Tom Hanks had a feeling that Toy Story would be a very special film. And the superstar, who voiced the heroic cowboy Woody opposite Tim Allens Buzz Lightyear, wasnt exactly shocked that the film took off at the box office and spawned
Toy Story 2. That megahit sequel is now in theaters with Hanks back in the saddle as Woody. "I wasnt surprised, because I saw it just like everybody else," Hanks notes. "Providing a voice is just like digging raw material. You go in there and say your lines enough different ways so that the geniuses [at Pixar and Disney] can pick out which one to use. So, when I sat there and saw Toy Story for the first time, I couldnt put into words why it was as special as it was. But the writing was great, the execution was fantastic and it was actually a new art form.
"The second one is somehow better, I think, than the first one. Toy Story 2 is just different. Its bigger and broader. Theres just something about it thats more original than the original. But I bow down to the whole process there. My view of it is I stand in a dark room and talk into a microphone, and then they turn it into something else. I did the films because I wanted to be a part of this thing they were trying to do."
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