Tom Hanks is still Woody at 62–better with age and even does a couple of firsts

Tom Hanks in Toy Story Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida —RUBEN V. NEPALES

(First of two parts)

LOS ANGELES—Tom Hanks was in his late 30s when he first voiced Woody, the pull-string cowboy doll that people of all ages have loved since the first “Toy Story” came out in 1995.

Tom is 62 now, still boyish-looking, but his curly hair, cut short and thin, has turned salt and pepper.

He’s still the same wisecracking Tom Hanks, quick with quips and jokes. And the latest “Toy Story” installment is still just as appealing and enjoyable, but even better with age. Thanks to those geniuses at Pixar, led this time by director Josh Cooley, this fourth outing even has a touch of gravitas and yes, a welcome dose of female perspective.

While generations have treasured the series’ main story of the friendship between Tom’s Woody and Tim Allen’s Buzz Lightyear, “Toy Story 4” marks the return of Bo Peep (Annie Potts) in a major way.

And this latest one even manages to introduce a new character, Forky (Tony Hale), who will delight and win the series’ new fans. Forky is an improvised toy that a little girl, Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) instantly falls in love with.

There’s also a bit of wonderful macabre thrown in with certain toys in an antique shop: Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) and her silent dummy henchman, Benson. Oh, and Keanu Reeves steals a few scenes as the macho daredevil, Duke Caboom.

In a room off the Toy Story Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Tom was a fun, occasionally irreverent—and even reflective—presence in the happiest place on earth.

He revealed a couple of firsts in “Toy Story 4”—he got to record for the first time with a fellow actor, Annie Potts, for their scenes together and, remarkably for a man who began performing in school plays, recorded his solo scenes with his back turned against the Pixar people. A first because he felt “some aspects of self-consciousness.”

Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts) in “Toy Story 4” —PIXAR

Excerpts from our chat:

Can you talk about Forky, the new character, who will probably win a lot of hearts? This movie might as well be called “Toy Story Forky” (laughs) because he’s the catalyst of absolutely everything.

It is this kind of obtuse intellectual concept of Woody and the toys trying to explain to Forky, “No, you don’t understand—you have been made into a toy. Therefore, you have great responsibility. Bonnie has invested in you something that is sacred to us and that is, delight and imagination, and therefore you are not a piece of trash. You’re actually one of the most important beings in Bonnie’s life right now, and you have to understand that.”

Again, the folks at Pixar came up with this. We never really read a script; we always had the movie explained to us before we would go onto the next recording session. When I realized that was what the theme of this was, I said, “OK, you guys have once again … made a brand new movie out of whole cloth, and it’s actually something that is unique and important.”

And Tony Hale, he doesn’t realize it yet, but for the rest of his life, he’s going to be Forky to an awful lot of people in elevators with kids. “Look, it’s Forky. Say hello to Forky.” And Tony Hale is going to be saying that a little kid is not going to understand that a guy in an elevator is actually Forky, but he is. He’ll just have to live with that burden.

In addition to Forky, Bo Peep is highlighted in her return to the story. The great advantage of Bo Peep coming back just made all the sense in the world and out of that has to be how organically are we reunited somewhere.

Woody ( Hanks) and Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves) in “Toy Story 4” —PIXAR

The guys did it in ingenious ways. Then also, the metamorphosis that Bo Peep went to outside of our story.

Bo Peep is a leader, and she’s badass. She’s the introduction to this whole other form of existence, certainly for Woody.

Annie and I got to record together and that never happens in “Toy Story” movies. You don’t actually work on the record in the same studio, on individual mikes being able to look at each other.

The way “Toy Story” movies work is, you start recording about two and a half years earlier. They’re constantly going back over what you did, refining, and altering it, sometimes throwing it all out because it has led to some other beat.

Annie and I were able to record together over the course of time. Because it was just your voice and eyes and we’re just looking at each other, it ends up being hypnotically intimate. Because you’re speaking in real tones, you’re creating a real emotional bond.

There’s a way that Annie Potts can look. She looks up at you with those eyes and whenever she says, “Oh, Woody,” it just melts you like butter. And to have that not only in the story, in the screenplay and going for it, but also being able to manifest it in a way that we’ve never been able to record “Toy Story” movies, I thought it was incredibly special and once again, oddly adult.

But it’s approachable for anybody. Kids would realize something special was going on and I think adults who see it will understand the emotional resonance of moments like that, which is a magic aspect of what they’ve done with all the “Toy Stories.”

“Toy Story 3” ended with all these toys about to meet their deaths and what do they do? They reached out for each other. That alone was such the high country. I don’t know how those guys could come up and make it so tactile for an audience watching essentially toys heading toward a fire.

Have you ever rescued a damsel in distress in a situation like that? Well, yes. Because I have made Rita Wilson the happiest woman on the planet. And I’m not sure she would have been satisfied had I not come along and seen, oh, you know what this lady needs? She needs a little dose of Tom Hanks. I think that’s what she needs. The same thing happened vice versa. I was drowning at sea, then Rita swam out and saved me, so it all seems to balance out.

Concluded on Sunday

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