will leave you wanting to watch his wonderful movies!
His full name is Sheriff Woody Pride.
Most know him as Woody but the popular Disney Pixar character has a full name.
The name came from the inspiration of the famous western actor Woody Strode.
It wasn’t until the director of Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich revealed that Woody’s last name was Pride, up until this point he was known as Sheriff Woody.
Woody wasn’t always the good guy.
In the original sketches and during the conceptualization of the character, he was portrayed as a bitter and jealous character who let his power over other toys get to his head.
The first concepts for Woody in Toy Story were of a mean character who didn’t care if he hurt or upset the other toys around him.
The original idea for the character was an evil ventriloquist dummy, which was the first short that the character featured in.
The Pixar short Tin Toy made in 1988 features the character “Woody” who was controlling and evil towards other toys.
Woody became a cowboy in the 1990s.
The character was originally a ventriloquist dummy but after Pixar teamed up with Disney to create their first-ever animated feature he was changed to a cowboy.
After discussing, studio bosses came to the conclusion that the original drawings for Woody wouldn’t appeal to the Disney audience, so drawings were adapted to make him appear friendlier.
Some features were kept, such as the pull cord and his appearance as a doll, but he was now more Disney-friendly with rosy cheeks and a happy face.
Bud Luckey first drew Woody.
The animator who worked for Pixar was the creator of Toy Story and Woody.
Before working for Pixar, he was an animator for Sesame Street.
Luckey came up with over 200 designs for the character of Woody before the final design was chosen.
The original drawings depicted Woody as a ventriloquist doll and they gradually evolved into the cowboy that was chosen to represent Woody.
Woody started with 7 famous quotes.
An iconic part of the Toy Story movies is Woody’s famous pull-string quotes.
All Woody quotes were recorded for the first movie but not all of them were used.
Only 7 of the prerecorded quotes were used in the first movie, they include “reach for the sky” and “there’s a snake in my boot”.
In Toy Story 3 the quote “I’d like to join your posse boys” was added to Woody’s quote list.
In Toy Story 4, the previous quote “Yeehaw! Giddy up partner! We’ve gotta get this wagon train a-movin’!” was shortened into separate quotes.
The first Woody figure was made in 1995.
Thinkaway Toys created the first original to scale pull string toy of Woody in 1995.
It was the only toy of Woody made that was an exact replica of the character from the movie.
It had the same ¾ inch pull ring for his quotes and wire in his arms so you could put his arms in different positions.
This was changed on future models due to safety reasons.
The first model featured 5 of Woody’s famous quotes on his pull string.
Woody’s love is Bo Peep.
Throughout the Toy Story movies, Woody captures the attention of Bo Peep and it is said that they are considered lovers.
In the first Toy Story movie, Bo Peep says that she will get someone else to watch her sheep to Woody, implying that she wants to spend some more intimate time with Woody.
Bo Peep is always there to support Woody and to calm him down in heated situations.
Although she is an independent character she is always there for him.
Their relationship resembles a long-term alliance, as Bo Peeps’ interactions with Woody suggest that they have been together for a long time.
Woody has 3 main enemies.
Although there are many characters Woody is not fond of, such as Sid, there are 3 main enemies of Woody.
Across the Toy Story films, there is a different enemy for each movie, these are Stinky Pete, Lotso, and Gabby Gabby.
Stinky Pete is his enemy in Toy Story 2, where he tries to keep hold of Woody to be part of their rare collection.
In Toy Story 3 Lots-o Hugging bear becomes the enemy by again trying to assure all the toys that they are safe when they are not.
Finally Gabby Gabby, the vintage doll in Toy Story 4 who tries to steal Woody’s voice box for herself.
Woody was the feature of a show within the show.
If you’ve seen Toy Story 2 then you know that Woody is a rare toy for a TV series that a collector is after.
Andy’s toy Woody is inspired by a fictitious TV show called “Woody’s Roundup“.
In the TV show, he featured alongside Jesse, Stinky Pete, and Bullseye.
The show within the Toy Story universe ran between 1949-1957 and was cut due to the launch of Sputnik 1 into space.
The interest in Westerns was lost after the space race had begun and this links to the reason of Buzz Lightyear being seen as a potential enemy of Woody’s, to begin with.
This is also the main reason for the figurine is a rare find within the Toy Story universe.
Woody is named one of the greatest characters ever made.
In June 2010 Entertainment Weekly put Woody in the top 100 greatest characters created in the last 20 years.
The loved cowboy hero was the feature of Pixar’s first animation and has been recognized for his significance within cartoon character history.
He’s even appeared in other Pixar movies.
He first appeared in the outtakes of the 1998 film A Bugs Life as the clapperboard holder.
Later in 2006, he appeared in the epilogue of Cars as a station wagon in the adapted version of Toy Story where all characters are cars.
Woody also featured in a number of Pixar shorts such as Hawaiian Vacation, Partysaurus Rex, and Small Fry.
Woody will continue to be one of history’s best-known Cowboys and his adventures with his fellow toy friends will live on through Disney and Pixar’s creations.
Why not watch some of Pixar’s shorts to see Woody feature in some other great animations.
