{"id":2732,"date":"2026-06-22T23:35:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732"},"modified":"2026-06-22T23:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:35:26","slug":"tom-hanks-says-disney-could-use-ai-to-recreate-woodys-voice-for-toy-story-6-and-beyond-if-he-doesnt-return-its-a-scary-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732","title":{"rendered":"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\nTom Hanks is back as Woody in \u201cTop Story 5,\u201d which set a franchise record with its massive $312 million worldwide opening. Given the enduring popularity of the 31-year-old franchise, people are already wondering if \u201cToy Story 6\u201d is an inevitability. But would two-time Oscar winner Hanks return as Woody in a sixth movie?<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Kennedy\u2019 Stars Nick Robinson and Laura Donnelly on Why Series Isn\u2019t Leaning Into Family\u2019s Signature Boston Accent<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you\u2019re gonna do another\u00a0\u2018Toy Story,\u2019 it better be worthwhile,\u201d Hanks told Entertainment Weekly. \u201cIt better be great. You better be examining some theme that is not just dragging it out because people like the title. I mean, it is a huge corporate business without a doubt, I\u2019m not gonna discount that. But unless it\u2019s good, new, fresh, there\u2019s no reason to do it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, Hanks is also aware that Disney probably doesn\u2019t even need him to return as Woody if it wants to make \u201cToy Story 6.\u201d The studio has access to so much recorded dialogue of Hanks as Woody over the last 31 years that AI could easily string words together into new sentences in order to bring Woody back for \u201cToy Story 6\u201d without Hanks\u2019 physical participation. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTime is undefeated,\u201d Hanks said. \u201cThe question would be whether or not we could cobble together some version of me. Every word we have ever recorded in time in\u00a0\u2018Toy Story\u2019\u00a0is on digital media somewhere, so they could put together anything they would want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Ryan Beatty on How Finding Happiness in Love Shaped His New Album \u2018Sweet Fortune\u2019: \u2018This Record Has a Really Big Heart to It\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tHanks and his longtime co-star Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear) both agreed the idea is \u201ca scary thought.\u201d During an interview on\u00a0\u201cThe Adam Buxton Podcast\u201d in 2023, Hanks spoke about how AI and deepfake technology could mean that death is no longer the end of an actors\u2019 career.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer \u2014 literally what we looked like \u2014 was a movie called \u2018The Polar Express,\u2019\u201d Hanks said, referring to Robert Zemeckis\u2019 2004 Christmas movie. \u201cWe saw this coming, we saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones from inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. That has only grown a billion-fold since then and we see it everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHanks said that because of AI and deepfake technology, it\u2019s now possible for him to pitch multiple movies in which he would appear as a 32 year old, adding: \u201cAnybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that\u2019s it, but performances can go on and on and on and on. Outside the understanding of AI and deepfake, there\u2019ll be nothing to tell you that it\u2019s not me and me alone. And it\u2019s going to have some degree of lifelike quality. That\u2019s certainly an artistic challenge but it\u2019s also a legal one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Eamon Farren, Arlo Green, Miranda Otto and Sacha Horler Join Hugo Weaving in Australian Legal Drama \u2018The Great White\u2019 From \u2018Slow Horses\u2019 Banner See-Saw (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cToy Story 5\u201d is now playing in theaters nationwide.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Hanks says Disney could use AI to keep Woody going in ‘Toy Story 6’ and beyond without his participation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1543,755],"class_list":["post-2732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-tom-hanks","tag-toy-story-5"],"yoast_head":"\nTom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019 - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tom Hanks says Disney could use AI to keep Woody going in 'Toy Story 6' and beyond without his participation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-22T23:35:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"headline\":\"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-22T23:35:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732\"},\"wordCount\":587,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Tom Hanks,\",\"Toy Story 5\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Film\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732\",\"name\":\"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019 - Relocation Observer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-22T23:35:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp\",\"width\":999,\"height\":563},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2732#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Observer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019 - Relocation Observer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019 - Relocation Observer","og_description":"Tom Hanks says Disney could use AI to keep Woody going in 'Toy Story 6' and beyond without his participation.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732","og_site_name":"Relocation Observer","article_published_time":"2026-06-22T23:35:26+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"headline":"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019","datePublished":"2026-06-22T23:35:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732"},"wordCount":587,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp","keywords":["Tom Hanks,","Toy Story 5"],"articleSection":["Film"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732","name":"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019 - Relocation Observer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-22T23:35:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91541ac3fbb50cd0ddbc11fcda376ca5.webp","width":999,"height":563},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2732#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tom Hanks Says Disney Could Use AI to Recreate Woody\u2019s Voice for \u2018Toy Story 6\u2019 and Beyond If He Doesn\u2019t Return: \u2018It\u2019s a Scary Thought\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/","name":"Relocation Observer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationobserver.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}