# Toy Story- No gun for Woody? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325 "2005-03-07T06:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/21 "2005-03-08T00:15:21Z")
Random trivia bit: The original movie website for TS1 said that Woody’s gun was inside Hamm the piggy bank. How it got there, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/22 "2005-03-08T00:51:38Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > See, I had kinda thought of that theory, that only “character” toys came to life but the Etch-A-Sketch kinda ruined it for me. Plus, the sheparedess is actually a _lamp_. Sure, but Bo Peep ends up getting used by Andy as a “damsel in distress” for a lot of his adventures, so she ends up getting “brought to life” that way Etch is still a stretch, but there are too many good jokes involved, so I can forgive that. 😉 Besides, I doubt the **ToyStory** verse is really _supposed_ to make sense… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/23 "2005-03-08T00:52:48Z")
> [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > Random trivia bit: The original movie website for TS1 said that Woody’s gun was inside Hamm the piggy bank. How it got there, I have no idea. Want me to theorise? ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/24 "2005-03-08T01:12:05Z")
i wasn’t aware I had to give you permission. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/25 "2005-03-08T01:39:59Z")
Wasn’t there also a Speak and Spell that came to life in the first movie? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/26 "2005-03-08T07:34:28Z")
Mr. Spell was featured in both movies; Woody even makes references to the seminars he gives to the other toys (“Plastic Corrosion Meeting” and “what to Do If You (Or Part of You) Is Swallowed”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/27 "2005-03-08T09:12:40Z")
I think you have to have some kind of anthropomorphistic face in order to be alive. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any toys in the movie that were alive that didn’t have such a thing… ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/28 "2005-03-08T09:56:14Z")
Given that Hamm is referred to as "slotted pig’ by the second Buzz in TS2, Woody’s apparent loss of his gun, or symbolic phallus, to the pig is clearly an extension of the castration metaphor referenced earlier: ostensibly an Oedipal reflection of Woody’s fear of transacting a sexual relationship for fear of incurring the wrath of his symbolic father, but on a deeper level as a foreshadowing of his emergent conflict between a “conventional” heterosexual identity and his later clearly established homosexuality. Assuming that his “gun” vanished down the pig’s “slot” - a clear vaginal metaphor - the trope being referenced is that of the _vagina dentata_, the toothed {or devouring/castrating} vagina, underscoring Woody’s reluctance or inability to form a mature sexual relationship with a woman: this is further supported by the pig’s traditionally unclean or taboo nature, strongly marked in several cultures. Those with a penchant for wordplay may care to reflect upon the similarities between the words “slot” and “slut” - in either of his incarnations, Woody’s sexual partner Buzz also obviously regards Hamm as being both female and unclean. Woody has thus been “unmanned” by a female orifice he regards as being both dangerous and repugnant, an establishment early in the narrative of his underlying sexual proclivity: as noted above, he can only be “remanned” by the acquisition of the phallic match - significantly gifted to him by another male in the form of Sid, and used to cement his relationship with Buzz by providing the means of their flight together. Significantly, however, Woody’s match is extinguished at the moment of their “consumnation”, as his initial distaste for this form of relationship attempts to figuratively reassert itself: it is left to the focussing powers of Buzz’s helmet {an obvious reference to the _glans penis_, as well as a subliminal pun on “giving head”} to provide the final impetus, or “thrust”. The answer to the question posed earlier in the narrative, “What to do if part of you is swallowed.”, is thus established to be, in Woody’s case, “relax and enjoy it.” ---
**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/29 "2005-03-08T11:01:54Z")
More applause. But what about Hamm’s cork? And where does Potato (ahem) Head and all his moveable parts fit in. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/30 "2005-03-08T13:44:04Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > The answer to the question posed earlier in the narrative, “What to do if part of you is swallowed.”, is thus established to be, in Woody’s case, “relax and enjoy it.” Yeah! Now that is some great reading of depth into the movie. Personaly, I always prefered the one that theorized that Buzz was a deconverting fundamentalist christian, but then I would have made up my own version even if a friend hadn’t already told me that idea. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/31 "2005-03-08T14:51:11Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think you have to have some kind of anthropomorphistic face in order to be alive. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any toys in the movie that were alive that didn’t have such a thing… Other than RC Car, Etch-a-sketch, and Speak-n-spell, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/32 "2005-03-08T14:57:02Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > Two, I don’t get the impression that the toys automatically lapse into stillness when humans are around, more that it’s a rule they have to follow. So what about the toys like the new Buzz and Zurg (sp?) that don’t _know_ they’re toys? How come they don’t move in front of humans? I have a fairly good reason for Buzz: he’s on a secret mission, or so he thinks, so he doesn’t want to reveal himself to the kid. Don’t know about Zurg, though. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/33 "2005-03-08T15:00:01Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Other than RC Car, Etch-a-sketch, and Speak-n-spell, of course. Etch and Mr. Spell do not have faces, but RC Car does. His headlights are the eyes and his bumper forms the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/34 "2005-03-08T15:03:01Z")
OK, I’ll give you that one. Seems like a stretch, though. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/35 "2005-03-08T15:08:56Z")
If I was a kid who had Woody, but he didn’t have his gun, it’s a pretty safe bet that I swallowed it. In light of **Case Sensitive** ’s post, I’m rather uncomfortable with this admission. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/36 "2005-03-08T15:24:29Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > … in which Buzz both literally and figuratively grasps Woody by the waist and takes him from behind. It was at this point that I started laughing uncontrollably. Best. Post. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/37 "2005-03-08T17:59:10Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Etch and Mr. Spell do not have faces, but RC Car does. His headlights are the eyes and his bumper forms the mouth. 'Course Etch can draw a face and Mr. Spell is able to speak without one. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/38 "2005-03-08T19:18:43Z")
I don’t believe that the presence or absence of anthropomorphic facial features is the determining factor in whether a toy animates or not. Rather, the question is: Is it the toy iteslf that we are concerning ourselves with, or is it an accessory? Mr. Spell and Etch-a-Sketch are fully-actualized toys; they are not accessories to some other, more major toy. As such, they are endowed with the ability to animate when nobody (human) is around, their lack of faces notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/39 "2005-03-08T19:35:27Z")
> [@](#): > > the trope being referenced is that of the vagina dentata, the toothed {or devouring/castrating} vagina, underscoring Woody’s reluctance or inability to form a mature sexual relationship with a woman Sheesh! It’s a cartoon! ::ponders driving over to Pixar and asking John Lasseter what it’s all about:: As for restoration - it’s impossible to restore an item to NIB (new, in box) condition, mainly because no level of restoration can ever allow you to describe an item as NIB. New, in box is just that - new and in the box. Not opened. Not taken out. Nothing’s been lost. At best, the item is restored. Restoration generally means cleaned up, possibly repainted and mended. If a part is lost, (e.g.: a revolver) it’s lost and generally not replaceable. Keep in mind that “restored” items often suffer severe loss of value to collectors since they’re no longer original. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325/40 "2005-03-08T19:49:52Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Sheesh! It’s a cartoon! Gah! I hate when people say that! Just for that, I am going to quote my earlier answer, from post 12. > [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > ::acts like Woody was a real action figure:: > > Well, you see, the character of Woody had a gun in the first few episodes, but due to an oversight, there never was any such thing a Woody action figure with a gun, not even at the prototype stage. The episodes containing the use of guns to shoot down chandeliers, and other gun tricks that did not involving direct shooting other characters were not shown in syndication, except in Costa Rica, and French Polynesia.\* Fans from those two countires are quite irate that the reissued anniversary Woody action-figure will not include a gun in the holster, since that is the way they remember him. The figure will be avalible in both black & white paint jobs, and a “perfect reproduction” paint job, avalible late next year. > > \*As for the infamous “Paste-Pot Pete” episode, made late in the series production, well, sometimes it is best to just forget. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toy-story-no-gun-for-woody/293325.md?page=3)