Key Points
Tom Hanks was surprised to learn that his Toy Story character Woody has a last name.
“I had no idea,” Hanks revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 1, asking if the surname belonging to the sheriff toy he plays in the animated franchise is just, “The Sheriff?”
Woody’s last name is Pride, and has been from the beginning of the franchise, a previous Toy Story director explained in 2009.
Buzz Lightyear has a last name. So do Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. So why not Toy Story star Woody?
If Tom Hanks has ever asked himself that question, it didn’t show when Woody’s last name was revealed to him on Wednesday during an interview with BBC Radio 1.
“By the way, I only recently discovered that Woody has a surname. Are you aware that Woody has a surname?” asked film critic Ali Plumb. “I had no idea,” Hanks replied, guessing that if anything, might the courageous sheriff doll’s last name literally be “The Sheriff?”
Woody Pride is his name, Plumb revealed. “Double twist,” the journalist continued. “Jessie’s full name is Jessica Jane Pride. Which…”
He didn’t need to say more. “Wait a minute. I’d heard this, that they might be related,” interjected Hanks’ franchise costar Tim Allen, who has voiced Lightyear since 1995’s Toy Story.
When Plumb suggested that the common last name might suggest that the close friends and partners in crime are in fact siblings, Hanks exclaimed, “No! Distant cousins, please. Please!”
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Woody either having or not having a last name has fascinated fans for years, inspiring conversations and debates in comment sections, in message forums, and on fan sites.
But Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich settled the debate once and for all in 2009, when he shared a post on the social media platform formerly known as X, noting, “Woody’s actual full name is ‘Woody Pride,’ and has been since the earliest days of developing the original Toy Story” (via BuzzFeed — Unkrich has since deactivated his account).
Indeed, Pixar fans have dug up official Disney merch that bears the name Woody Pride, and located conversations in home video commentary tracks and ultimate toy box releases that confirm the surname.
Woody
Credit: Disney/Pixar
Hanks has played Woody for over 30 years now, as Toy Story 5 launches in theaters this month. “How did they find this out? I play the guy [and] didn’t realize I had a surname,” Hanks joked in the BBC Radio 1 interview.
He also made light of his longevity in the role, after a shot of Woody with a shiny new bald spot went viral. “You put a rubber hat on top of a rubber head again and again and again and again, something’s gonna chafe,” Hanks told Entertainment Weekly in April. “He has been played with to excess.”
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