Tom Hanks Confirmed What We Suspected About Why He Accepted His Toy Story Role
In actor Tom Hanks' long, illustrious career, few roles are more revered, more adored, than Woody, the sentient hunk of plastic with a serious case of territorial jealousy. To be fair, it's for a good reason — Pixar's "Toy Story" shaped the nostalgia of an entire generation of children. From memes (there's a good one that has Professor Severus Snape from the "Harry Potter" franchise wearing Woody's cowboy boots that's particularly funny) to merchandise ("Kingdom Hearts 3" all the way, friends), the tiny sheriff will forever be in our hearts.
But what leads prominent actors such as Hanks to take on a different role than they're used to? For some, it's the potential acclaim that a role might bring; for others, it's the money, or perhaps the opportunity to perform a complex, interesting character. For Tom Hanks in "Toy Story," it wasn't any of these reasons but something much wilder.
Tom Hanks was intrigued and confused by CGI
In a 2019 interview with BBC Radio 1, Tom Hanks explained why joining "Toy Story" as Woody interested him. "There were two things about it. One, it was like, 'I'm not sure what this is.' The computer-generated animation itself had a look that was hyperreal. But then also the marriage of the outraged voice of mine inside this outraged body of a toy was just undeniably great," he said. "So I was in from the get-go. They invited me over in order to sort of explain this odd, unknown quantity of something that may or may not work. I said, 'Well, it looks fine to me. Let's do it!' And thus it began."
Looking back at the first "Toy Story" film, the animators struggled with the depiction of human characters, especially (via ComicBook.com). To modern audiences, Andy is the epitome of uncanny valley, but at the time, it was the unquestionable creation of an entirely new genre of cinema. So in Hanks' mind, it was unsurprisingly a unique experience. No one invested in expanding their career would turn down something like "Toy Story," and Pixar fans around the world are grateful that Hanks chose to take that leap, even if his usage of the term "hyperreal" is hilariously suspect.