Sheriff Woody

Sheriff Woody Pride is a character of the Disney/Pixar film franchise, Toy Story. He is a rag doll cowboy toy with a pull-string mechanism similar to Mattel's or Matchbox's vintage talking toys, in which one would pull the toy's string (a phonograph-like mechanism) to hear it talk. He is voiced by Tom Hanks in the films but usually voiced by Jim Hanks in video games, theme park attractions and merchandise.

There have been several attempts to make real-life Woody dolls from as early as 1995 to coincide with the first film's release, yet all existing ones have an electronic pull-string mechanism rather than the traditional phonograph, and only one Woody doll features all the pull string phrases said in the film, albeit with extra quotes. Tom Hanks does not voice any of the real-life Woody dolls, as his brother Jim Hanks takes his place.

Construction[]

Manufactured in the late 1957, Woody is a rag doll replica of the titular character from the Woody's Roundup television show. His assembly is almost entirely hand-made, with his features including:

A hand-painted vinyl face with detailing on his eyebrows and hair
A hand stitched polyvinyl hat
A naturally dyed cow print vest blanket stitched tightly to his main body
Authentic pearl-colored snap-buttons as would be found on Cowboy shirts of the time
Vinyl hands
A leather belt complete with a swiveling holster.
Leather boots with a sewn cactus print.
A red rhinestone gem embedded within the holster,
Genuine denim jeans
Golden yellow spurs and belt buckle
A removable metal sheriff's badge to denote his status.

Standing at approximately 15.8 inches while wearing his hat, Woody is the tallest of Andy's primary toys, although Rex is implicitly more massive.

Woody also features a sewn-in pull-string mechanism that uses a miniature record within a plastic shell. When the string is pulled, the needle in the miniature record player drops on one of several grooves, thus playing voice clips at random. The speed regulator within the mechanism also causes the string to retract slowly so that the voice from the record plays at the proper and consistent speed.

Phrases[]

From the beginning, Woody's pull-string phrases have been a notable part of the films. All of these lines were recorded for the first Toy Story, though the "I'd like to join your posse boys..." line was cut and reused in Toy Story 3. Woody features at least seven quotes, though Toy Story 4 splits "Yeehaw! Giddy up partner! We've gotta get this wagon train a-movin'!" into at least two separate lines, "Yeehaw", and "We've gotta get this wagon train a-movin'!". Considering the circumstances of how the line was spoken in the first movie, his string being snagged, it's possible that these are all separate phrases played in succession. This would also make logical sense by giving Woody nine voicebox quotes, the same number the Prospector supposedly featured based on his packaging. The list that follows takes this into account.

"Reach for the sky!"
"You're my favorite deputy."
"Somebody's poisoned the waterhole!"
"Yeehaw!"
"Giddy up, partner!"
"We gotta get this wagon train a-movin'!"
"I'd like to join your posse boys, but first I'm gonna sing a little song."
"There's a snake in my boot!"
"This town ain't big enough for the two of us."

Toys[]

Thinkway[]

Hasbro[]

Toy Story and Beyond! Woody

Mattel[]

Tumblin' Talkin Woody
Strummin' Singin' Woody
Tude Talkin' Woody
Electronic Sheriff Woody (UK and Australia release)
Roundup Fun Woody

Disney Store[]

Trivia[]

None of the real life Woody dolls feature a mechanical pull string mechanism as seen in the films.
While the real life pull string Woody dolls opt for plastic instead of leather for both the belt and boots, various non talking Woody dolls actually do feature a leather belt, boots, or both. The Steiff Woody doll, for example, is notable for being the first Woody doll to feature a leather belt and boots truest to the movie, complete with the spurs being separate pieces of metal.
The material Woody’s hat is made of is inconsistent throughout all four of the films. The first film features Woody’s hat being primarily made of a felt like material with vinyl lacing, much like Jessie’s hat. The second film removes the felt texture entirely and according to Al, is now made of polyvinyl like the real life Woody dolls. The third film changes the material yet again to a subtle leather like texture, while the fourth film reverts back to polyvinyl, closely resembling the Toy Story Collection version of the hat.
Concept art and design notes in the first film state that Woody’s vest is stitched tightly onto his body, a change made to possibly make Woody easier to animate with the technology Pixar had at the time. In Toy Story 4, a visible seam is now added onto the back of Woody’s vest, implying that his vest changed from being stitched on tightly to being printed onto him. Design notes from the first film also mention that Woody’s badge was permanently affixed to him, another change made in Toy Story 4.