A stronger, wiser Bo Peep and new faces
Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” may have grossed more than $1 billion and won two Oscars, but one key thing was missing: Woody’s love interest, Little Bo Peep.
But as Annie Potts, who voiced Bo Peep, says, “She’s back with a vengeance.”
“Toy Story 4” boasts a host of new characters with impressive vocal talent including Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. But the new pantaloon-tough Bo Peep commands attention.
“She’s gotten all wise and courageous,” says Potts. “She is a fierce warrior.”
Asked if Bo Peep’s disappearance in “3” and triumphant return in “4” really were planned all along, “4” director Josh Cooley says, “When Andrew Stanton wrote the treatment for ‘Toy Story 3,’ he started writing the treatment for ‘4’ soon after. It was always an idea to continue.”
Much thought went into her arc. They came up with a background story full of adventures in the outside world that made her stronger and wiser.
She became someone, as Cooley says, “who can stand up for herself, has confidence, and has seen a lot of things. We looked at different female characters. [‘Mad Max: Fury Road’s’ Imperator] Furiosa. Rey from ‘Star Wars.’ Marion from ‘Indiana Jones,’ especially because they have that relationship in ‘Raiders.’ Also, Ilsa from ‘Casablanca.’ ”
Screenwriter Stephany Folsom adds, “There’s something different [from those heroines] about Bo: She’s a porcelain doll. There’s something beautiful about having a character who is that vulnerable but she has all that strength she found in herself.”
The new characters will surely carve out a place of their own, and their casting was key. Comic masterminds Key & Peele play Ducky and Bunny; Hendricks is a villainous doll with a squad of evil ventriloquist’s dummies; Reeves is a macho yet emotionally fragile motorcycle daredevil. Tiny police officer Giggle McDimples, voiced by Ally Maki, is “the smallest toy that has ever been in a ‘Toy Story’ movie,” Folsom says. “She has a personality that cannot be contained.”
Hale voices a spork rescued from the garbage by Woody and lovingly given pipecleaner limbs and an improvised face by the human girl, Bonnie. . “Forky never wanted to come into being,” says Folsom. “He’s having an existential crisis.”
Reeves’ Duke Caboom is a version of that Evel Kneivel toy that looked awesome on TV but couldn’t quite do those advertised stunts once you got it home.
He’s “this bravado stunt man who, has real emotional problems,” Cooley says. “Going from super-confident to crying like a baby, that just makes me laugh.”
Key and Peele’s characters are plush prizes in a carnival booth.
“We always recorded them together,” Cooley says. It’s like watching a magic trick, it’s unbelievable.
““They’d improv hilarious stuff, but it was always on point and always served the story. They really helped create those characters.”
For Potts, though, an old-school cast member was the best part of her return.
“Any day as an actor working with Tom Hanks is a pretty wonderful day,” she says of the star who plays the hero Woody. “This new, astonishingly modern Bo Peep and working with Tom — it doesn’t get much better than that.”