Woody

Woody is the protagonist of the Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies and a supporting character of their spin-off media: Toy Story Toons, Toy Story of Terror!, and Toy Story That Time Forgot. He is a vintage cowboy doll who belonged to a boy named Andy Davis (later a little girl named Bonnie Anderson). Within the universe of the Toy Story films, Woody is a toy based on a character of the same name from a 1950s children's TV series called Woody's Roundup, as revealed in Toy Story 2.

Official Description

 * "Woody is a cowboy sheriff with a pull-string that, when pulled, proclaims Woody’s signature catchphrases from the 1950s TV show “Woody’s Roundup.” He’s always been Andy’s favorite toy. Even though his owner is now grown, the loyal sheriff Woody maintains a steadfast belief that Andy still cares about his toys. As the toys venture into their unknown future, Woody remains the voice of reason. As their dependable leader, he ensures that no toy gets left behind."

Development
In the original story pitch of Toy Story, Woody had a markedly more distasteful personality; having the character of one who had let his role as "leader" go to his head and had little compassion towards his peers. One notable example of this from the original script is that Woody actually throws Buzz out the window on purpose, and doesn't care one bit about what had happened or what the other toys thought of the incident, even saying in a casual tone that it was a "toy-eat-toy world" when accused of doing so. He also proceeded to heavily insult the toys, especially Slinky, during this time, which resulted in all of them turning on him and beating him senseless. This choice in characterization for Woody had been forced upon Pixar by then-Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg due to the latter wanting more of an adult, cynical, edginess to the story, resulting in Woody becoming jealous, sarcastic, narcissistic, belligerent, cynical, and mean toward Buzz and the other toys. This nearly led to Toy Story being canceled after a Black Friday viewing. However, Pixar was given another chance, and over the next two weeks, they reworked the movie plot, giving Woody a more likable and sympathetic character. According to John Lasseter, they wanted the audience to be like, "No, Woody, don't make those choices," instead of just, "Wow, what a jerk." In addition, the change was also brought about because Apple and Pixar co-founder Steve Jobs and the rest of the production team did not like how Woody ended up and decided to change his personality by making him the wise and loyal leader of the toys, and his jealousy over Buzz was more sympathetic.

Personality
Woody is a loyal toy who has been Andy's favorite toy since kindergarten. Woody is a smart, determined, and passionate man, and would do anything for his nearest and dearest friends. He considers everyone on his good side as a family and he tries his best to keep his family together at all times. Yet, he is a flawed character. He has a lot of doubt, anger, frustration, uncertainty, and sadness, almost like a human. But despite his jumbled emotions, he tries his very best not to show them to his friends, so he can seem brave and courageous, but he's not afraid to confront or comfort his friends with utmost care.

Interestingly, Woody is arguably the most tactical and developed character in the series, since the plots and ploys that the main characters pull to achieve their own endeavors are more or less formulated by him. This indicates that he is smarter than he, himself acknowledges.

His character has developed a lot since the first movie. In Toy Story, when he first meets Buzz, he's very intimidated by the space ranger's more modern appearance compared to his rag-doll appearance. Soon once his jealousy begins to manifest him, he gets this scheme to hide Buzz from Andy so that he can be remembered. Yet when things go awry and Buzz is thrown out the window and into a bush, Woody learns to think twice about his little schemes.

His adventurous spirit wasn't intact in the first film as well. When he runs into Sid's mismatched and deformed toys, Woody is instantly frightened by them and comes to this false accusation that they want to eat him and Buzz. Throughout the film, Woody begins to develop a more courageous and adventurous personality.

In Toy Story 2, his personality doesn't upgrade much, but he does learn to understand other people's rejections as to why. When he meets Jessie, they instantly become close but get into a heated argument when Woody is determined to get home to Andy. Jessie accuses Woody of abandoning them and he instantly protests. Yet soon, he has a change of heart when he realizes what a hard life Jessie's had before.

When Buzz and the gang arrive to save Woody, Woody stubbornly refuses to leave with them, saying that Andy's growing up and that Andy doesn't care about him anymore. Buzz accepts Woody's fate but confronts him saying being admired from afar by millions of kids doesn't compare to being loved by just one kid. Without a whole lot of time, Woody makes a promise to himself that Andy's the only kid for him and that he'll be there for him the day he leaves.

It isn't a whole long time until Andy is about to depart for college in Toy Story 3, and Woody is also uncertain about his fate after his dear owner leaves since he is so attached to Andy. After a misunderstanding that they've been thrown away and left on the curb, he and his friends end up in Sunnyside Daycare where they meet Lotso, Ken, and other bright faces. Still staying true to his promise to be a loyal toy and too devoted to Andy, Woody decides to leave his friends, who have stubbornly decided to stay at the daycare.

When Woody is then taken home by Bonnie and told of Sunnyside's real history, he decides to help his friends home. Yet, out of rage for mentioning Daisy, Lotso leaves the toys at the dump and abandons them in the incinerator to die, even when Woody helped him avoid being killed by blades just to show who the better toy is. Choosing his family over Andy for once, he holds Buzz's hand and closes his eyes as they accept their fate in flames. Luckily, the Pizza Planet aliens save them from a fiery death. As Andy departs for college, Woody suggests that they are taken to Bonnie's for a better life. As Andy drives down the road, Woody sadly whispers, "So long, partner.", but he is glad he's still with his friends and is ready for a new life with Bonnie and her toys too.

Physical appearance
He is a slender man and fair-skinned in plastic. He has brown eyes, hair hand-painted in brown that is attached to his head in plastic, rosy cheeks, thin brown eyebrows, a yellow shirt with red square outlines, a couple of white buttons vertically on his chest and each matching cufflink on both his cuffs, cowboy boots made from brown plastic with both each couple outlined cacti on both sides and a black handwriting reading "ANDY" on his right boot sole, spurs made from gold plastic on both sides of his boots, a holster made from brown plastic with a gold brooch with a red center on it, a white vest with black cow spots all over, a red bandanna, blue jeans, a belt made from brown plastic with a buckle that has a bull design on it made from gold plastic, a cowboy hat made from brown plastic with a triangle-shaped brim, star-shaped badge made from gold plastic with small spheres on each tip and a word "SHERIFF" on the center, and a pull string on his back with a white loop attached to it. Woody is 15.18 inches tall without his hat, and 15.93 inches tall with his hat on.

Toy Story
In the first Toy Story, Woody is Andy's favorite toy and leader of Andy's toys. His best pal is Slinky Dog who he often played checkers with and he had a relationship with Bo Peep. Woody has been the favorite since Andy went to kindergarten and had the place of high honor on Andy's bed as well as his owner's name on his right boot.

He holds a meeting informing them of an upcoming move to a new house that is next week, and the fact that, due to the move, Andy's birthday party is being held that day. At the request of the other toys, Woody coordinates a reconnaissance mission to discover what Andy's new toys are, as everyone fears being replaced. At first, the gifts are mostly toys and games.

However, to Woody's dismay, Andy receives Buzz Lightyear, a Space Ranger action figure complete with impressive electronic gadgets including high-pressure space wings, a laser, an electronic voice box, karate chop action, wrist-communicator, open-able space helmet, and can even glow in the dark. He is instantly extremely popular with the other toys making Woody feel unwanted and jealous. To make matters worse Buzz is under the delusion that he is a real Space Ranger and needs to travel back to his own planet.

As the days go by, Buzz seems to be getting most of the attention and Woody feels his world crumbling all around him especially when the posters on the walls, the pictures, and even the bedclothes all change to Buzz and he ends up in the toy box instead of on the bed. Buzz even gets his owner's name on the bottom of his right boot with permanent ink, which infuriates Woody even further. He then spends the rest of the afternoon thinking up ways to get rid of his flashy competition.

When Woody hears Andy is going to Pizza Planet for dinner and he has to bring only one toy, he fears that Andy will choose Buzz; this is confirmed when he shakes a Magic 8-Ball for answers. As a result, he sees an opportunity to get Buzz out of the way and keep Andy to himself. First, he hatches a plan to knock Buzz behind Andy's desk using RC Car, but it backfires and Buzz gets knocked out of the window instead. The other toys, especially Mr. Potato Head and Hamm (excluding Rex, Slinky, and Bo Peep), are furious at Woody for seemingly attempting to kill Buzz out of jealousy. They immediately strangle him to exact punishment, but the struggle is cut short when Woody is taken by Andy to Pizza Planet. While Andy's mother refuels the car at a gas station, Woody ponders how he can return to Andy's room alone, knowing that without Buzz, the toys will tear him apart as they still don't believe him. Suddenly, he is confronted by Buzz, and the two end up fighting and accidentally land outside the car, which drives off and leaves the two stranded.

A bitter argument between them ensues, ending with Woody, upset, frustrated, and furious, telling Buzz once and for all that he had turned Andy against him, and that he is a toy, not a real Space Ranger, so they go their separate ways. Suddenly, Woody spots a truck bound for Pizza Planet and plans to rendezvous with Andy there. Realizing that he will face the wrath of the other toys if he returns without Buzz, Woody convinces Buzz that the truck will take them to a spaceship. At Pizza Planet, Buzz stuffs himself into a rocket-shaped claw game machine, forcing Woody to clamber into the machine to try and rescue him. Woody and Buzz are then captured by Andy's next-door neighbor, the toy-destroying Sid Phillips. As Woody desperately attempts to escape from Sid's house before Andy's family's moving day, Buzz finally realizes (the hard way) that he is a toy and becomes a depressed burden to Woody. In the film's turning point, Woody admits that Buzz is a "cool toy," but despairs that he himself stands no chance of being Andy's favorite.

When Buzz is taken away by Sid to be destroyed with a firework rocket, Woody teams up with Sid's mutant toys and stages a rescue of Buzz, terrifying Sid into running away in fear of his own toys. Woody and Buzz climb into the moving van, attracting the attention of Sid's dog Scud. When Buzz sacrifices himself to save Woody by tackling the dog, Woody attempts to rescue Buzz with Andy's RC. However, he is then chucked out of the van by the other toys, who mistakenly believed that Woody was trying to get rid of RC like he did Buzz. Woody hitches a ride on RC with Buzz, then the other toys witness this and realize they made a mistake, then they try to help him get back on the van. When RC's batteries run out, Woody realizes that he can ignite Buzz's rocket and manages to toss RC into the moving truck just as he and Buzz go soaring into the air. They glide in the air until they land safely inside Andy's car. At the end of the film, which takes place at Christmas, Woody and Buzz stage another reconnaissance mission to prepare for the new toy arrivals. As Woody wonders what gift may be worse than Buzz, Andy receives a puppy, to which Buzz and Woody share a worried smile.

Toy Story 2
In Toy Story 2, about a year after the first film, Woody, ready for an annual trip with Andy to a place called Cowboy Camp, struggles to find his trademark cowboy hat. He sends everyone in search of it, and while everyone is searching, Bo Peep snags him with her cane (again). She encourages him that everything will be all right, nearly kissing him before being interrupted by Rex struggling with her sheep, and moments later Slinky finds the hat. After preparing for departure, Andy accidentally tears Woody's arm while playing with him and Buzz Lightyear before leaving for camp. To Woody's dismay, Andy leaves Woody on the shelf, despite Ms. Davis offering to fix him on the way. Woody, being unable to move his arm, begins to have recurring nightmares of becoming a disused toy which Andy says that he does not want to play with anymore and drops him into the file of cards left on the floor by Rex, Mr. Potato Head, and Rocky, which leads him into a trash can filled with severed hands, and they grab him by the neck while he's begging Andy not to do it, but he sadly says goodbye to Woody and closes the trash can lid, ignoring Woody's pleads. Woody wakes to find that Wheezy, a penguin toy whose squeaker is broken, is being taken by Andy's mother to be sold at a yard sale. Woody rescues Wheezy with the help of Andy's dog Buster, but he is accidentally left behind at the yard sale and subsequently located by Al McWhiggin, the owner of the toy store, Al's Toy Barn. When Ms. Davis refuses to sell him, Al offers her fifty dollars and his watch, but when she declines, Al steals him once Ms. Davis' back is turned.

Woody is brought to Al's apartment, where he discovers that he is a toy based on Woody's Roundup, a TV show from the 1950s. By acquiring him, Al now has a complete collection of the show's merchandise, which he plans to sell to a toy museum in Tokyo, Japan. Woody meets the toy versions of the show's co-stars: his sidekick Jessie, his horse Bullseye, and an old prospector named Stinky Pete formerly known as 'The Prospector' (who is still apparently in mint condition in his original box). The three are excited to be going to Japan, but knowing that he is still Andy's toy, Woody has doubts and intends to return home. When Al rips off his torn arm by accident, Woody tries to recover his arm and then escape the apartment, but without success after Prospector frames Jessie for turning on the TV and waking up Al in the process.

Later, Woody's arm is repaired and he is given a fresh paint job, which he appreciates. He slowly warms up to the idea of going to Japan, particularly after learning that Jessie was once the favorite toy of a little girl named Emily, who gave her away after growing up and he is convinced by Stinky Pete that, if he returns to Andy, he will eventually be thrown away when he grows up like with what happened to Jessie, whereas if he goes to Japan, he will be remembered and treasured forever. He is later confronted by Buzz and the other toys, who try to take him home. While Woody initially turns his back on them, both literally and figuratively, he soon comes to his senses and invites the other toys from Woody's Roundup to come along, but is denied freedom by Stinky Pete, who is determined to go to Japan, and called Buzz Lightyear "Buzz Lightweight", which Woody corrects the Prospector on that Buzz's surname is Lightyear. Woody and the rest of the collection are packed up for shipping overseas and taken to the Tri-County Airport.

Woody gets into a spat with the Prospector in the baggage handling area, during which the old rip in his arm is reopened on purpose by Stinky Pete to force Woody into getting back in the suitcase (but this time, his arm still can move, because it's just a little rip). Woody is eventually able to defeat the Prospector with help from the other toys by tossing him into a girl's backpack (sentencing him to an unfortunate fate of being doodled on by its owner, much to his grief). While Bullseye is rescued, Jessie is loaded into the plane's cargo hold, forcing Woody to slip on board and extract her from the cargo hold just before the plane takes off. Woody and the others happily return home, using one of the airport baggage trucks to do so, where his arm is once again repaired (Andy's fix is somewhat lopsided, but Woody takes this as a badge of pride), and Jessie and Bullseye are made members of Andy's toys. Woody and Buzz now accept the fact that Andy will eventually grow up, but even after he does, they will still be there for each other.

Toy Story 3
In Toy Story 3, several years after the events of the previous film, Woody and his friends take one chance to get a now 17-year-old Andy to notice them in what Woody calls Operation Playtime, in which the toys dial Andy's cell phone number on another phone. The plan ultimately backfires when Andy ignores his toys and, instead, blames Molly for messing with his stuff. Woody then calls for another staff meeting in which he reminds the toys that their job isn't about getting played by but to be there for Andy, tells them that no one is going to get thrown away, mentions about the friends who have been lost (he is still hurt at the loss of Bo Peep when her name is mentioned by Rex) and gone to their new owners, reminds the toys that Andy has held onto them during every yard sale and spring cleaning because he must have cared for them, and tells them that Andy will place them in the attic, a place where there are games, books, the race-car track, the old TV, and Christmas decorations. He guarantees that Andy will continue to take care of the toys, then he climbs up on the dresser to see photos of Andy's high school graduation and a young Andy posing with his toys.

When Andy reenters the room to prepare for college, he gets out a trash bag and puts his toys inside the bag. When it comes to between Woody and Buzz, Andy tosses Woody into a box of possessions he is going to take to college and puts Buzz into the trash bag with the others. Woody, wanting to know where his friends are being taken to, jumps out of the box to track the bag. He is relieved to see that Andy is intending to put the toys into the attic, but Andy leaves the bag to help Molly. Woody then witnesses in horror as Andy's mother takes the bag downstairs. Thinking quickly, Woody signals to Buster and instructs him to take him to the curb, but the dog is too old and weary of helping Woody that he turns over instead. Woody rushes to the window to see Andy's mother place the bag full of toys on the curb with other trash bags full of garbage. Spotting an approaching garbage truck down the street, Woody grabs a pair of scissors, jumps out of the window, slides down the drainage, and runs toward the bags. Using the scissors, he cuts open the trash bags but is unable to find his friends. After the bags are loaded into the truck and the truck goes down the street, Woody runs after the truck but witnesses the trash bags being crunched by the truck's compactors. Woody is horrified but turns to see a recycling bin scurrying into the garage on little feet, to his relief. Catching up with the toys who have climbed into a box bound for Sunnyside Daycare, Woody tells the toys that Andy's mother has mistaken the toys as trash and that Andy has intended to put the toys into the attic, but the toys don't listen to Woody and respond back by declaring that they're going to Sunnyside instead, believing that Andy doesn't want them anymore.

Arriving at Sunnyside, the toys meet Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear (Lotso) who give them a tour around Sunnyside and assigns them to the Caterpillar Room. Woody tries desperately to convince the toys to go back home, but his friends believe that daycare is perfect for them and that their life with Andy is done and convinces Woody in joining them to be played with by the children of the daycare. Woody is upset to hear that Buzz is staying at the daycare with the others as well. Being so devoted to Andy, Woody believes that his friends shouldn't leave Andy and calls them selfish for deciding to move on, since Woody is too devoted to Andy to leave him at all. Woody decides to go back to Andy alone, and Buzz steps forward to shake hands with Woody as a symbol of saying goodbye, but Woody turns away and heads out the door. As he sneaks across the hallway, trying to find his way out, a janitor cart comes his way, and Woody grabs the bottom of the cart, but the cart goes into a bathroom. Woody then sneaks into one of the stalls, climbs up the toilet, jumps to the top of the stall, and slips out of the open window. After climbing up to the roof of the daycare, Woody looks around to try to find his way out, but then his hat gets blown off by a gust. It lands next to a kite on the roof, and Woody uses the kite to glide over the playground and over the wall. Just as he makes a perfect landing, a sudden updraft wind yanks him high into the air. Woody panics and wraps himself around the kite's bar, but the bar snaps and Woody plummets to the ground. He then crashes into a tree, hitting branches on his way down, then he falls from the tree and loses his hat, but he stops inches above the pavement due to his pull-string caught on a branch. Woody tries to struggle himself free, but is forced to go limp when he sees Bonnie approaching. She finds Woody, frees him from the tree, puts him into her backpack, and goes home with her mother, but she did not see his hat in the grass, although it was later recovered by Lotso and his gang.

At Bonnie's house, Woody meets Bonnie's toys, Dolly the Doll, Mr. Pricklepants the Hedgehog, Trixie the Triceratops, Buttercup the Unicorn, the Peas-in-a-Pod, and Totoro. Although he enjoys playtime with Bonnie, he still wants to go home to Andy so Bonnie's toys start up the computer for Woody to find the direction from Bonnie's house to Andy's house, which, to his joy, turns out to be "right around the corner." As he tells Bonnie's toys that if they get donated to (or at least visit) Sunnyside that they tell Andy's other toys that he made it home, Bonnie's toys become surprised to see that he has come from the daycare and want to know how he escaped. When Woody asks them what they meant, Mr. Pricklepants warns Woody that Sunnyside, ruled by Lotso, is a "place of ruin and despair." Woody then asks why and how they know this, and Bonnie's toys direct him to Chuckles, who explains that he, along Lotso and Big Baby, once belonged to a sweet girl named Daisy, who accidentally left them in a park. Lotso, Chuckles, and Big Baby eventually made their way back to Daisy, only to find that Daisy had replaced Lotso with another toy bear, turning the poor pink bear bitter and ruthless, and when Chuckles tried to reason with him and explain, Lotso just lashed the poor clown out. By means of a Pizza Planet truck, they found Sunnyside, and Lotso and Big Baby rose to power quickly, turning the daycare into a toy prison, while Chuckles had been taken home by Bonnie. Chuckles gives Woody Big Baby's old pendant as he finishes his story. Woody then realizes he has to go back to Sunnyside to save his imprisoned friends, before they are at the mercy of Lotso, despite objections from Bonnie's toys, who believe returning there will be sacrificial and suicidal.

The next day he stows away inside Bonnie's backpack to go back to the daycare. Woody climbs through the ceiling to go to the Caterpillar Room and watches in horror as his friends get played roughly by the toddlers. Just then, Chatter Telephone rings to get his attention, and warns Woody that he should never have come back because due to more guards and patrols, he and his friends are never going to escape. Chatter Telephone tells Woody that the garbage chute is the only escape route out of the daycare and that he needs to negotiate through doors, hallways, the lobby, the playground, and the walls to reach there. Chatter Telephone warns Woody of the Monkey who monitors the security cameras through the night, and the first thing he has to do in order to escape is to get rid of that monkey. After Woody calls to his friends once the toddlers leave the Caterpillar Room, the toys become overjoyed to see him and give him back his hat (which they received from Lotso and his gang earlier), then they apologize for not listening to him. Woody, in return, apologizes for leaving them and asserts that they will stick together. He then formulates an elaborate plan on helping the toys escape. Upon learning that Lotso has reset Buzz into thinking he is a Space Ranger once again, Woody decides to get Buzz back on their side as part of his escape plan.

That night, Woody witnesses Ken and Buzz taking roll call to ensure that all the toys are present. As the two walk off to catch Mr. Potato Head, Woody then signals to Slinky to emerge out from his cell, then the two go through the ceiling to the Monkey's office to subdue the Monkey. Slinky lowers Woody, who is holding a bag to place over the Monkey's head, but the Monkey notices them and starts screeching, startling Woody and Slinky, who slip from the ceiling and fall to the Monkey. The Monkey then runs toward the door to alert Lotso's guards, but Woody uses a wire to trip the Monkey. He then fights the Monkey, who seems to overpower him as he bangs his cymbals on Woody's head. Woody then yells to Slinky to grab the tape, and they manage to tape up the monkey and lock him in a filing cabinet. After finding the key, Woody tells Slinky to fire it under the door, across the hall, and into the Caterpillar Room. Later, Woody and Slinky are joined by Barbie, who has retrieved a Buzz Lightyear instruction manual, then the three head back to the Caterpillar Room to see that Buzz, after being trapped in a storage bin by Rex and Hamm, has broken himself free. Woody orders them to stop Buzz from escaping, then he, Barbie, and Slinky rush over to help. As Barbie unscrews Buzz's back compartment, Woody flicks the Play-Demo switch, but to no avail. As Hamm reads the steps on how to reset Buzz, Woody quickly tells Rex to insert his finger into a tiny hole below the switch and hold it long enough to cause Buzz to shut down. Just then, Buzz springs back up, knocking everyone off him, then he starts speaking Spanish, much to the shock of Woody and the others. Woody tells Buzz that he and the toys are "amigos" to get Buzz back on their side. Although Woody feels the need to switch Buzz back, he realizes that time is running out so he and his friends head out of the Caterpillar Room.

Outside, Woody and his friends rejoin with the others at the playground. As they head for the garbage chute, Woody, Bullseye, and the Aliens become separated from Jessie and the others when a security truck pulls up toward them. As Woody, Bullseye, and the Aliens navigate the playground in which Big Baby is sitting on a swing, they accidentally attract Big Baby's attention, but they hide under a bucket, safe from Big Baby's eyesight. After rejoining with Jessie and the others, they finally make it to the garbage chute, where Buzz does an acrobatic stunt to get the lid open, then the toys climb into the chute. Woody goes first to see that the chute is leading to an open dumpster, then he signals to his friends to come down, but not all at once. The toys, however, thinks Woody has told them to come down all at once and they do, colliding with Woody, who almost falls into the dumpster, but Jessie pulls him up. Just as the Woody and the toys are about to leap to freedom with help from Slinky, Lotso and his gang corner them. Seeing Woody among the toys, Lotso tells the toys that Andy doesn't want them anymore, to which Woody responds by labeling Lotso's remarks as a lie (which is not exactly true), but Lotso asks Woody why Andy is leaving if he loves Woody so much. He labels Woody as a piece of plastic made to be thrown away and coaxes the toys to go back to the Caterpillar Room to avoid the approaching garbage truck and join Lotso's family again. As Lotso tells the toys that Andy is the one who has thrown them away and that not one kid will ever love a toy, Woody brings up the subject of Daisy to try to remind Lotso about his previous owner, but Lotso doesn't want anything to do with Daisy. It's during this heated argument between Woody and Lotso that Lotso's cohorts become increasingly aware of their leader's selfish nature. As Woody argues with Lotso, he shows Big Baby's old pendant to Lotso and Big Baby, and the latter notices his old possession, causing him to remember Daisy. Woody then tosses the pendant to Big Baby, who picks it up to take a look at the token of his lost love and sniffles, "Mama." This makes Lotso furiously snap as he snatches away the pendant and destroys it, and poke Big Baby hard with his cane for loving Daisy again. As he continues Big Baby then picks up Lotso, throws him into the dumpster, and closes the lid, making a bridge available for Woody and his friends to escape. Unfortunately, one of the Aliens gets his feet stuck in a dumpster lid, prompting Woody to go back to free the Alien by slightly opening the lid. Lotso, having caught a glimpse of Woody through the opening, grabs Woody and pull him into the dumpster as a way to get revenge for being foiled and humiliated just as a garbage truck arrives. Woody's friends jump onto the dumpster, only for them to end up inside the garbage truck as well. During the ride, Buzz is crushed by a TV, resetting him to his normal self and causing him to regain his memory, such as recognizing Woody (Woody tells Buzz that he has gone "beyond infinity").

After the toys are dumped at the Tri-County Landfill, the Aliens spot the claw and run for it, and Woody yells at them to come back, but is cut off by a bulldozer that plows the Aliens away. Just then, another plow pushes Woody and the other toys into a trench, and they fall onto a long conveyor belt of garbage leading them into a dark tunnel. Seeing a set of shredders looming ahead, they grab onto a metal object so that they hang from a magnetic ceiling, safe from the shredders. Just then, Lotso, who's stuck underneath a golf bag, calls for help, and Woody, not having the heart to leave Lotso to die, drops down to rescue Lotso, risking his life in the process, but the golf bag, with some golf clubs inside, is too heavy for him to lift up. Seeing the danger Woody has placed himself in, Buzz drops down to assist Woody in freeing Lotso. They utilize one of the golf clubs to pry up the bag, letting the bear crawl out, and Woody makes Lotso take his hand as the golf club he and Buzz are holding on pulls the three up to the ceiling, seconds before the golf bag is pulverized. Woody calls to his friends to remind them that they're all still together, but they're not hanging from the ceiling. Hearing Jessie call out from the conveyor belt below, Woody, Buzz, and Lotso drop from the ceiling to catch up with the group. Seeing a glow up ahead, Rex then tells Woody that the toys will be fine, thinking the glow as daylight, but Woody sees that the "daylight" is a glow from an incinerator that the conveyor belt is pushing him and his friends toward. Woody and the toys run for it, desperate to escape their doom, but the conveyor belt keeps pushing them toward the furnace. Lotso then notices an emergency stop button, runs over to grab the lower rung of a ladder leading to the button, and calls to Woody to help him climb up the ladder. Woody and Buzz rush over to help Lotso, who climbs up the ladder and reaches the button. Woody shouts at Lotso to push the button, but as fate would have it, Lotso breaks his promise, throws an insult at Woody: "Where's your kid now, Sheriff?" and runs off, leaving the toys to die in the incinerator. The toys then tumble into the furnace, where tons of shredded garbage are cascading down an enormous bowl toward the flames. They try to climb away but realize that they've been deprived of any escape chance and take hands as they accept their cruel fate with pride. As Woody continues to climb his way out of the furnace, he turns to see that Buzz has accepted death as fate, having taken Jessie's hand with his left arm. He reaches out his right arm for Woody's, and Woody, coming to realize that this is the unfortunate end for him and his friends, takes Buzz's hand with his left arm and Slinky's paw with his right one. Just as the toys prepare for their fiery doom, a light shines on Woody's face, and Woody looks up to see a giant claw crane suddenly appear from above, drop down onto the toys, and scoops them up. As Woody and his friends ride in the air, they turn to notice the Aliens in the driver's cab, where they have taken control of the claw to rescue the toys. Woody heaves a sigh of relief, grateful that he and his friends are all safe and sound, as the claw carries them out of the furnace and places them gently on the earth. Hamm and Slinky express their desire to get back at Lotso for having them almost killed, but Woody convinces them to forget it as he believes that Lotso isn't worth it, but at the same time, he and his friends have other important things to worry about, such as the fact that they're still alive and need to go home before Andy leaves for college. They hitch a ride in Sid's garbage truck while Lotso is found by a different garbage man and tied to the front grille of a different garbage truck.

After the toys return home, they clean themselves of the paint, glue, glitter dirt, and grime that has made its way onto them during their time at Sunnyside and their journey through the garbage dump. After climbing back up to Andy's room, Woody heads for a box bound for college while the others climb into a box bound for attic, but Woody pauses for a moment to shake hands with Buzz, unable to admit that the two best friends are now separating ways after all they have been through. The other toys say their farewell words to Woody, and Jessie tells Woody that she still knows about Buzz's Spanish mode, which briefly makes Buzz suspicious. After Buzz bids him farewell and climbs into the attic box, Woody climbs into the college box and takes a possibly last look at his friends as they close the attic box. He then watches through a hole in the college box as Andy's mother makes her emotional farewell as she lets go of Andy so he can move on with his life. Woody, who has struggled to accept the fact that his role in Andy's life as his toy was coming to an end throughout the movie, finally realizes that he was wrong about staying with Andy forever and that he too must let go of Andy and move on with his own existence as a toy, as he can't spend the rest of his life in college and holding onto Andy. While Andy turns away to say good-bye to Molly and Buster, he quickly jumps out of the college box, grabs a sharpie and a post-it note, rushes over and climbs onto to the attic box, and writes a message to Andy for him to donate the toys. Seeing that there's no time to make it back to the college box, Woody, unnoticed, stows away in the other box. When Andy reads the note, he decides to donate the toys, so he stops at Bonnie's house while en route to college and hands the toys to Bonnie, but when Bonnie looks inside the box for more, she surprisingly finds her "cowboy dolly," making Andy confused about how Woody has gotten into the box. Bonnie wants to have Woody, but Andy is reluctant to give away his favorite toy, which gives her a disappointed look on her face. Andy then realizes how much Bonnie loves Woody, just like he has done during his childhood, and in one last symbolic gesture, he finally gives Woody to Bonnie, telling her that they've been through a lot together and he means a lot to him, so she has got to take good care of him.

Andy then briefly stays at Bonnie's house to play with his old toys, along with Bonnie and her toys, one last time before leaving. After Bonnie is taken inside her house by her mother for lunch, Woody and his friends sit up to watch Andy's car disappear down the road. Woody says his farewell to Andy, knowing that he will miss his good old days as Andy's toy: "So long, partner." He is immediately comforted by Buzz he finally accepts that his life with Andy is now complete, and then Woody introduces Buzz and everyone else to Bonnie's toys as they begin their new lives.

During the credits, Woody reads his friends a message from Sunnyside, notifying them that it has become a happier place for the toys there, but finds that it is written by Ken instead of Barbie, to his surprise. The next day, he is surprised to see the drawings Bonnie has made for her toys, including the ones handed over from Andy. Finally, as he enjoys watching Buzz and Jessie perform a pasodoble to "Hay Un Amigo En Mi," the Spanish version of "You've Got a Friend in Me," Woody tosses Jessie a flower and Jessie catches it by its stem in her mouth.

Toy Story 4
Woody will return in Toy Story 4, where he will go on a quest to find Bo Peep after she was "lost" after being sold along with Wheezy and Etch-A-Sketch between the events of the second and third films.

A Bug's Life
Woody makes a cameo appearance during the blooper reel.

Hawaiian Vacation
In the first Toy Story Toons episode, Hawaiian Vacation, Woody first addresses his friends that Bonnie is now on winter break after the bell at Sunnyside has rung, so it is time for them to have a week of relaxation. However, he is surprised to see that Barbie and Ken have unexpectedly appeared in Bonnie's room. When Ken tells Woody that he and Barbie have stowed away in Bonnie's backpack, hoping to join her in Hawaii, Woody tells Ken that he is in Bonnie's room, much to Ken's dismay. After learning from Barbie about the vacation plans she and Ken have formulated for each other, Woody and his friends recreate various scenarios of Hawaii for the two using whatever they can find around Bonnie's house.

First, Woody acts as one of the aloha spirits who welcome Barbie and Ken to paradise and directs the two to their vacation plans that have been planned for them. Second, he tells Bullseye, on which Barbie is riding on, to ride like the wind. Third, he is seen dancing a luau with Dolly and Mr. Pricklepants to give entertainment for Barbie and Ken.

Small Fry
In the second Toy Story Toons episode, Small Fry, Woody asks Rex how his and Buzz's time at Poultry Palace was. Rex answers enthusiastically and then a smaller Buzz appears with him, jumping out of Bonnie's backpack. Despite Rex explaining why Buzz is now smaller, Woody, of course, understands something's wrong. He asks where the real Buzz is. He continues to argue with Rex when the latter remained adamant that the ball pit shrunk Buzz and that he was the real Buzz, with Woody irritably pointing out that the "Buzz" is about three inches tall, much shorter than the real Buzz. He tries to play it nice with the meal toy Buzz and ask him what happened with the real Buzz, but after he takes his hat and starts making a ruckus in the room, and, after Hamm's suggestion, tackles him. Woody and the toys try to form a plan as to how to rescue Buzz. However, Buzz ends up being able to take the drive-through back home, much to the toys' happiness.

Partysaurus Rex
In the third Toy Story Toons episode, Partysaurus Rex, Woody is seen when Rex is chastised by most of the other toys for popping their bubble they were blowing up, and again near the end when a flood pours out of the bathroom door after it is opened.

Toy Story of Terror!
In Toy Story of Terror!, Woody is first seen watching a scary Halloween movie with Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Trixie, Mr. Potato Head, and Mr. Pricklepants. Later, when the toys stop at the Sleep Well motel, Mr. Potato head decides to leave the bag. Despite the fact the fact Woody tells him not to leave, Potato head leaves anyway. Rex, Trixie, and Mr. Pricklepants follow him and Woody and Buzz must bring them back. Jessie comes with them and soon they discover Mr. Potato Head is gone and they must find him. After Trixie falls down a hole, Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Rex and Mr. Pricklepants follow her down the hole and are under the motel. While trying to find Trixie, Mr. Pricklepants and Rex are taken by a mysterious creature, which is revealed to be an iguana named Mr. Jones. Woody, Buzz, and Jessie run for their lives and find one of Potato Head's arms. The arm leads them to a bathroom where Woody and Buzz get taken by Mr. Jones. After Jessie is taken by Jones, Woody, Buzz, and the others are seen in a cabinet and reunite with Jessie. They are all being held by the motel manager Ron Tompkins who is using Mr. Jones to steal the toys of his guests so he can sell them online in bidding wars. After Woody is purchased, Ron puts him in a box and gets ready to stand him off. Luckily Jessie escapes and frees Woody. They manage to rescue their friends by exposing Ron's scheme to Bonnie and her mom.

Toy Story That Time Forgot
In Toy Story That Time Forgot, Woody is first seen while Bonnie plays with him. Later, Bonnie takes Woody, Buzz, Rex, Trixie, and Angel Kitty to her friend Mason's house. Bonnie goes to join Mason at his new game console and the toys are left in the playroom. There they meet Reptillus Maximus, The Cleric, and the Battlesaurus. While Rex and Trixie follow Reptillus, Woody, Buzz, and Angel Kitty are grabbed by the other Battlesaurus. While Rex and Trixie are with Reptillus, Woody and Buzz discover that Mason hasn't played with Battlesaurus yet and they don't even know that they're toys. In the Arena of Woe, Woody and Buzz inform Trixie of their discovery when suddenly they are attacked by Reptillus, Woody tries to fend him off with a red crayon he found, however, Reptillus breaks the crayon and Woody and Buzz are forced to him on head-to-head. After Trixie orders Reptillus to back off, The Cleric summons the Goliathan and it swallows Woody and Buzz whole. Later, Woody and Buzz are brought to the Cleric who uses Rex, who is being controlled by Giant Robotic Arms, to fish out Woody and Buzz. The boys there discover that The Cleric is watching Mason and Bonnie play on the console. They realize that he knows he and the other Battlesaurus are toys and is determined to make sure that they don't find out. The Cleric then demands that Woody, Buzz, and Angel Kitty be tossed down a shredder. However right when they're about to be shredded, Trixie, who has made it to the game console, and convinced Reptillus to help her turn it off, has gotten Bonnie and Mason's attention and managed to save her friends. Later the toys all go home.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Woody appears in the game as a meet-and-greet character near Rancho Del Zocalo in Frontierland. He also asks the player to help track down some rustlers that are supposedly in the area.

Disney INFINITY
Woody appears as one of the playable characters in the first Disney INFINITY and subsequent games.

Kingdom Hearts
It was recently announced that Woody is slated to appear in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III alongside Buzz, Hamm, Rex, and Sarge and his soldiers, aiding Sora, Donald, and Goofy with saving their friends from the Heartless.

Disney Parks
Woody is a somewhat common character in the Disney Parks around the world. Woody appears as a meetable character along with Jessie, Buzz, Bullseye, the Green Army Men, and more.

If anyone in the park yelled, "Andy's coming!" when any of the above toys were around, they would drop down. This ended soon because some of the younger kids in the park became scared when they fell. In addition, this caused safety concerns for those in costume once the trick became more well-known.

He also appears in Fantasmic! riding Mark Twain during the finale.

Trivia

 * It was revealed in August 2009 by Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3, on his Twitter account that Woody's full name is "Woody Pride," and has been since the earliest days of developing the original Toy Story. However, his last name has never been used in any of the three films. His name was based on actor Woody Strode.
 * Woody's fixed arm isn't as muscular in the third movie.
 * In an episode of House of Mouse, Donald Duck dresses up like Woody.
 * In the 101 Dalmatians: The Series episode "Mall Pups", Woody can be seen the toy store at the Stiffle Mall.
 * Lotso actually served as a lesson to Woody, because Woody would've ended up like Lotso if he didn't move on with his life.
 * Woody is similar to Baloo from The Jungle Book in the sense that both have a special friend who is a boy (Andy for Woody; Mowgli for Baloo), at one point argued with another character about having to part with him (Buzz for Woody; Bagheera for Baloo), and finally let the special friend go in the end, feeling sad but knowing it's for the best.
 * Woody was originally going to be a ventriloquist dummy, as seen in early Toy Story sketches. He was later changed to be a stuffed cowboy doll because he looked sneaky, disturbing, and mean as a dummy.
 * What attracted Tom Hanks to voice Woody was during his childhood, he would always wonder if his toys were alive and moved around when nobody was in his room.
 * Woody makes a cameo in one of the additional outtakes of A Bug's Life as a crewman when he enters the frame, holding a clapperboard upside down, to mark the end of a scene gone wrong. Flik would "return the favor" by appearing in a post-credits scene in Toy Story 2, only to learn that Pixar's first sequel was not A Bug's Life 2.
 * Woody's appearance in A Bug's Life is the first time a Toy Story character created by Pixar has appeared outside the Toy Story franchise.
 * Woody, along with Buzz Lightyear and Hamm, appears in Cars as car versions during the end credits. Woody is a woody wagon.
 * Woody, along with Jessie and Bullseye, appears in Meet the Robinsons.
 * Woody is the only Pixar movie franchise protagonist to be the protagonist of all the movies in his series.
 * Buzz was advertised as the protagonist of Toy Story 2; however, Woody is actually the protagonist of all three films because he had bigger lessons to learn than Buzz.
 * While Woody is voiced by Tom Hanks in all the films and few of the toys, his brother, Jim Hanks, voices most of the Woody toys and him in the video games and Toy Story shorts (excluding Toy Story Toons).
 * Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3, has revealed on his Twitter that Woody's full name is "Woody Pride," and has been since the earliest days of developing the original Toy Story. However, his last name has never been used in any of the three films. His name was based on actor Woody Strode.
 * When Jessie first meets Woody in Toy Story 2, she exclaims, "Sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln!" Abraham Lincoln's mother was Nancy Hanks, a blood relative of Woody's voice actor Tom Hanks, who is a direct descendant of an uncle of Nancy Hanks.
 * Woody is based on John Lasseter's Casper doll, as well as the Howdy Doody puppets from the 1950s.
 * The phrase "I'd like to join your posse, boys, but first I'm gonna sing a little song" was not spoken by Woody's pull-string voice box in the first two Toy Story films. However, it was originally spoken in a deleted scene for Toy Story, where Sid tortured Buzz and Woody.
 * The phrase "There's a snake in my boot!" is spoken by Woody's pull-string voice box once in Toy Story, twice in Toy Story 2, and twice in Toy Story 3.
 * The phrase "Reach for the sky!" is spoken by Woody's pull-string voice box twice in Toy Story and once in Toy Story 3.
 * The phrase "You're my favorite deputy!" is spoken by Woody's pull-string voice box once in Toy Story and once in Toy Story 3.
 * The phrase "Somebody's poisoned the water hole!" is spoken by Woody's pull-string voice box twice in Toy Story and once in Toy Story 3.
 * The phrase "This town ain't big enough for the two of us!" is spoken by Woody's pull-string voice box only once in Toy Story.
 * The phrase "Yee-hah! Giddyup partner! We got to get this wagon train a-movin'!" is spoken by Woody's pull-string voice box only once in Toy Story.
 * Woody is the first and only one of Andy's toys to "come alive" while in the presence of a human.
 * Woody has 229 animation points of movement on his face.
 * Woody, along with Buzz, were originally going to be in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix as new summons, but were later scrapped.
 * In Toy Story 2, when Woody uses his pull-string to swing from the airplane onto Bullseye, none of his phrases are heard when the string retracts.
 * Woody’s facial features are slightly based on a talking Casper the Friendly Ghost doll that Lasseter had as a kid.
 * Woody losing Bo Peep in Toy Story 3 makes him the third Pixar protagonist to lose his love interest after Marlin and Carl.
 * Paul Newman was the original first choice for voicing Woody in early production, but he turned down the role later on. He would later work with Pixar as the voice of Doc Hudson