Pleasures, perils of voicing Woody

Hanks had difficulty with emotional scenes in ‘Toy Story 4.’

In 1995, Tom Hanks lent his voice to Woody, the trusty sheriff doll in Pixar’s “Toy Story.” Since then, Hanks has become a grandparent, while the films have evolved into a soulful meditation on growing up and the passage of time. “Toy Story 4,” now in theaters, finds Woody moving on yet again, with what feels — for now, at least — like a conclusive ending.

Here, Hanks talks about the franchise and what it says about family, and the unique pleasures and demands of playing a children’s plaything. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Has the process of recording Woody changed much?

He still yells an awful lot. (Shouting) “Guys come on! We have to go! We just can’t leave her there, guys! Come on!” He is in some ways the compass of responsibility for everybody in the room. And he’s always been tightly wound.

There are times when my diaphragm is sore at the end of a fouror five-hour recording session, just because the challenge is to wring out every possible option for every piece of dialogue. It’s every incarnation of outrage and surprise and disappointment and heartache and panic and being plused and nonplused.

Fortunately, because I don’t smoke or get too drunk, my voice sounds more or less the same.

How does seeing Woody out in the world compare to seeing your own face on a movie poster?

We were at Disneyland with the kids. You know they’re always having parades and things like that, and there was a thing, an absolute extravaganza, and Woody is a part of it. We were there watching it and my daughter — who’s in her 30s, by the way — the first time we saw it, she burst into tears.

And I said, “It was kind of great, wasn’t it?” But she pointed out to me that Woody will be part of that for the rest of time, the same way Mickey is. And in no small way, I am Woody.

Have you developed a special fondness for the “Toy Story” films?

Believe it or not, I actually think they’re important. It’s a disparate group of toys, but there is this sense of both true family and extended family that is representative of anybody’s life, including the little kids, who just might be delighted by toys that come to life.

This one’s about moving on, you know. The pairing up and the moving on that must happen

Hanks