New Character in TOY STORY 4 Promotes Friendship!
Behind the Scenes of TOY STORY 4 With Ally Maki
By Tess Farrand, Staff Writer
By now you can name several dynamic duos from the TOY STORY movies. Woody and Buzz, Mr. and Mrs. Potato head, Jessie and Bullseye and now: Bo Peep and Giggle McDimples!
The new character Giggle is voiced by television and movie actress Ally Maki. The Japanese-American actress came to Hollywood at 14 years old and was beyond thankful to receive an opportunity to voice a new character in the TOY STORY franchise. “It’s truly been a dream come true…. My whole childhood aligned with the franchise” Maki told Movieguide®. She continued, “I truly think of Buzz and Woody as my friends that I grew up with.”
Maki gained the role after a blind casting experience orchestrated by Pixar. To aspiring entertainers, she imparted her take on getting noticed in Hollywood, “I try to tell everyone, ‘make your own content and keep making… the most important thing is making your own body of work.”
Maki drew attention to something that TOY STORY 4 promotes significantly: the strong friendship between her character and the fan-favorite character Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts of GHOSTBUSTERS and MEN IN TREES). Maki mentioned, “I love Giggle because she’s unabashedly unafraid to be herself.” As for what Giggle means to Bo Peep, “she’s Bo’s closest confidant and friend.”
During production, Maki explained that the cast oftentimes doesn’t have visuals to work with while providing voice performances. So as a child might, she needed to pull inspiration for the character from her imagination in tandem with the script.
TOY STORY 4 also nods to the idea of starting a new chapter as a family. After the official TOY STORY 4 premiere, Maki got the surprise of a lifetime when her boyfriend got down on one knee and proposed to her! In a way, she feels that TOY 4 marks a new chapter for many of the characters as well as her current season of life. When asked about the correlation, Maki beamed saying, “I feel like this whole process… it does feel like the start to an amazing new chapter in my life.”
See the full review of TOY STORY 4 here.
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