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Toy Story

To infinity and beyond. Explore the Toy Story movies, cast and characters, from Woody and Buzz Lightyear's first adventure in Andy's room through decades of friendship, growing up and life beyond the toy box.

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Cast Directory

Meet the Cast

The actors behind the Toy Story movies — from the faces that defined the series to the supporting players who helped bring the world to life.

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Cast Member

5 Films

Tom Hanks

Concord, California, USA

Tom Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker who has become one of the most recognisable and widely loved stars in Hollywood, with a career spanning comedy, drama, romance, war films and some of the biggest movies of the past four decades. Born Thomas Jeffrey Hanks on July 9, 1956, in Concord, California, Hanks began his screen career with small television and film roles before gaining wider attention in the sitcom Bosom Buddies. His movie breakthrough followed during the 1980s, when his natural comic ability made him a leading man in films including Splash, Bachelor Party, The Money Pit and Dragnet. One of the defining moments of his early career arrived with Big in 1988. Playing a young boy who suddenly finds himself trapped inside an adult body, Hanks demonstrated that he could combine comedy with genuine emotion and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. During the 1990s, Hanks developed into one of the biggest movie stars in the world. He appeared opposite Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle before delivering an acclaimed performance in Philadelphia, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. He won the award again the following year for Forrest Gump, becoming one of the relatively few performers to win consecutive Best Actor Oscars. Hanks continued an extraordinary run of films with Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile and Cast Away, while also becoming the voice of Woody in Pixar's Toy Story. Woody would become one of Hanks' most famous roles and a character he would return to across several sequels. His long-running collaboration with director Steven Spielberg has produced films including Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal and Bridge of Spies, while Hanks has also appeared in major productions such as Road to Perdition, The Da Vinci Code, Captain Phillips, Sully, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Elvis. Away from acting, Hanks has worked extensively as a producer, writer and director. His filmmaking interests have often turned to American history and major historical events, including his involvement in acclaimed television productions such as Band of Brothers and The Pacific. From the comedies that made him a star during the VHS era to some of Hollywood's most celebrated dramas, Tom Hanks has built a remarkably varied career while remaining one of cinema's most familiar leading men. Whether he's playing a stranded FedEx employee, a Second World War army captain, a man sitting on a bench telling his life story or a cowboy named Woody, few actors have created quite as many memorable movie characters.

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Cast Member

5 Films

Tim Allen

Denver, USA

Tim Allen built his career around a particular kind of comic confidence: practical, stubborn and usually one mishap away from collapse. Born in Denver on June 13, 1953, he began performing stand-up comedy in 1975 and later became a regular at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. That background proved central to his breakthrough role as Tim “The Tool-Man” Taylor in Home Improvement, the long-running sitcom that drew heavily from his stand-up act. Allen’s film career soon gave that persona a wider canvas. He played Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause, joined the science-fiction parody Galaxy Quest and took on family comedies including Jungle 2 Jungle, The Shaggy Dog and Christmas with the Kranks. In Redbelt, he made a comparatively dramatic turn as an aging action-film star. He also directed and starred in Crazy on the Outside, marking his feature directorial debut. For movie audiences, however, his most enduring performance may be one delivered entirely through his voice. Allen first played Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story in 1995, giving the self-assured space ranger a mix of authority, vanity and underlying vulnerability. The joke works because Buzz speaks with complete conviction, whether he understands the situation or not. Allen returned for Toy Story 2 and carried the character into Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 and Toy Story 5. Please Rewind’s movie selection follows that later stretch of the series, where Buzz remains part of an ensemble shaped by friendship, change and the uneasy business of moving forward. Allen has also maintained a substantial television presence. He starred as Mike Baxter in Last Man Standing from 2011 to 2021, returned as Scott Calvin in The Santa Clauses and took the lead role of Matt in Shifting Gears. Across sitcoms, family films and animation, his work repeatedly finds comedy in men whose certainty is much stronger than their control of events.

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Cast Member

4 Films

Joan Cusack

New York City, USA

Joan Cusack has built a career around a rare kind of screen presence: slightly off-centre, sharply funny and always alert to the emotional life underneath the joke. Born in New York City on October 11, 1962, and raised in Evanston, Illinois, she studied English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before establishing herself across film, television, sketch comedy and voice acting. Cusack was a cast member on Saturday Night Live during its 1985–86 season, but some of her most distinctive work has come from supporting characters who refuse to stay in the background. Her performances in Working Girl and In & Out both earned Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. In Addams Family Values, she played Debbie Jellinsky, a serial killer who marries wealthy men and murders them, while School of Rock gave her the role of tightly wound school principal Rosalie Mullins. She also appeared as Dr. Burton, Charlie’s therapist, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. That ability to balance broad comedy with genuine vulnerability has served Cusack just as well in animation. She voices Jessie in the Toy Story series, including Please Rewind movies Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 and Toy Story 5. Jessie’s rapid-fire energy is a natural fit for Cusack’s expressive delivery, but the performance also leaves room for tenderness and uncertainty. Television has offered another strong outlet for her character work. Cusack played Sheila Jackson in Shameless, receiving multiple Primetime Emmy nominations and winning for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2015. She has also appeared as Justice Strauss in A Series of Unfortunate Events and narrated the animated series Peep and the Big Wide World. Across these roles, Cusack’s gift is not simply being funny. It is the way she can make awkwardness, intensity and warmth occupy the same moment, turning supporting parts into characters with their own peculiar rhythm.

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Cast Member

3 Films

Annie Potts

Nashville

Annie Potts has built a wide-ranging career across film, television, stage and voice acting, bringing quick comic instincts and a grounded presence to roles that could easily have been played much louder. Born in Nashville on October 28, 1952, she grew up in Franklin, Kentucky, and earned a bachelor’s degree in theater from Stephens College in Missouri. Potts made her big-screen debut opposite Mark Hamill in the 1978 comedy Corvette Summer, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. She later won a Genie Award for Heartaches, but the role that became one of her most enduring arrived in 1984: Janine Melnitz, the dry, unflappable receptionist in Ghostbusters. Potts devised Janine’s New York accent from that of a friend and returned to the character in Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, as well as Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Her 1980s film work also included Pretty in Pink, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Who’s Harry Crumb? On television, she spent seven seasons playing pragmatic interior designer Mary Jo Shively on Designing Women. Her work as Dana Palladino in Love & War brought a Primetime Emmy nomination, while Any Day Now earned her two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Later roles included Sharon Elkin on The Fosters and Connie “Meemaw” Tucker on Young Sheldon, a part she continued in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Potts also gave voice to Bo Peep in multiple Toy Story films and Disney video games. Away from the screen, she made her Broadway debut in God of Carnage in 2009 and later joined the Broadway revival of Pippin as Berthe. Whether working in comedy, drama, animation or onstage, Potts has shown a particular knack for making a character feel fully lived-in without losing the spark that makes an audience lean closer.

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Cast Member

3 Films

Don Rickles

Queens

Don Rickles built a career on confrontation, but the joke was always more complicated than the insult. Born in Queens on May 8, 1926, and raised in Jackson Heights, he served in the United States Navy during World War II before studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He initially hoped to become a dramatic Shakespearean actor, then turned to club comedy when acting work proved scarce. That detour became his signature. Rickles discovered that audiences responded more enthusiastically when he fired back at hecklers than when he stuck to prepared material. His sharp, improvisational style earned him the nicknames “The Merchant of Venom” and, with considerably more affection, “Mr. Warmth.” Frank Sinatra’s early support helped establish Rickles as a popular Las Vegas headliner, while frequent appearances on television brought his combative rhythm into American living rooms. He appeared more than 100 times on The Tonight Show during Johnny Carson’s era and became a regular presence on The Dean Martin Show and its celebrity roasts. Rickles never left acting behind. He made his film debut in a serious role opposite Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster in 1958’s Run Silent, Run Deep, then moved easily between comedy, drama and genre work. His films included X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, Kelly’s Heroes and Casino, in which he played Billy Sherbert. Television gave him sitcoms, dramatic guest roles and plenty of room for the ad-libbing that suited him better than tightly scripted material. For later generations, his most familiar performance may have been heard rather than seen. Rickles voiced the irritable Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, giving the character a perfectly matched mix of suspicion, exasperation and comic bite. The 2007 documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project brought him a Primetime Emmy Award. He continued performing and appearing on late-night television into the final years of his life, maintaining the restless timing and mock hostility that had carried him from nightclub stages to movies, television and animation.

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Cast Member

3 Films

John Ratzenberger

Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

John Ratzenberger has built a career on voices that feel immediately lived-in, whether he is playing an opinionated regular at the end of the bar or giving an animated piggy bank a wonderfully dry sense of perspective. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on April 6, 1947, he began his performing career after moving to London in 1971, working across acting, writing and directing. During the 1970s, he toured Europe with Ray Hassett as the theatrical comedy duo Sal’s Meat Market. His first role in a major feature was as a patron in The Ritz in 1976. Ratzenberger subsequently appeared in films including A Bridge Too Far, Superman, Superman II, The Empire Strikes Back, Outland and Gandhi. These were often supporting parts, but they established the dependable character-actor presence that would remain central to his work. Television gave Ratzenberger his defining live-action role: mail carrier Cliff Clavin on Cheers. The barroom know-it-all was partly shaped by Ratzenberger himself, who suggested the character during the audition process and devised Cliff’s trademark white socks as a tribute to French comedian Jacques Tati. His performance earned Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1985 and 1986. A later generation came to know Ratzenberger through animation. He has voiced characters in 24 Pixar films, beginning with Hamm in Toy Story. His Pixar roles have also included P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life, the Yeti in Monsters, Inc., Mack in Cars, the Underminer in The Incredibles and characters in Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Brave and Inside Out. In Toy Story 3, featured by Please Rewind, Ratzenberger returns as Hamm. The performance captures what makes so much of his voice work click: a sturdy, recognizable delivery, comic timing and the sense that the character has already formed an opinion about whatever is happening. Across stage, film, television and animation, Ratzenberger has made a lasting specialty of supporting characters who know exactly who they are.

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Cast Member

2 Films

Estelle Harris

New York City

Estelle Harris could turn a raised voice, a sharp complaint or a burst of maternal concern into comedy with its own unmistakable rhythm. Born Estelle Nussbaum in New York City on April 22, 1928, she spent her early childhood in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen before her family relocated to Tarentum, Pennsylvania, in 1935. She later graduated from Tarentum High School. Harris built her career gradually, beginning in amateur productions and dinner theater before working in regional theater and summer stock around the country. After her children were grown, she found success in television advertising, appearing in 25 national commercials. Her move into film came with 1977’s Looking Up, a story about three generations of a working-class Jewish family in New York. For many viewers, Harris is best known as Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld. The supporting role made superb use of her forceful delivery and ability to find comedy in family friction. As Harris herself put it in 1998, the character was “the mother that everybody loves, even though she’s a pain in the neck.” Her voice work gave that same energy a different kind of screen life. Beginning with Toy Story 2 in 1999, Harris voiced Mrs. Potato Head, returning for Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4. The latter, released in 2019, became her final film role. She also voiced characters in Tarzan II, Brother Bear, Home on the Range, Kim Possible, The Proud Family, Family Guy and Dave the Barbarian. Elsewhere, Harris appeared in Star Trek: Voyager, played Bridget in Out to Sea and had a recurring role as Muriel in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. She retired from acting in 2015, briefly returning for Toy Story 4. Across live action and animation, Harris made agitation feel affectionate, authority feel funny and even the shortest line sound fully lived-in. She died in 2022.

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Cast Member

2 Films

Laurie Metcalf

Edwardsville, Illinois, USA

Laurie Metcalf is an American actor whose work moves easily between stage, television, film and voice performance. Born on June 16, 1955, in Carbondale and raised in Edwardsville, Illinois, she was initially too practical—and, by her own account, too shy—to count on acting as a career. At Illinois State University, she moved from German to anthropology before settling on theatre, recognising that acting offered its own form of interpretation and study of human behaviour. After earning her theatre degree in 1976, Metcalf became a charter member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Her performance as Darlene in the 1984 Off-Broadway production of “Balm in Gilead” earned her an Obie Award and a Theatre World Award, establishing the stage as a lasting centre of her career rather than a stop along the way. For television audiences, Metcalf became best known as Jackie Harris on “Roseanne,” playing the anxious, amiable and frequently underestimated sister of the title character across the original nine-season run. The performance brought her three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards from 1992 through 1994. She later returned to Jackie in the “Roseanne” revival and “The Conners,” while recurring as Mary Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory.” Her film work has often made sharp use of her ability to shift a scene's temperature. She appeared in “Desperately Seeking Susan,” “Uncle Buck,” “JFK,” “Scream 2” and “Leaving Las Vegas,” and voiced Andy’s mother throughout the four “Toy Story” films. In Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” Metcalf played Marion McPherson, a tough-loving mother whose arguments with her daughter carry affection, frustration and fear at the same time. The performance earned nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and Independent Spirit Awards. Metcalf has remained equally formidable onstage, winning consecutive Tony Awards for “A Doll’s House, Part 2” and “Three Tall Women.” Across all these formats, her strength lies in precision: she can find the comic pressure inside discomfort and the emotional stakes beneath an ordinary exchange.

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1 Film

Michael Keaton

Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA

Michael Keaton has built a career on the sense that he might change the temperature of a scene at any moment. He can be quick, funny and nervy, but that energy has also served darker characters, dramatic leads and villains. That range has kept him difficult to pin down—and much more interesting for it. Born Michael John Douglas in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, on September 5, 1951, Keaton studied speech at Kent State University and appeared in plays before returning to Pennsylvania to pursue acting. His early screen work included Pittsburgh public television programs Where the Heart Is and Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood, where he also worked as a production assistant. After moving to Los Angeles, he adopted the surname Keaton because performers named Michael Douglas and Mike Douglas were already established. Comedy first brought his screen presence into focus. Night Shift gave him a breakout role as fast-talking schemer Billy Blaze, while Mr. Mom helped establish him as a leading man. Keaton then sharply complicated that image in 1988, playing the title character in Beetlejuice and a drug-addicted realtor in Clean and Sober. Those contrasting performances made clear that his comic unpredictability and dramatic intensity came from the same place. His casting as Bruce Wayne in Batman initially drew fan objections, but his performance earned acclaim, and he returned for Batman Returns. Across the 1990s, his work ranged from Much Ado About Nothing and The Paper to Jackie Brown and Out of Sight, in which he played Agent Ray Nicolette twice. Keaton also became a distinctive voice performer. Please Rewind readers will find him in Toy Story 3, voicing Ken with just the right mix of vanity, theatricality and comic insecurity. His later career brought major dramatic roles in Birdman, Spotlight, The Founder and Dopesick. Birdman earned him a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination, while Dopesick brought Screen Actors Guild and Primetime Emmy wins. He has also returned to two defining parts, playing Batman again in The Flash and the title character in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Few actors move between comedy, menace and wounded pride with quite his particular rhythm.

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1 Film

Keanu Reeves

Beirut, Lebanon

Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor who has spent more than three decades moving between comedy, science fiction, action and drama, creating some of the most recognisable characters in modern cinema along the way. Born Keanu Charles Reeves on September 2, 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon, Reeves was raised primarily in Toronto, Canada. He began acting professionally during the 1980s, appearing in television productions and films before gradually establishing himself in Hollywood. One of his most important early roles came in the dark teenage drama River's Edge in 1986, but it was a considerably sillier character who helped turn Reeves into a star. In 1989, he played Ted “Theodore” Logan alongside Alex Winter's Bill S. Preston, Esq. in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The time-travelling comedy became a cult favourite, and Reeves returned for Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey in 1991. Then he got on a bus. Reeves became a major action star with 1994's Speed, playing LAPD officer Jack Traven opposite Sandra Bullock. The brilliantly simple premise—a bus that will explode if its speed drops below 50 mph—helped make the film one of the decade's defining action movies. But an even bigger role was waiting. In 1999, Reeves starred as Thomas Anderson, better known as Neo, in The Matrix. Directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the groundbreaking science-fiction action film became a cultural phenomenon and changed how Hollywood filmed and presented action sequences. Reeves returned as Neo for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions in 2003, before once again stepping into the role nearly two decades later for The Matrix Resurrections in 2021. His career has also included films such as Point Break, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, The Devil's Advocate, Constantine, A Scanner Darkly and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Then, in 2014, Reeves found himself at the centre of another action franchise. John Wick cast him as a retired assassin dragged back into the criminal underworld following a particularly bad encounter with a group of gangsters and one very unfortunate dog. What began as a relatively modest action movie developed into a hugely successful franchise, with Reeves returning as Wick across multiple sequels. The films became particularly celebrated for their elaborate stunt work, fight choreography and Reeves' commitment to performing much of the physical action himself. Reeves has also returned repeatedly to characters from earlier in his career. Alongside his comeback as Neo, he reunited with Alex Winter for Bill & Ted Face the Music in 2020, almost 30 years after Bogus Journey. Away from acting, Reeves has worked as a producer and has also been involved in music, most notably as the bassist for the rock band Dogstar. Few actors have reinvented themselves as successfully across different generations of moviegoers. For one generation, Keanu Reeves will always be Ted Logan. For another, he's Neo. And for another, he's John Wick. Throw in Johnny Utah from Point Break and Jack Traven from Speed, and that's one hell of a movie career.

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1 Film

Alan Cumming

Aberfeldy

Alan Cumming has built a career around range, moving between theatre, film and television while remaining equally comfortable with comedy, drama and flamboyant character work. Born in Aberfeldy, Scotland, on 27 January 1965, he graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and began his career in Scottish theatre and television. His early work included the comedy partnership Victor and Barry with Forbes Masson, as well as appearances in series such as Take the High Road and Taggart. Film brought Cumming a collection of sharply drawn supporting roles. He played the unwanted suitor Sean Walsh in Circle of Friends, Boris Ivanovich Grishenko in GoldenEye and Mr. Elton in Emma. In Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, he appeared as Sandy Frink, while Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut gave him a small but memorable turn as a hotel clerk flirting with Tom Cruise’s character. He later played Nightcrawler in X2, a role he is set to reprise in Avengers: Doomsday. The stage has remained central to Cumming’s career. His performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret earned him Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. He returned to the role for another Broadway revival in 2014 and took on every role in a one-man production of Macbeth, first presented by the National Theatre of Scotland before reaching Broadway. Television has offered another outlet for his alert, playful presence. He became a series regular as Eli Gold on The Good Wife, led the crime drama Instinct and played Mayor Aloysius Menlove in Schmigadoon! Since 2023, he has hosted the American version of The Traitors. His work also reaches behind the camera: he co-wrote, co-directed, co-produced and co-starred in The Anniversary Party. Across these projects, Cumming’s career is less about staying in one lane than finding fresh ways to combine theatricality, wit and character.

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1 Film

Craig Robinson

Chicago

Craig Robinson’s career makes the most sense when comedy, acting and music are viewed as parts of the same performance. Born in Chicago on October 25, 1971, Robinson was raised on the city’s South Side and earned a Bachelor of Music from Illinois State University and a Master of Education from Saint Xavier University. Before becoming a familiar screen presence, he worked as a music teacher in schools across Chicago and northwest Indiana. Robinson began performing stand-up and studying improv and acting at The Second City while still in college. Early television appearances on Friends, The Bernie Mac Show, LAX and Arrested Development opened the way to film roles in comedies including Knocked Up, Pineapple Express and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. His defining television run began in 2005, when he first appeared as Darryl Philbin on the American version of The Office. Promoted to a starring role in the fourth season, Robinson remained with the series through its conclusion in 2013. Darryl gave him room to establish a screen persona built on restraint, confidence and an ability to land a joke without pushing it too hard. That presence carried across television and film, from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Eastbound & Down to collaborations with Seth Rogen including This Is the End and Sausage Party. Robinson has also moved beyond straightforward comedy. He portrayed saxophonist Maceo Parker in Get On Up, appeared in the drama Morris from America—earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male—and played Ray Hayworth in the second season of Mr. Robot. His later work includes the title role in An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn and the Peacock series Killing It. Music has remained central throughout. Robinson performs as a singer and keyboard player, has appeared with his band The Nasty Delicious, and has brought that musical ability into projects including The Office, Hot Tub Time Machine and Dolemite Is My Name. Voice roles in Shrek Forever After, Escape from Planet Earth, Dolittle and The Bad Guys further show the range of a performer whose comedy has always had rhythm behind it.

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1 Film

Erik von Detten

San Diego

Erik von Detten built a screen career around the kind of roles that stay lodged in the memories of anyone who grew up watching family films and television in the 1990s. Born in San Diego on October 3, 1982, the American actor worked across film, television and voice performance, moving from daytime drama to animated movies and Disney Channel favorites. One of his earliest substantial parts was Nicholas Alamain on Days of Our Lives. Von Detten appeared in 55 episodes between 1992 and 1993, becoming involved in major storylines while still only 10 years old. In 1995, he took on a very different assignment as the voice of Sid Phillips, the gleefully destructive toy-tormentor in Toy Story. Sid may be the villain of the piece, but von Detten’s performance gives the character the reckless energy of a kid who has no idea his toys are keeping score. His later 1990s work made him an especially familiar presence in youth-oriented films. He starred alongside Elisabeth Moss in the television remake of Escape to Witch Mountain, led Christmas Every Day in 1996 and played Wally Cleaver in the 1997 film Leave It to Beaver. In 1998, he took the title role in the Disney Channel original movie Brink!, playing the young inline skater at the center of the story. He then appeared as Clu Bell on So Weird from 1999 to 2001. Von Detten reached another broad family audience as Josh Bryant in The Princess Diaries in 2001. His television appearances also included Dinotopia, Celebrity Mole: Hawaii and Malcolm in the Middle. He made his stage debut in the children’s play The Christmas Princess in Santa Monica in 2007 and appeared in Jessie James’s “Wanted” music video in 2009. In 2010, von Detten briefly returned to Sid Phillips in Toy Story 3, with the former toy-tormentor now working as a garbageman. The cameo brought his acting career back to one of its most recognizable starting points before he retired from the profession.

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