Jessie (Toy Story)

Jessie
File:Jessietoystory3.jpg Jessie in a promotional poster of Toy Story 3
First appearance	Toy Story 2 (1999)
Created by	John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Ash Brannon, and Andrew Stanton
Portrayed by	Joan Cusack (speaking) Mary Kay Bergman (yodeling)
In-universe information
Nickname	Jess Bazooka Jane Princess of the Prairie
Species	Human pull-string doll
Gender	Female
Occupation	Cowgirl
Family	Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Bullseye, Buttercup, Dolly, Trixie, Totoro, Mr. Pricklepants, Chuckles, the Peas-in-a-Pod, and the Aliens

Jessie, the Yodeling Cowgirl is a fictional character who is the main tritagonist of the films Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. At Christmas in 1999, the Wall Street Journal called Jessie toys among the hottest of the season. In the movie, she is a very rare toy modeled after a character on the fictional television show Woody's Roundup, where the characters included Sheriff Woody, Jessie, Stinky Pete the Prospector and Bullseye, Woody's horse. Her hair is formed in a ponytail braid tied with a bow. Jessie the doll has a character very similar to the one portrayed on the television show. She is excitable, brave and very athletic. The doll, however, carries a great deal of sadness, as she was abandoned by her original owner, which left her somewhat distrustful. Years of being in storage have made her somewhat withdrawn, and noticeably afraid of the dark, to the extent of hyperventilating whenever she is inside dark enclosed spaces, or even at just the thought of being abandoned.

But she longs to again be a source of joy to a child, and this wish comes true at the end of Toy Story 2 when Andy accepted her (and Bullseye) into his toy collection. In Toy Story 3, while she still displays signs of the fear of the dark, storage, and being abandoned in the beginning when she and the toys mistakenly believe that they are being thrown away by Andy, throughout the rest of the film, she appears to be more loyal, confident and helpful to others, in the process developing a romantic relationship with Buzz Lightyear.

Jessie also makes a cameo in Monsters, Inc. as one of Boo's toys that she gives to Sulley.

She was voiced by Joan Cusack in the film (late voice actress Mary Kay Bergman voiced her yodels and speaking role of the TV show).

In October 2000, Jessie received the Patsy Montana Entertainer Award from the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. She is also portrayed by Devon Dawson live on stage as a guest with Riders in the Sky in their concert and plays the guitar.

Appearances

Toy Story 2

When Jessie is introduced, she tackles Woody with excitement about finally meeting a Woody doll. She is happy that she and the other toys are finally going to come out of storage and go to the toy museum in Japan that they are destined for.

It is Jessie who introduced Woody to the facts about the character on which he is based. She shows him a large array of merchandise based on "Woody's Roundup" and Stinky Pete explains how the show was canceled after the launch of Sputnik and the resulting interest in the Space Race and science fiction, diminishing the popularity of westerns.

When Woody indicates that he has no intention of going to Japan, she becomes bitter, and Woody comes to suspect her of attempting to sabotage his escape, including waking Al to prevent Woody from recovering his damaged arm. After Woody is fixed, he learns Jessie's tragic back story about her previous owner. Emily, a young girl who owned Jessie had loved her just like Andy loves Woody, but as she grew older found more 'grown-up things' like make-up to play with, forgetting all about Jessie. Years later, Emily found Jessie under the bed and spent one last day with her on a car trip, only to place her in a charity box. Woody, realizing he could easily suffer the same fate with Andy, then chooses to stay, which Jessie finds absolutely thrilling, especially when he begins to anticipate his journey to Japan in excitement.

Ultimately, it is Stinky Pete that is revealed as the attempted saboteur when Woody finally decides to take Jessie and Bullseye with him back to Andy's room. Because of Stinky Pete's sabotage, Al packs the roundup gang into the case and heads for the airport. There, Buzz Lightyear and the toys free Woody and gets rid of the vile Stinky Pete, but Jessie still remains trapped as the case gets loaded into the luggage transporter, while Bullseye manages to escape in time. Buzz and Woody mount Bullseye and chase after the luggage transporter, which Woody climbs onto.

Woody follows the case into the plane's cargo hold and frees Jessie from inside. When Woody offers to take Jessie to Andy's home with him, she is rather uncertain at first, but eagerly accepts when she learns from Woody that Andy has a baby sister named Molly. However, the two toys become trapped in the cargo hold, but Woody locates another escape hatch. Using his pull-string, Woody and Jessie swing down from the plane and land on Bullseye right behind Buzz just before the plane takes off. At the very end of the film, when Andy returns from camp after the toys return home, he is pleased to have the new toys added into his collection, calling Jessie "Bazooka Jane", and Buzz seems to have developed a romantic interest in her, nervously complimenting her hair.

Touched and amused by this comment, Jessie, in return, describes Buzz as "the sweetest space toy she has ever met". Then, Andy's dog, Buster, has to go outside...and Jessie finds the toy racetrack, and rides on top of a toy car, yodeling, to the door. Buzz gets impressed by this, to the point where his wings suddenly pop open. Shortly after, she and Buzz are seen together with Woody and Bo Peep as they watch Wheezy sing "You've Got a Friend in Me."

Toy Story 3

In Toy Story 3, after Andy seemingly throws them away, it is Jessie who convinces the other toys to be given to Sunnyside Daycare, refusing to relive the trauma she felt when she was given away by Emily. She fails to realize that Andy intended to put them in the attic and that his mother threw them out by accident, and stubbornly refuses to listen to Woody when he tries to clear up the misunderstanding, arguing that Andy has moved on and that they must do the same.

Jessie is thrilled to learn that the children at Sunnyside are replaced with new children when they grow older, meaning the toys will never be outgrown. She tries to persuade Woody to join the others in beginning their lives anew at the daycare, but Woody reluctantly calls her selfish and leaves to return to Andy alone, leaving Jessie hurt and saddened. Shortly after, she and the other toys discover they have been placed in a room with very young children, who roughly yet innocently abuse them. During that, Jessie got her hair painted green.

Afterward, Mrs. Potato Head sees Andy searching for his missing toys through her eye that was left in his room, allowing Jessie and the others to realize that they were wrong about Andy. They decide to return home, but are instead imprisoned in the daycare by Lotso, who had also reset Buzz into thinking he is a space ranger again and turned him against them. All the toys have left for company is Woody's hat, which was left behind during his escape. Fearing the worst had befallen Woody, Jessie is left in her cell feeling incredibly guilty.

Following another rough play date with the young children, Andy's toys are reunited with Woody, who had returned to rescue his friends. Jessie apologizes for not listening to Woody, who apologizes in return for leaving. The toys carry out their plan to break out of Sunnyside but matters are further complicated when they accidentally reset Buzz into a Spanish version of his deluded self. Jessie is initially uncomfortable with this change, but is quickly won over by his charms. It is also only through this that Buzz finally notices Jessie's deep romantic feelings for him.

When the toys get stuck in a garbage truck along with Lotso, Jessie is heroically rescued from being buried in trash by Buzz, who is then nearly crushed by a falling television set. Jessie despairs over Buzz's apparent death, but he soon emerges unscathed and with his normal personality restored by the hit. She passionately kisses him on the cheek over and over, happy to see that he is alive and to say thanks for saving her. The toys are then dumped in a landfill and wind up falling towards an incinerator while Lotso escapes and ends up being strapped to a garbageman's truck along with a few other toys. Fearing that this could be how it all ends for them, Buzz takes Jessie's hand, which results in the other toys doing the same.

Just as the toys are about to meet their end in the flames, they are all scooped up in a crane operated by the Squeeze Toy Aliens. Once they are safe outside the incinerator, Jessie and Buzz's mutual looks indicate the clear understanding of their feelings for each other. The toys return home to Andy and prepare to be stored in the attic; with Woody's intervention, though, they are instead given to Bonnie, a girl who took Woody to her home while he was away. Andy plays with his toys one last time, giving her the closure to lovingly see her old owner off to college. Jessie quickly adapts to her new life as one of Bonnie's toys and, at one point, decides to take advantage of Buzz's Spanish side so they can dance together to "Hay Un Amigo En Mí" (a Spanish version of "You've Got a Friend in Me").

She reappeared in Hawaiian Vacation that was added with Cars 2.

Mary Kay Bergman committed suicide before this film was made, so Joan Cusack asked the crew to allow her to voice Jessie's yodeling and they accepted her. It is also recorded for the doll of her character as part of the merchandise. The doll itself has become a massive hit and most playable character

Personality

Jessie refuses to reveal her weaknesses to the other toys, but a lot of them are clearly shown and mentioned in both films; but all of the toys accept them. She is sassy, sweet, rambunctious and adventurous. Just like the rest of Andy's toys, she also tends to be quite stubborn. She has a fear of abandonment which was caused when her first owner, Emily, gave her away to a charity. This fear causes her to hyperventilate. She also suffers from nyctophobia and claustrophobia which also triggers her hyperventilation or panic attacks. These two phobias were developed when Al put her into storage. She is also shown to be a third leader to Andy's toys as they listen to her when Woody and Buzz aren't around.

Relationships

Woody and Jessie share a sibling-like relationship. Since meeting each other in Al's penthouse, the two share a close bond. The two are shown to have pretty heated arguments from time to time, but deeply care for each other.

Both Bullseye and Jessie bonded in Woody's Roundup. Since then the two have been inseparable. The two are almost never seen without the other being close behind.

Her relationship with Buzz was only hinted at the end of Toy Story 2 when Buzz became instantly infatuated with her looks and her adventurous personality. In Toy Story 3, their relationship hadn't evolved much since Toy Story 2, but it's shown that Jessie is fond of Buzz, and he is protective of her. After their "Operation: Playtime" plan failed, Buzz gives an exceptionally sad look to Jessie as she climbs out of the box, and he also gives her sympathetic looks when she has panic attacks and when they argue about going to Sunnyside. Before getting taken to Sunnyside, Buzz is shown being a little more concerned over Jessie when she goes into a panic attack and says "We're being abandoned!". Even later, in the demo mode which he is put in by Lotso and his minions, he remains attracted to Jessie, calling her a "temptress" with "bewitching good looks." Then again, after being reset into Spanish Mode, Buzz is shown to be even more attracted and open towards her, calling her (in Spanish) "my desert flower", dancing around her and asking her to join him in his adventures exploring the galaxy, shielding her from Mr. Potato Head when he saw him as a threat, getting jealous when she hugged Woody, and saving her from not only being pinned under the trash, but from a falling TV set. Jessie first shows signs of strong feelings for Buzz during this rescue and when he is first thought to have perished after the TV set falls on him, she is clearly in despair. She even kisses him on the cheek when Buzz woke up. But it is actually during the incinerator scene when they truly realize their feelings for each other, and after the group is rescued, only Buzz and Jessie continue to be holding hands after the claw delivers them all to safety. At the end of Toy Story 3, the two seem to finally seal their relationship, with Jessie taking the initiative for the two to dance an exciting paso doble which ends the movie.

Merchandising

Disney heavily promoted Jessie following the release of Toy Story 2, as she gave them a character that they could market to girls, something the original film did not really provide. Among the items released were:

• Several 10" and 12" fashion-style dolls
• Several plush and rag doll-type dolls
• Action figures in the Toy Story 2 and Toy Story and Beyond lines.
• Wallets, purses and other accessories for girls
• Nightlights and other bedroom accessories
• Costumes and dress-up sets
• High-end sculptures and collectibles
• t-shirt times[sydney's face]