When Toy Story 4 hit theaters last year, one of the most satisfying aspects of the tale was seeing the return of Bo Peep, Woody’s lost love turned lost toy. Bo was a little damaged, but stronger for it, and her spunk, optimism, and sense of adventure helped Woody imagine a life for himself beyond waiting around for a kid to remember him.
While we got to spend plenty of time with the scrappy porcelain figure as she reconnected with Woody in the film, it was clear that there was still a lot we didn’t know about what happened to Bo between the events of Toy Story 2 and her return in Toy Story 4. Luckily, Lamp Life, a new animated short film from Pixar, aims to fill in at least some of the gaps in Bo’s story.
Written and directed by Valerie LaPointe (who was Story Supervisor on Toy Story 4), the charming seven-minute short allows Bo to recount her hilarious adventures to Woody firsthand, and we’ve got an exclusive sneak peek at the short – which you can watch in the player above or below – ahead of the film’s release on Disney+ on January 31. Annie Potts once again lends her voice to the resilient Bo, alongside Ali Maki reprising her role as Giggle McDimples, while Jim Hanks, brother of Tom, voices Woody (and you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference).
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LaPointe tells IGN that the writers had left “a lot on the cutting room floor as far as Bo’s story goes” after Toy Story 4, which gave her a clear idea of some of the plot points she wanted to hit in Lamp Life.
“In the earliest reels [of Toy Story 4] there was even a flashback scene where Bo told her story and we saw what happened to her. She was given away, sent to thrift stores, passed to various children. A lot of it was very dramatic and moving, though sad and full of trials. I pulled a few of the most memorable ideas,” she says. “I wanted to portray Bo as having grown through her experience and someone who can laugh at the absurdity in her trials, now that she is on the other side – the way a stand-up comedian would recount something that is actually awful, but we can all laugh at in the re-telling. I definitely had a hilarious brainstorming session with some veteran gag people at Pixar like Jeff Pidgeon and Bob Peterson to come up with new funny moments.”
The film is slightly longer than a typical short, LaPointe notes, because of the flexibility of the Disney+ streaming format; and that freedom also extended to how the short is structured.
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“I was very excited to tell this story through flashback jump-cuts, having Bo’s lamp as the central image, until she decides to break free from it. So there were a ton of ideas and everything seemed on the table,” she explains, revealing that in terms of things they weren’t able to include, “a handful of jokes or ideas were cut to make the pace and overall feel move. One thing I was bummed to cut out was showing the moment that Giggle and Bo met for the first time in the store. It was a little too much to plug into what we were doing, but who knows, maybe that’s a story for another film.”
After the experience of developing Bo’s character in Toy Story 4, LaPointe admits that “having the chance to let a film completely be about her was extremely satisfying and fun. She is such a charming and interesting character, with a big mystery hanging over her, even after you see Toy Story 4: what happened to make her a lost toy? It’s a massive leap from her former life. It was a huge challenge to make all the pieces fit, but a fun one. It could be anything! So we had a blast brainstorming, then pulling random set pieces from the antique store to create all the wild places she is taken to. Her character is an adventurous spirit, with the grit to persist, and the imagination to tell her story how she experienced it. That meant I could indulge her in as many, if not more crazy adventures than Buzz and Woody. She definitely needed her own film!”
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Lamp Life’s release date is set for January 31 on Disney+, while Toy Story 4 will be added to Disney+ beginning February 5. The first three movies and animated series Forky Asks a Question are already available to stream.
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Source: IGN.com What Happened to Bo Peep After Toy Story 2? This Short Reveals All