What is the thing you\u2019ve learned most from this new film? Secretmission
Tim Allen [the voice of Buzz Lightyear]: It sounds really self-gratifying, but it\u2019s taking about 20% less time to make a better product. I know now how to focus and isolate my voice. I don\u2019t do as many takes. Sometimes they\u2019ll even say to me: \u201cI think we got it. You can stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Hanks [Sheriff Woody]: Really? I will sometimes ask: \u201cPlease tell me you have it because I\u2019m so done with this.\u201d I find it to be exactly the same as it was at the get-go, except maybe there\u2019s a little more importance put on it. I don\u2019t think anybody picks our takes doing a Toy Story movie lightly. But I found everything else is just one damn thing after another.<\/p>\n
Story-wise, there is something to the fact that Jessie contacts us and says she needs our help. I am not good at asking for help. So I could use that as a life lesson in this world of ours: we\u2019re not in this alone.<\/p>\n
\u2018How did this movie become so frigging profound?\u2019 \u2026\u00a0Bullseye, Jessie, Atlas, Smarty Pants and Snappy. Photograph: Pixar<\/p>\n
TA: In terms of tech, this new film is so fricking spot on. I feel like I could rob everybody at a coffee shop and they wouldn\u2019t even know. Even the barista would just be scrolling. I love tech. I have a lot of phones and social media, and all of a sudden the algorithm manipulation to what I like got ridiculous. I\u2019m looking at plane crashes that didn\u2019t ever happen. It says: \u201cThe 747 lands on an island in Greece sideways. All these people died.\u201d And I go: surely I would\u2019ve read about this? Truck accidents in Singapore on a mountain? It\u2019s just making stuff up! So I applaud our movie for shining a light on stuff like that.<\/p>\n
TH: There\u2019s a moment when little Bonnie is spending time on Lilypad, which is supposed to be a communal, joyful experience. And her feelings are hurt by what is being texted about her. That\u2019s a profound moment. No toy hurts your feelings if you are playing with it.<\/p>\n
TA: Will this movie move the dial? Well, what motivates behaviour? Why do bacteria and viruses mutate? What activates the change? Even at a molecular level or quantum level? As the late Florine Mark [former president of the Weight Watchers Group], who was a good friend of mine, said: 10,000 women will come to a big Weight Watchers event and about 12% walk out having listened. There\u2019s a weird part of me that really believes that there\u2019s gonna be a bunch of kids that see our film and go: I do want to play with my toys. Being on a tablet is not playing with a toy. It\u2019s playing with dopamine.<\/p>\n
Greta, you represent the age of phones and iPads in this new film. What approach to screens have you taken with your own children? felixius4
Greta Lee [Lilypad]: We set a pretty clear boundary about how much time is acceptable and when and where that is appropriate. And stepping back and refocusing and reprioritising things like time spent outside in nature. Hiking and gardening and all the good old stuff that still proves so enjoyable for the kids. Even if it\u2019s a fight. And accepting boredom \u2013 relishing boredom, and trying to counteract shrinking attention spans. It\u2019s complicated and it\u2019s a work in progress for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u2018We have developed a plaything that will literally devour the time and attention of everybody\u2019 \u2026\u00a0Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack, Tim Allen and Greta Lee. Photograph: Austin Hargave<\/p>\n
Joan Cusack [Jessie the cowgirl]: But you\u2019re a parent that pays attention. And that\u2019s the most important part. Otherwise you just let them have it because then you can do stuff.<\/p>\n
GL: And it\u2019s so understandable, but it\u2019s not a substitute for parenting. I think it\u2019s helpful, the message in the movie. Understanding that making friends is hard and you need parents\u2019 help to do it.<\/p>\n
TH: All society is dealing with this. Trying to outlaw social media for anybody under 16. Whether or not the film alters things, it will spark conversation. We\u2019ll see how popular the idea of this motion picture from one of the most powerful media conglomerates turns out to be.<\/p>\n
TA: When I worked in TV there was a thing called \u201cstandards in practice\u201d which meant there\u2019s things kids can\u2019t access. Streaming has now opened that up to pornography 24 hours a day. Kids can get round parental controls. How do you pull it all back? You\u2019re not allowed to drink alcohol in the US until you\u2019re 21. I think we should let kids be kids as long as we can.<\/p>\n
TH: Tech is not the additive quality to life that we assume it\u2019s going to be.<\/p>\n
TA: Did we really think it would be? I remember when I was at college, there was a guy in Miami who invented a bullet that could go through police armour. A valid project for a technical engineer. But is it a good idea?<\/p>\n
TH: So now we have developed a plaything that will devour the time and attention of everybody.<\/p>\n
TA: We are intoxicated by our own creativity. We don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a good or bad idea. It\u2019s like in Oppenheimer when they ask how they know the atom bomb won\u2019t light the atmosphere on fire and destroy the Earth. The guy pauses and says: \u201cWell, it could \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
TH: \u201cSo we can give this thing to our children that might make them never leave their rooms and become antisocial, unempathetic beasts?\u201d \u201cWell, it might, you know, if you let it. But it might help them with their homework \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
TA: There isn\u2019t anything that I haven\u2019t fixed in the last 10 years without the help of YouTube. So it\u2019s not a zero-sum game. I\u2019ve got a 16th-century music box with a little bird which pops up and sings. It has an amazing amount of gears. But I couldn\u2019t find a key or work out the winding mechanism. And a guy online had the same one, and taught me the history, and showed me the secret hiding place for the key. I\u2019d have never worked it out without the internet.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think this is honest art. Like Dostoevsky\u2019 \u2026\u00a0Bullseye, Jessie and Lilypad in Toy Story 5. Photograph: Pixar<\/p>\n
TH: When he was eight, my son made his own wallet with gaffer tape. He did it by watching a video online. And it\u2019s still the wallet he carries around.<\/p>\n
TA: So there\u2019s this side and there\u2019s the other side. The sick people that learn how to kill as many people as possible with a vehicle and a trash can.<\/p>\n
TH: Who type insults and hurt people\u2019s feelings. So the answer is it\u2019s hopeless and all up to us. And we got a 50\/50 shot at setting the atmosphere on fire.<\/p>\n
If you could be a toy yourself, which toy would you be and why? stephenw1979
GL: I love Forky. A reanimated regular household object is appealing.<\/p>\n
JC: Something cozy that a kid could love. A blanket.<\/p>\n
GL: A child would be so distraught to receive a blanket as a present. \u201cHappy birthday, sweetie! A blanket!\u201d<\/p>\n
JC: \u201cYou can hide under it! You can hold it!\u201d<\/p>\n
GL: Or a vase? Not very kid-friendly \u2026<\/p>\n
JC: But if it was soft? A soft vase? I wouldn\u2019t want to be a bear because everyone has one. Maybe a manatee? They\u2019re cozy.<\/p>\n
TA: I\u2019ve always wanted to be a soldier. A little military action figure. They have a thing called GI Joe in the US \u2013 a male Barbie you can dress up in fatigues. I lost interest pretty fast. I just wanted the equipment. A machine gun would have been more interesting.<\/p>\n
TH: One of the best toys that I ever had was a rotorcraft, which was essentially a boomerang. If you threw it the right way \u2013 at two o\u2019clock into the wind \u2013 it would come right back to you. It was great for the three hours I had it until it landed in a tree. I never saw it again.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s hopeless and all up to us. And we got a 50\/50 shot at setting the atmosphere on fire\u2019 \u2026\u00a0Hanks and Allen at the London premiere. Photograph: Anthony Harvey\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
TA: I had a boomerang made of razor-thin, high-impact styrene that could cut you right open if it came back to you at speed. What could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n
TH: Well, chances are it\u2019s not gonna come back. Because you weren\u2019t throwing it at the right angle with the right wind.<\/p>\n
Can you remember being scared of a toy when you were a child or are there any that continue to freak you out? james__clayton
GL: I had a Mother Goose toy: a large bird with blinky eyes and a beak. It was battery-operated and would recite nursery stories. She was a little scary at night. I didn\u2019t like how she looked at me. She kept talking. Goose, let me rest! Me and my siblings had this whole thing of like: does she have free will? Why won\u2019t she turn off? Why does she watch us? So that was imaginative play at least.<\/p>\n
TH: I\u2019ve never liked mannequins. They are all essentially like a Twilight Zone episode. Like a corpse.<\/p>\n
TA: Lawn darts. A two-pound piece of steel, polished to a tip with wind vanes on it and a handle. You\u2019d whip it at the target about 40 yards away. The kids wanted to see if it hit, so they\u2019d stand by the target. It was amazing no one got it through the middle of their heads.<\/p>\n
TH: They are now illegal by order of the United Nations. You\u2019d be arrested by agents from Interpol.<\/p>\n
TA: I go to the dark web for them now.<\/p>\n
Joan, what are your thoughts on Buzz and Jessie\u2019s relationship? Broppy23
JC: Buzz is awesome. End of story. He\u2019s adorable. She likes hanging with him. A good match.<\/p>\n
Tim, what Space Ranger life advice would you give my two-year-old? KHausdelo88
TA: My three-year-old nephews can\u2019t get enough of Buzz and I tell them: you gotta keep him away from water. Don\u2019t take a bath with him. He doesn\u2019t like sand. He\u2019s used to being in outer space.<\/p>\n
TH: I\u2019d tell would-be Woodys: you\u2019re in charge. You\u2019re taller than most of them. You\u2019ve got a badge and you outsmart varmints and warn the bad guys to play nice. But use your authority with empathy.<\/p>\n
\u2018The films tackle the idea of the passage of time\u2019 \u2026 Joan Cusack and Greta Lee. Photograph: Jeff Spicer\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Why do you think the films have such a huge impact on adults? Flimfancy2710, Harrylime53, FranTindz
GL: The way they tackle the idea of the passage of time. Anything that touches on the idea of a child that is now an adult. A toy that used to be loved that is no longer loved. That really hits home with people trying to reckon with this idea of having one life to live.<\/p>\n
TA: At the premiere I saw the same look on faces from three different generations. I think this is honest art. Like Dostoevsky\u2019s The Brothers Karamazov on some sombre, wonderful level.<\/p>\n