Toy Story 3 (2010) - 6 questions

Question: In Cars 2, it was decided not to bring back Doc Hudsen out of respect for the late Paul Newman. So why was slinky recast for this film? Didn't the filmmakers feel that Jim Varney deserved the same respect? Considering they didn't bring back certain characters like Bo-peep etc, I find it insulting that they felt so little of Varney.

Answer: Well, with all due respect to Mr. Varney, he's no Paul Newman. You respect different actors in different ways. Paul Newman is much more of a "remember in silence" type actor, when Varney's much more relaxed and silly style lends itself more toward celebrating the character over the actor, in which case removing the character would not necessarily be the best decision. I don't know if these were things the Pixar crew specifically thought of, but that's how I view it.

Question: Why didn't the toys even talk about coming alive and talking to Andy? Seems they were desperate enough for him to play with them that somebody should have considered this option.

Answer: Because they simply don't do that, it's a fundamental rule of their existence. They're played with as toys, not as sentient moving creatures. Plus there's every possibility that Andy would simply freak out - imagine how you'd feel if all your childhood toys suddenly revealed that they'd been intelligent, with lives of their own, all along. Woody revealing himself to Sid in the first film was a unique case to prevent the deaths of more toys, and Sid was a sufficiently disturbed child that nobody would be surprised if he suddenly freaked. With Andy, it's a normal situation that he's simply grown up and doesn't play with them any more - there's no possible grounds for breaking the rules there.

Question: Is the garbage man near the start Sid from Toy Story 1?

Answer: Yes, he is. He can be seen wearing the same black t-shirt with a skull motif that his younger self wore in the first movie and Pixar have confirmed that the character's intended to be Sid.

Question: The trivia for this movie says that a cameo of a toy from Toy Story 2 appears during the credits. I did not notice this cameo. What toy was it, and what happens in the scene?

Answer: I believe it is the cameo of Emperor Zurg, who was last seen playing catch with his "son". This is the only character of significance that I noticed in the credits, though knowing Pixar there may well be more.

Question: Who will be the new voice of Slinky, as Jim Varney, the voice of Slinky in the first two Toy Story movies, died in 2000?

Question: Is the actor who played Andy in the first two Toy Story movies the same actor in the third movie?

Answer: Yes, John Morris has reprised his role as Andy for Toy Story 3.