I posted something in another thread, but when I came back the next day, the post was gone as if it’d never existed- in that case I forgot to put spoiler tags for something that happened in TS1, so the other day I got a little spoiler mad. Sorry -Omar
In Toy Story 2, Woody said “A record player! I haven’t seen one of these in ages!” This clearly implies that Woody is indeed far older than Andy. Record players were big in the 50s (which matches up with Woody’s Roundup timeline) and died out in the 60s due to the introduction of the eight track. Woody has to be hand-me-down but whether or not he was Mom or Dad’s might remain a mystery.
This is probably the biggest mystery out of any of the Pixar films. I know someone in his family had him originally because Andy’s mom implied to Al that it was an old family toy. My guess was probably his dad who never got a mention in any of the films. I could be wrong on that though but it’s just my theory.
I alway’s thought it was his dad too.
Vinyl was still a popular format well into the 70s, though it’s been established that Woody is from the 50s. Again, I personally believe Woody used to belong to Andy’s father, but I’ve stated my reasons many times before. It’s not quite fact, since Pixar doesn’t like to touch upon the subject.
I had always just assumed that Woody was owned by Andy’s Dad.
An article I saw only made me think more about Andy’s relationship with Woody:
inkandpixelclub.com/2011/01/sayi … part-five/
He basically goes into great detail about… everything. It’s interesting to note that the connection is brought up between Woody as a father figure. It certainly makes sense, as a favorite toy is similar to a parent (in the eyes of a child). Assuming Andy’s father is deceased, that only makes Woody’s relationship with Andy even more special. Andy’s mom’s emotions and Woody’s were also similar; both had to eventually come to terms with the fact that they’d be seperated from Andy. Except the decision was made by both to give him room to let him grow up.
Again, I might be overthinking this, but the metaphor is still present. Even if the only reason Andy didn’t have a father was that Pixar didn’t want to animate another human.
Great read. Very interesting, thanks for posting this link.
Thanks for the link! I don’t think I’ve stopped by here since I wrote my big Toy Story 3 analysis and I don’t like to plug my own work too much, so it’s great to see that my article found its way to you guys regardless.
Like I said in the article, I don’t think Andy consciously thought of Woody as a father figure. Woody’s relationship to Andy is very paternal, but Andy treats him more like his best pal who is also a toy. Because Woody is never “alive” around Andy, his influence on Andy is limited to what Andy imagines and just being there for him. But whether intentionally or not, I do think Andy gave Woody not just the qualities he thought a good cowboy should have, but the qualities he thought a good man should have.
You wrote that? Nice article.
Glad to share, that’s probably the most in-depth write-up of the Toy Story series that I’ve seen.
Anyways, the friend relationship between Andy and Woody goes without saying; the opening explains it all. But only recently with Toy Story 3 is where Woody shows some of the qualities of a parent. I bring that up in this thread because had Andy lost his father, it would make Woody even more important to him. Of course, Andy doesn’t like Woody just because he’d belonged to his father (going by what Pixar said), since Buzz stole the show for a little while in the first Toy Story.
Hi everyone, this is my first post and this thread or a major part of it is the reason I looked at the site and signed up.
I’ve been a fan of the Toy Story movies since they first came out, but I had recently revisited them because I know have a 2 year old son and he loves them so much. The major plot hole in the story of Toy Story 2 and the trilogy as a whole is that Woody is from the 50s, how can Andy be his only owner? Jessie had gone through the whole process of her owner growing up, but why not Woody?
Reading through this thread there are some good theories as to why Woody would only recognise Andy as his only owner, even though his Mum had mentioned he was an old family toy and Woody was not aware of his “toyline”. I like the theory that toys don’t come “alive” until they are taken out of the packaging. You could even push this point with the Prospector as he is able to leave his box at will, giving off that he had already been removed from the packaging.
Then saying that Woody was in some way kept in the packaging by Andy’s father for some reason and for a very long time before giving the toy to him when he was in Kindergarten. That way Woody would only know Andy as his owner and have not gone through the child growing up before.
It is odd that a almost 50 year old cowboy doll was not taken out of his package, especially back then as I’m sure at the time beinga colector and keepingt hings in boxes was not really thought of back then, I could be wrong though. I do like one posters thought that it was the “space toys” which stopped the toy being given to the child in the 50s after purchase and replaced by some sort of spaceship. Leaving the cowboy doll in the back of a cupboard and forgotten about for a time until once again discovered.
These are good theories and thanks for writing them down as it does sort of fill a hole in as I said TS2 and the trilogy itself.
Cheers!
i always thought that it was his moms. but as no females in my family like cowboys, i came to the logical conclusion andys father was violently killed, and on his deathbed, gave his favorite childhood toy to his son, while molly was still unborn.