Top 10 Behind the Scenes Facts About Toy Story 4

Fans may be eager to find out as soon as possible what has been going on with their favorite toys, but “Toy Story 4” actually kicks off with a cold open that is set as a prologue. In it, we see an event occur that took place between “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2,” where the gang is on an urgent mission to save RC Car. But director Josh Cooley revealed to Entertainment Tonight that there were actually lots of options being bandied around for this opening scene, including a “fantasy playtime” session that he described as similar to a “zombie musical”. Can we see that deleted footage please?

So that opening scene we mentioned? It takes place in the midst of an epic thunderstorm, which is kind of a big deal if you know anything about animation technology. That’s because rain is incredibly hard to create, and in the past, has been something that the creators of the “Toy Story” films had to avoid because it wasn’t possible to make the rain interact with any other object in the scene. But 24 years after the first film was released, there have been a lot of advancements in technology, and the team was able to show some of them off in this cold open.

In “Toy Story 4”, we’re introduced to a brand new villain, a creepy doll named Gabby Gabby, voiced by the inimitable Christina Hendricks. The actress is known for her bright red locks, but it turns out that’s not why Gabby Gabby has red hair. That’s apparently because blonde hair is much more difficult to render, due to the extremely light hue that causes light to refract off of it. So while the red hair may actually suit her, it was a decision made to save the creators lots of time and money, and not a creative one!

In this new installment, fans get to visit two new incredible settings with all of the characters they know and love. The first is a carnival, and the next is an antique store. Interestingly, this pairing of locations was reportedly inspired by an unlikely source: Alcatraz prison in San Francisco. Producer Jonas Rivera said while he was on a tour of the prison, he was told a story about how the prisoners could hear revelers enjoying themselves in the city while they were stuck in cells. He used this imagery to conceive of toys being stuck in an antique shop who could hear the fun of a carnival taking place just outside.

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were originally known for their sketch comedy, but during the late 2010s Jordan Peele has made a name for himself crafting modern horror flicks like “Get Out” and “Us”. Long before that though, the comedic duo was tapped to play two animated characters in “Toy Story 4”: stuffed animals from the carnival named Ducky and Bunny. It’s being reported that they actually recorded the majority of their parts several years ago, so we’re sure it’ll be a fun experience for them to see the final product after all this time.

Actor Don Rickles, who famously voiced the part of Mr. Potato Head, sadly passed away in 2017 at the age of 90. But with a little movie magic, he will actually continue to voice the role in “Toy Story 4”, despite not having recorded scenes before his death. He had already agreed to take part in the film, and his family encouraged the filmmakers to find a way to make it happen. They went through all of his previous work and grabbed the audio files that were able to fit into the story.

The people at Pixar love throwing Easter eggs into their films, as a nod to eagle-eyed fans who are looking out for them. It looks like we can expect to see a ton of them in this latest release, with one setting in particular that is rife with them. The director reportedly has ten pages of notes on where all of the Easter eggs can be found in the movie. As you would imagine, the antique shop featured in the film is filled with objects (apparently more than ten thousand of them), and fans will recognize lots of them from other Pixar movies. It can take weeks to create a single item, so it should come as no surprise that crafting the antique shop alone took almost two years!

“Toy Story 4” is being released in 2019, and it’s safe to say that the social and political climate has changed a bit since the last film hit theatres in 2010. So when the people at Pixar were charged with creating the changed character of Bo Peep for the new movie, they took inspiration from some badass ladies, both real and fictional - like Rey from “Star Wars”, the Bride from “Kill Bill” and even gymnast Aly Raisman. There was also allegedly a team in charge of ensuring that the character felt fresh and modern and didn’t fall prey to the stereotypes of women in adventure movies.

“Toy Story 4” only takes place a few months after the events of “Toy Story 3”, even though it’s being released nine years later. For the most part, the characters that we know and love will look just how we remember them, but the animation team made an effort to add a little wear and tear to their outfits, including scuff marks on Buzz’s suit and fraying fabric on Woody’s shirt. You’ll also notice some tiny cracks in the porcelain of Bo’s skin. In fact, having everything look realistically imperfect was important for the design team, and you’ll see evidence of that in every setting of the film.





Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

The Creators Studied Real Dummies



They Had to get the Rights to Use the Canadian Flag



Christina Hendricks Loves Dolls



It's Shot in Widescreen



It Had a Secret Name: Peep

When it was initially conceived, “Toy Story 4” was set to be something of a love story between Woody and Bo Peep. Over the years though, the focus of the story changed significantly and while that romance will still be present, it won’t be the driving force of the film. The movie’s director said “I kind of think of like, Raiders of the Lost Ark isn’t a love story but it has that great romantic element in it.” In the years leading up to its release, the movie was labeled by some as a romantic comedy, and the people behind it definitely want to leave that term behind.