The toys are back in town, but Woody may sound a little different.
Although Walt Disney Studios intends to begin developing a third installment of Pixar’s “Toy Story” franchise, Tom Hanks may not return to lend his voice to the lead cowboy doll. At a recent news conference, the Oscar winner expressed doubts about doing a third “Toy Story.”
“I don’t know. The creative team that put together the original `Toy Story’ movies was very specific and quite organic … to the success of the process–not that there aren’t other talented people that would be involved,” says Hanks. “That would be a bridge to cross when I come to it.”
Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and executive VP John Lasseter, who also wrote and directed the first two “Toy Story” films, aren’t keen on yet another follow-up, which might change the integrity of the “Toy Story” characters.
With Pixar planning to end its distribution relationship with Disney–which holds the rights to make “Toy Story” sequels–after 2005’s “Cars” is released, Disney is looking for a way to continue the CGI-animated box-office magic. The studio is setting up its own digital animation facility in Glendale, Calif., to produce “Toy Story 3.”
The original 1995 film introduced Woody (Hanks), a little boy’s favorite toy–until the new astronaut doll Buzz Lightyear enters the picture. The second installment centered on Woody’s abduction by a toy collector who sought to put the doll on display in a museum. Together, the projects grossed approximately $437.5 million at the domestic box office.
Hanks, 48, is appearing in the Warner Bros. holiday film “The Polar Express.” He’s also considered the front-runner to play the lead in the big-screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s best-selling novel “The Da Vinci Code.”