Joss Whedon Spills the beans on Toy Story

Joss Whedon (imdb), creator of the very successful Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel TV series, got his start as part of the Walt Disney Feature Animation stable. He wanted to write the next big animated musical for the mouse, but instead, he was asked to script doctor Toy Story, the first film in the collabaration between Pixar and Disney.

We were still casting. Ironically, Disney put the kibosh on the person they wanted for Buzz Lightyear because he wasn’t famous enough, so we couldn’t use Jim Carrey. But they had Tom Hanks in place. It was basically finding the voices and sitting with them while they came up with the gags and going over the boards and working with Jeffrey Katzenberg. It was a great, great process because you’re sitting around with a bunch of animators who are basically drawing caricatures of each other, getting Sharpie headaches and making a lot of jokes, and they’re the sweetest bunch of guys.

In Focus, a publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners, has just published a long interview with Whedon. It includes lots of juicy details from his days with Disney and beyond (including his upcoming project Wonder Woman). He is currently wrapping up work on his next film Serenity (imdb), which is based on the fan supported but seldom watched Firefly show.

This is a wonderful look at the workings of this uniquely talented Hollywood star. Definately worth a read.

[ttags: disney, pixar, disneyblog, firefly, toystory, serenity, whedon, joss+whedon, animation, film, television ]