Woody

Sheriff Woody Pride is the main protagonist in Disney/Pixar's 1995 hit film Toy Story and its sequels. In the film series, he is voiced by Tom Hanks. He is a cowboy doll (although the preferred term is "action figure") who belongs to a boy named Andy. 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, Woody's Roundup.

Personality
Woody is a very loyal toy who has been Andy's favorite toy since Kindergarten. Woody's determined, passionate, and would do anything for his nearest and dearest friends. He considers everyone 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 bouts of doubt, anger, frustration, uncertainty, and saddness, almost like a human. But despite his jumbled emotions, he tries his very best not to show them to his friends to seem brave and courageous, but he's not afraid to confront or comfort his friends with utmost care.

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 ragdoll 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, 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's 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. 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 and Ken and other bright faces. Still staying true to his promise to be a loyal toy, 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's the better toy. Choosing his family over Andy for a change, 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 firey death. As Andy departs for college, Woody suggests that they be taken to Bonnie's for a better life. As Andy accelerates down the road, Woody sadly whispers, " So long, partner."

Toy Story
In Toy Story, Woody is the favorite toy of a boy named Andy. Woody, who is the unofficial leader of the toys in Andy's room, holds a meeting informing them of an upcoming move to a new house, 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.

To Woody's dismay, Andy receives a new action figure in the form of space ranger Buzz Lightyear, whose impressive features soon see Buzz replacing Woody as Andy's favorite toy. Woody is disappointed and resentful at his replacement. Hoping to replace Buzz on a family outing one evening, he plans to trap Buzz in a gap behind Andy's desk. However, when the plan goes awry and results in Buzz being knocked out a window, Woody is accused by the other toys of attempting to murder Buzz out of jealousy and is almost punished before Woody is taken with Andy to the space-themed Pizza Planet restaurant. While Andy's mother refuels the car at a gas station, Woody ponders how he can return to Andy's room alone. 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.

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 alone, 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 realizes that he is in fact 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. When the 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, much to his and Buzz's dread.

Toy Story 2
In Toy Story 2, Andy accidentally tears Woody's arm while playing with him before leaving for cowboy camp (an annual trip he makes with Woody), leaving Woody on the shelf. Woody, being unable to move his arm, begins to have recurring nightmares of becoming a disused toy, but 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 stolen by Al McWhiggin, the owner of Al's Toy Barn.

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.

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, 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, 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. 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 (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). 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, where his arm is once again repaired (Andy's fix is somewhat lopsided, but Woody takes this as a badge of pride). 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, Andy, now a young adult, is preparing to move away to college. Woody and the other toys become uncertain of their future; Andy hasn't played with them in years. While packing, he decides to take Woody with him to college. Andy bags up the other toys, intending to place them in the attic. But rather than ending up in the attic, the toys get accidentally thrown away by Andy's mother.

Woody realizes the mistake, and after finding the toys, tries to explain the situation. The other toys refuse to believe him, and they decide to travel to a nearby daycare center, with Woody inadvertently tagging along. At the daycare center, the toys are given a warm reception by the leader of the daycare toys, Lotso. Seeing that they are happy, Woody prepares to go back to Andy. However, he is picked up by a small girl named Bonnie, who takes Woody to her home.

At Bonnie's, Woody learns that Lotso was once owned by a girl named Daisy. When Lotso was lost and then replaced with another toy, the bear took over the Daycare, making it a prison for the other toys. Woody resolves to rescue his friends, and then return to Andy's house.

Woody is able to successfully sneak in. He and the toys rescue Buzz, who had been reprogrammed by Lotso. However, the reprogramming goes awry, and Buzz loses his memory, acting like a real space ranger. Woody and the others break Buzz from that mode by reprogramming him themselves, which goes awry when it is set on "Spanish language". Buzz is one again their friend, albeit a Spanish speaking one. Lotso traps the toys in a dumpster, but Woody is able to turn the daycare toys against Lotso, by informing them of the bear's treachery. Lotso is tossed in the dumpster, but he tries to drag Woody in. The toys try to rescue Woody, and are taken to the dump, where Woody must rescue his friends from an incinerator.

The group is able to escape, and after cleaning up, they return to Andy. At Andy's house, Woody decides that his friends deserve better than to be in the attic, so he leaves a note with Bonnie's address on the toys' box. Andy reads it, and decides to donate the toys to Bonnie. Though Andy is hesitant to give Woody up, he sees that Bonnie will take care of him and so Andy gives Woody to her. The two play with the toys for a time, and as Andy drives off, Woody introduces his friends to Bonnie's other toys.

A Bug's Life
Woody makes a cameo appearance in one of the bloopers.

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.

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

Trivia

 * It was revealed in August 2009 by Lee Unkrich that Woody's offical last name was "Pride". Unkrich stated in his Twitter blog that “Woody’s actual full name is ‘Woody Pride’ and has been since the earliest days of developing the original Toy Story.
 * Woody's fixed arm isn't as buff in the third movie.