Toy Story creators keep tip towing around the fact that Woody is an old family toy. I’d like to see if this is true or not, maybe Andy’s dad’s toy?
It’s only implied that’s he’s a vintage toy. I doubt he belonged to anyone else since he’s completely new to the concept of his owner growing up. 
"We first came up with the character of Woody back on the first Toy Story film. At that point , even though it’s never seen in the movie we came up with the idea that Woody was Andy’s father’s childhood toy . In the movie there’s a suggestion that there’s been a divorce, or he’s no longer living. We never really say but we’ve always had the concept that the reason Woody was so near and dear to Andy was that it had been his father’s. ’ - Lee Unkrich
Aahhh!!! It all makes sense, I wish Woody would mention some thing on being his dad’s toy too. Hopefully maybe in the third film. I’d like a movie based on Woody having adventures with his dad. That’d be intresting, it’d be more like prequel.
I’ve heard that before about Woody being passed on from Andy’s father and it really cleared a few things up, such as why he is never seen and why Andy didn’t know that Woody was from a 50’s TV show (it’s possible that only his dad knew about Woody’s Roundup from his own childhood). One question it does raise with the new film is Woody being so troubled about leaving Andy when he had supposedly moved on from being his dad’s childhood toy at some point which makes you think that he wouldn’t be, though in Toy Story 2 Woody obviously had no memory of being from Woody’s Roundup at the time so maybe he had also forgotten any memory of being played with Andy’s dad. It’s hard to say with toys when they can last over the years and be passed on by different people.
Just to clear things up, Woody isn’t panicking about Andy leaving for college, it’s the other toys. He’s the voice of reason for the gang, most of which may not have gone through an experience like that. This is made clear in the trailers. Woody’s feelings are definitely bittersweet, you know, seeing his owner grow up. Still, it has nothing to do with fear. It’s more of an uncertainty. Whether or not Andy’s dad was in fact his past owner (which quotes like Kyle’s seem to suggest is true) doesn’t cancel out the fact that Andy has been with Woody for years which makes their bond special and, more importantly, different. This means that if he’s gone through “the drill” before, it’s still a struggle because Andy is not his dad which means there is no certainty in what he will do.
in other words, I’m not so sure if he’s actually new to the concept.
That makes sense, him being used to being given away.
That doesn’t mean he can’t have a close bond with each of his owners like you said. He probaly was pretty sad to get given away by his dad, I hope that maybe in the ending credits they show adult Andy with his son, him passing down Woody to him and saying this was passed down from my father to me, now its handed to you. I want you to take good care of him, son! I think that;d be nice ending, after the credits I mean. Don’t think any one’s seen the ending yet, right?
Woody is in relatively good condition in TS, and lasts through the semi-rough play of going down the banister, being catapulted via the recliner’s foot lever, etc quite well. Had he been played with heavily by Andy’s father, Woody might not have lasted or might have torn earlier than TS2 - “Oh no, Woody’s arm ripped”
Could I throw out the suggestion that while Woody belonged to Andy’s father, perhaps Andy’s father didn’t play with him much, let alone watch Woody’s Roundup, hence Woody has no memory of the show, and while Woody’s gone through the drill, Andy’s having played with him much more has left a lasting impression on him.
We’ve seen Jessie say “not again” or something thereabout at the idea of storage (through the trailers) and she clearly remembers Emily and relates Andy’s leaving for college with her past with Emily. However Woody says nothing of the sort- nothing about any previous owner. I’m just wondering exactly how much playtime he got from Andy’s father, if any.
Just my thoughts on the matter -Omar
On the old Toy Story website (the one where they had interviews with the characters), Woody’s explanation for having no prior knowledge of Woody’s Roundup was “We didn’t have a TV back then.” I don’t know if that’s considered canon or not.
Wait Wait!! Now I’m really confused! If Andy’s dad had Woody, then why was it clearly Andy who picked him up from the show in TS2???
If you are refering to the kid in the “Woody’s Round Up” show, that is just some random kid that looks like Andy. A lot of the people in Pixar’s earlier films look very similar, just because they didn’t have the resources to create and model so many humans.
Well, in this case, it was definately intended to look like Andy. But at the time the show was made, he would be old enough to be Andy’s father.
I guess it could be Andy’s father and thus that is why it looks like him, but what are the chances of Andy’s father being in an episode of “Woody’s Round Up”?
Also, those are clearly two different Woody’s. If the one in the TV episode was our beloved Woody, he would have all those memories about the show, his legacy, and his fandom. Our Woody has none of those memories.
Oh, I was just giving an age example there, as that’s about how old Andy’s dad would be when he was a fan of the show. It would be a cool coincidence, though.
The characters in the show were marionettes, thus clearly not the same. I think the fact that Woody never found out because they didn’t have a TV was plausible.
It could be his dad. mabey he won a contest to be on the show and also got a Woody doll. He would later give it to Andy.
That is plausible Pixarfan. But wouldn’t that Woody doll have memories of the show? Even if he was in a box until Andy’s dad got him. Based on this timeline, I feel like even thought the show was canceled, there would still be plenty of evidence to the show’s existence and our Woody would notice. Especially if Andy’s dad won a trip to the set of the show; I bet he’d never stop talking about it! I know I wouldn’t.
I remember those interviews! I remember Woody mentioning that back then there was no tv in his house to explain why he didn’t know about his show. I also remember The Prospector saying that he liked being with Amy after the events of TS2 ( o_O), and how Bo Peep confirmed that she and Jessie got along great and that Buzz was in love with Jessie. 
Does anyone know if those interviews are still around? I’ve really been wanting to read them again.
Anyway, back on topic. I believe a few people at Pixar including John Lasseter have said that they had the idea of Woody being Andy’s father’s toy. As for what happened to his father. I don’t know, I’ve always liked to believe that maybe his father died so Andy must have gotten him from his father before he passed away. Which could be another reason as to why those two are so close.
That also might be why Andy’s mom was so reluctant to sell him. She might not’ve felt so strong about it if it was a divorce.
BTW, it’s basically confirmed that Woody is a hand me down because the Prospector brought that up after sealing the vent.
This theory makes the most sense to me.
Like Buzz, there were undoubtedly many Woody’s sold (without strings). He just happens to be a survivor of that era.
I was wondering about that. The Woody we see in the commercial is just the prop puppet that was used for the show (like Howdy Doody).
Our Woody is one of many Sheriff Woody dolls, just as Jessie, Prospector and Bullseye are all one of many dolls made.
If so few dolls have survived to date, how is that Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye manage to survive so much playtime with Andy?
Woody’s interview brings up a point- if there was no TV in the house, perhaps Andy’ father wasn’t a fan of cowboys- i.e perhaps Woody was given to Andy’s father after Sputnik happened, perhaps Woody was 1) never played with and 2) kept in storage from day 1, thus he never remembers playtime or anything about Andy’s father and thus associates Andy as being his first owner. -Omar