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Tom Hanks was surprised to learn that his Toy Story <\/em>character Woody has a last name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n “I had no idea,” Hanks revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 1<\/em>, asking if the surname belonging to the sheriff toy he plays in the animated franchise is just, “The Sheriff?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Woody’s last name is Pride, and has been from the beginning of the franchise, a previous Toy Story <\/em>director explained in 2009.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Buzz Lightyear has a last name. So do Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. So why not Toy Story<\/em><\/a> star Woody?<\/p>\n If Tom Hanks<\/a> 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<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n “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?”<\/p>\n Woody Pride is his name, Plumb revealed. “Double twist,” the journalist continued. “Jessie’s full name is Jessica Jane Pride. Which…”<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, who has voiced Lightyear since 1995’s Toy Story<\/em>.<\/p>\n 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!”<\/p>\n Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But Toy Story 3 <\/em>director Lee Unkrich settled the debate once and for all in 2009, when he shared a post<\/a> 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<\/em>” (via BuzzFeed<\/a> \u2014 Unkrich has since deactivated his account).<\/p>\n Indeed, Pixar fans have dug up official Disney merch<\/a> that bears the name Woody Pride, and located conversations<\/a> in home video commentary tracks and ultimate toy box releases that confirm the surname.<\/p>\n Woody Hanks has played Woody for over 30 years now, as Toy Story 5<\/em><\/a> 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 <\/em>interview.<\/p>\n He also made light of his longevity in the role, after a shot of Woody with a shiny new bald spot<\/a> 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 <\/em>in April. “He has been played with to excess.”<\/p>\n
Credit: Disney\/Pixar<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n