APDG ~ Movie Character Series #6 - Woody

Sheriff Woody Pride is a fictional pull-string cowboy doll who appears in the Disney–Pixar Toy Story franchise. In the films, Woody is the main protagonist, alongside Buzz Lightyear. He is primarily voiced by Tom Hanks, who voices him in the Toy Story films, short films, and TV specials. Tom Hanks' brother, Jim Hanks, voices him in Lamp Life, video games, attractions, and other merchandise.

Woody was created by directors and writers John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft. His facial features are based on the former Disney animator Tone Thyne. Woody was designed by Bud Luckey, and is based on John Lasseter's Casper pull-string doll he had as a kid, as well as the Howdy Doody puppets from the 1950s show. Woody is named after Woody Strode, a character actor known for many roles in western films. In August 2009, Toy Story 3 director, Lee Unkrich, stated in his Twitter feed that Woody's last name is Pride and has been since the making of the original movie.

In the films, Woody is Andy Davis' favorite toy and is the leader of Andy's toys. When Andy gets a new toy called Buzz Lightyear, Woody’s position is jeopardized until he later becomes friends with Buzz. He figures out he used to be in a popular TV show called Woody's Roundup and is asked to stay with the group, but decides to remain with Andy's toys; all but one member of the group also join Andy's toys. When Andy leaves to go to college, he decides to give his toys to a little girl named Bonnie Anderson; he had initially planned to take Woody to college, before seeing that Bonnie loved him. When Bonnie's family decides to go on a vacation, he finds his long-lost girlfriend, Bo Peep. He decides he will remain with Bo Peep and help lost toys find new owners. Since his debut, Woody has received largely positive reception from reviewers because of his character's arc and personality, as well as Tom Hanks' vocal performance.

Concept art of Woody's original design as an evil ventriloquist dummy Steve Jobs, founder and former owner of Pixar, made a deal with Disney, under Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, to work on the film Toy Story together, which would be the first feature-length computer-animated film. The original draft for the film Toy Story, by Pixar animators John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter, had almost nothing to do with the eventually finished film. It had Tinny, the one-man band from Tin Toy, as the main character and Woody as an evil ventriloquist dummy. Woody would be the main villain, abusing the other toys until they rallied against him. After Disney executives saw the draft, they sent negative feedback about it and production on the movie was shut down, until a better draft could be revised. Tom Hanks, the primary voice of Woody, was unhappy with the character and reportedly shouted "This guy is a jerk!" while recording lines for the story reel. Katzenberg thought the original draft for Toy Story was bad and told Lasseter to redo it, making it more of an odd-couple buddy picture, where the characters Tinny and Woody would be forced to bond with each other despite their different characteristics.

After the negative feedback, Lasseter, Stanton, and Docter got together in early September 1991 with the second draft of the film, and although the lead characters were still Tinny and the dummy, the outline of the final film was beginning to take shape. The Pixar team came back with a new script three months later, with the character of Woody altered from being the tyrannical boss of Andy's toys to being their wise and caring leader.

Woody was inspired by a Casper the Friendly Ghost doll that Lasseter had when he was a kid and the puppets from the children's television show Howdy Doody. They based his facial features on Disney animator Tone Thyne. Woody stayed a ventriloquist's dummy with a pull-string (hence the name Woody), until his character designer, Bud Luckey, suggested that Woody could be changed to a cowboy ventriloquist dummy. Lasseter liked the difference between the western and the science fiction genres, so Woody was instantly changed. Eventually, all the ventriloquist dummy features of Woody were deleted as the dummy looked "sneaky and mean". However, they kept the name Woody in homage to the Western actor Woody Strode. In August 2009, Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3 director, stated on his Twitter feed that Woody's last name is Pride and has been since earliest days of development.[

Tom Hanks (in 2019), Woody's primary voice actor Paul Newman, Robin Williams, and Clint Eastwood were all considered for the voice of Woody, but John Lasseter always wanted Tom Hanks to voice Woody, stating that Hanks "has the ability to take emotions and make them appealing. Even if the character, like the one in A League of Their Own, is down-and-out and despicable." To see how Hanks' voice might fit with Woody, Lasseter borrowed a common Disney technique: animate a vocal monologue from a well-established actor to meld the actor's voice with the appearance or actions of the animated character. The early test footage of using Hanks' voice from Turner & Hooch convinced Hanks to sign on to the film. When Pixar asked Hanks to voice Woody in video games and other merchandise, he replied, "Get my brother Jim. He'll do it." After the suggestion, Pixar got Jim Hanks to do the voice of Woody for video games, toys, attractions, and other merchandise.

Next onto our swap:

Post THREE (3) pictures or gifs to each of your THREE (3) partner's profiles with the theme "Woody" or "Toy Story". The pictures that you choose may be the SAME OR DIFFERENT between all of your partners. Please choose pictures that you think THEY will enjoy!

Only people with well filled out profiles may participate in this swap. I will be checking the night before partners get assigned. If you get 3 pictures from your partner on "Woody" or "Toy Story" you have to rate them a 5. The heart on the rating is for if you like what they sent.

To leave a photo on someone's profile use this code ! [ ] ( Put image here ) With NO spaces & paste the picture's link between the curved parenthesis.

Practice on your own profile first to be sure it looks good because you can easily delete there.

Pick images that are size 300 wide or smaller to be sure they fit. I go to Google images to get my pictures.

Hover over images to see their size because there will be some larger sizes there too. If you really like something click on it and go to the words SEARCH BY IMAGE and click on that. THEN go to the word SMALL and see if there is one 300 size. There are other tricks in the group thread; AN EASY way to get a small PIC from a BIG one;-)

You can find moving pictures at http://giphy.com/

You can also find gifs at google, just type in topic gif 300 x 300.

Please write the TITLE OF THE SWAP ON YOUR PROFILE DECO MESSAGE too! This makes it easier for partners that are in a lot of these swaps to rate it.

Any problems, feel free to contact me.

I want to thank @anrtist for allowing me to borrow SOME of her wording.

Requirements:

1. A well filled out profile. I will check the night before partners get assigned.

2. You need to login at least two days prior to sign-in date.

3. Your dashboard must be up to date.