For generations, kids have grown up with the Toy Story movies, and many can likely quickly tell you that Tom Hanks is the voice of Woody. The Castaway actor first lent his voice to this character back in 1995. Now, he’s set to reprise the role a fifth time, when Toy Story 5 is released in theaters this summer as part of the 2026 movie schedule. However, I just found out that Tom Hanks was not the only sheriff in town. His brother Jim Hanks occasionally voiced Woody for Disney, and his first time doing it was for an iconic moment.
Several of Tom Hanks’ best films came out in the ‘90s alongside Toy Story, like Saving Private Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle, and Forrest Gump. So while Toy Story was a smash hit, he didn’t always have the time to do extra voice work for the series. Luckily, the Big actor had the perfect built-in voice-double. His younger brother Jim Hanks is also an actor and filmmaker, and the two look and sound nearly identical, even more so back in the day. Jim told Love-It Film he’s been voicing the iconic cowboy alongside his brother since the early days, revealing how he’s able to match the You’ve Got Mail actor’s performance:
My own version is as close as I can get to Tom. Generally, I’m just trying to be as close to Tom and Tom’s performance as I possibly can. I’ve been doing Woody for so long, I get what he’s trying to do. Mostly, I’ll get a sample of something.
For the actual Toy Story movies, the voice of Woody is Tom Hanks. The Sully actor has been in the recording booth for all four installments of the franchise thus far, and teased he’s once again back in Disney Pixar’s Studio B, laying down lines for Toy Story 5.
I can’t believe the Toy Story series has been going for 31 years and counting, and neither can its cast. The original Toy Story was a hit when it came out in 1995, and became the first feature film to be made entirely with computer animation. As much as it was a big deal for Disney, it was also right smack in the middle of the most successful stretch of Tom Hanks’ career. His only two Oscars happened in the same years they were making Toy Story, one in 1994 for Philadelphia, and one in 1995 for Forrest Gump.
Needless to say, Tom Hanks was booked and busy, but Disney was desperate to capitalize on the success of Woody. Jim Hanks revealed that most of his work as Andy’s favorite toy is for commercial efforts, and that the first time he ever put on the cowboy hat was to voice Woody’s signature catchphrases for the physical doll to be sold on shelves:
The first thing I ever did was one of the pull-string toys from the first movie where he’s saying ‘You’re my favorite deputy’ and ‘There’s a snake in my boot’ and stuff like that. And I listened to Tom doing those. And they had processed the voice so much that they needed a cleaner [version] so I come in and do it, and Tom’s like stupidly busy. So he doesn’t have a lot of time to do it, and I am immensely grateful that I get to do it.
Wow, I can’t believe one of the most iconic uses of Woody’s voice is actually Jim Hanks. Basically, anything that’s not a part of the feature-length Toy Story films, Woody is voiced by the youngest Hanks brother. Hear Woody on an attraction at Disneyland? Jim Hanks. Woody appears in a commercial on TV? Jim Hanks! He even voices Woody in all of Disney Pixar’s Toy Story Shorts, including 2020’s Lamp Life.
I honestly have never noticed the difference, and I bet most fans haven’t either, which just goes to show how fantastic an actor Jim Hanks is. At the end of the day, he actually has more credits as Woody than the Apollo 13 actor. Go figure! However, the younger Hanks doesn’t seem to mind that Tom Hanks gets all the cred for the sheriff–he just seems happy to be a part of the journey.
What a journey it has been, too. Many fans thought Toy Story 4 brought a perfect end to Woody’s story, as he rode off into the sunset with Bo Peep and the lost toys. Yet Tom Hanks has been confirmed to return with his buddy Tim Allen for the upcoming sequel. Be sure to catch Toy Story 5 when it hits theaters on June 19 to see all your favorite toys back in action.
