Honestly, it’s wild to think about how close we came to never seeing the version of Toy Story 2 we all know and love. Back in the late nineties, Disney was pushing for this thing to be a straight-to-video sequel. Cheap. Quick. Forgettable. But the Pixar crew basically staged a rebellion because they knew the story—and the specific magic of the Toy Story 2 voice actors—deserved the big screen.
The movie ended up being a rare case where the sequel might actually be better than the original. A lot of that comes down to the performances. You’ve got the returning heavy hitters like Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, sure, but the new additions like Joan Cusack and Kelsey Grammer added a layer of emotional weight that most "kids' movies" wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
The Chemistry of Woody and Buzz
You can’t talk about this movie without starting at the top. Tom Hanks (Woody) and Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear) are the bedrock. What’s interesting about their process is that while most animated films have actors record in total isolation, Hanks and Allen have famously tried to record together whenever possible.
They wanted that snappy, bickering-energy. You can hear it in the scene where Buzz tries to convince a depressed, "museum-bound" Woody to come home. It doesn't sound like two guys reading lines in a booth; it sounds like two best friends having a legitimate heart-to-heart.
Hanks has often mentioned how physically exhausting voicing Woody is. He’s constantly yelling, gasping, or running in place to get the "breathiness" right. By the time he finishes a session for Toy Story 2, he’s usually a sweaty mess. That’s commitment.
Joan Cusack and the Heartbreak of Jessie
If there is a soul to this movie, it’s Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl. Voiced by Joan Cusack, Jessie brought a frantic, claustrophobic energy that gave the film its stakes.
Cusack is a legend for a reason. She has this specific way of making her voice crack—just a tiny bit—when she’s talking about being abandoned by her old owner, Emily. It’s devastating. Fun fact: while Cusack did all the speaking and the "firecracker" personality, the actual yodeling was handled by Mary Kay Bergman.
The New Recruits Who Stole the Show
It wasn't just about the cowgirl. The movie expanded the world by bringing in actors who felt like they had been there the whole time.
- Kelsey Grammer (Stinky Pete): Coming off the massive success of Frasier, Grammer brought a sophisticated, grandfatherly warmth to the Prospector—which made his eventual heel-turn so much more effective. He plays the "bitter toy" with such academic precision.
- Wayne Knight (Al McWhiggin): Basically playing a version of his Seinfeld character, Newman, but as a toy collector. He’s the perfect "love to hate" human villain.
- Estelle Harris (Mrs. Potato Head): She joined the cast in the sequel and immediately fit. Her chemistry with Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head) felt like a decades-old marriage because, well, that’s basically what they were playing.
The Bittersweet Legacy of Slinky and Potato Head
Looking back at the Toy Story 2 voice actors, there’s a bit of sadness mixed in with the nostalgia. This was the last time we got to hear Jim Varney as Slinky Dog. Varney, famous for his "Ernest" character, died shortly after the movie was released. He gave Slinky this incredibly loyal, "old soul" vibe that is hard to replicate. When the third movie came around, his friend Blake Clark took over, doing a beautiful job of honoring Varney’s tone.
Then you have Don Rickles. The legendary insult comic was the only person who could make a plastic potato sound like a cynical New Yorker. In later films, after Rickles passed away, Pixar actually had to mine through hours of his old voice captures and outtakes from the first two movies just to piece together his performance. That shows you how irreplaceable these voices are.
Why the Voice Work in Toy Story 2 is Technically Different
Most people don't realize that Pixar animates to the voice, not the other way around.
In a lot of anime or dubbed films, the actor has to match the mouth movements already on screen. At Pixar, the actors go into the booth first. They play around. They improvise. They go off-script.
The animators then take those specific "mouth shapes" and the "eyebrow raises" you can hear in the voice and build the character around it. When Rex (Wallace Shawn) sounds anxious, it’s because Wallace Shawn was being anxious in the booth, and the animators captured that exact vibration.
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The Side Characters You Forgot
We have to give flowers to the "one-scene wonders."
Jonathan Harris, famous from Lost in Space, voiced Geri the Cleaner (the old guy who fixes Woody). It’s a nearly silent sequence, but his grunts and clicks of the tongue are iconic.
And then there’s Robert Goulet. He provided the singing voice for Wheezy the Penguin at the end of the film. It was a total "Vegas lounge singer" moment that capped off the movie perfectly.
A Quick Look at the Main Cast
- Sheriff Woody: Tom Hanks
- Buzz Lightyear: Tim Allen
- Jessie: Joan Cusack
- Stinky Pete: Kelsey Grammer
- Mr. Potato Head: Don Rickles
- Slinky Dog: Jim Varney
- Rex: Wallace Shawn
- Hamm: John Ratzenberger
- Bo Peep: Annie Potts
- Al McWhiggin: Wayne Knight
- Mrs. Potato Head: Estelle Harris
- Sarge: R. Lee Ermey
- Barbie: Jodi Benson
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Fans
If you’re a fan of the franchise or just interested in how these things get made, there are a few things you can do to appreciate the work of the Toy Story 2 voice actors even more:
- Watch the "Woody's Roundup" scenes again: Pay attention to how Kelsey Grammer and Joan Cusack change their vocal styles to sound like they are on a 1950s puppet show versus how they talk in "real life."
- Listen for the "Jim Varney" grit: Since this was his final performance as Slinky, listen to the warmth he puts into the lines. It’s a masterclass in being a supporting character.
- Check out the Outtakes: The end-credits "blooper reel" for Toy Story 2 is legendary. It features the actors playing their characters as if they were real actors on a set. It’s one of the best uses of voice talent in animation history.
The legacy of this cast is why we are still talking about these toys over twenty-five years later. They didn't just read lines; they gave plastic objects a heartbeat.
To get the full experience, go back and watch the "When She Loved Me" sequence with the volume up and the distractions away. Notice how Joan Cusack’s voice acting carries the entire emotional weight of the film’s second act without ever becoming a caricature.