Bo Peep (Toy Story)

Bo Peep
Toy Story character
Bo Peep in her initial appearance in the Toy Story franchise.
First appearance	Toy Story (1995)
Last appearance	Lamp Life (2020)
Voiced by	Annie Potts (films) Rebecca Wink (Toy Story Racer) Rachael MacFarlane (Family Guy)
In-universe information
Species	Porcelain figurine
Gender	Female
Occupation	Shepherd
Significant other	Sheriff Woody

Bo Peep is a fictional character in the Toy Story franchise created by Pixar. The character is voiced by Annie Potts. Bo appears in the first two films as a supporting character, portrayed as a love interest to the protagonist, Sheriff Woody. After being given away prior to the events of Toy Story 3, Bo returns as a main character in Toy Story 4. She is inspired by the nursery rhyme "Little Bo-Peep".

Character design

Bo Peep was a secondary character in the first two films of the franchise, missing the main action in both of them. John Lasseter's wife Nancy considered that Jessie was a great addition to the cast in Toy Story 2, because she was perceived as a stronger character and with more substance than Bo.

A concept sketching Bo Peep's transformation from her first look to her appearance in Toy Story 4.

However, Bo was given a major role in Toy Story 4. Regarding the portrayal of Bo in this film, story artist Carrie Hobson explained to GameSpot that the production staff decided to redefine the character for the fourth installment, working to nail down specific personality traits and ultimately positioning her as "a character who decided she didn't just want to sit on a shelf waiting for life to happen. She learned to adapt." Stylist interviewed some members of the staff, who explained that they "were trying to create a very strong character." To reinforce that idea, we never wanted to see her hair move." Regarding her look, Kihm added: "she’s athletic, and perhaps her new outfit gives her this sense of freedom to express that athleticism."

Personality

Bo Peep is portrayed as a very romantic and levelheaded toy. She is depicted as gentle, ladylike, and kindhearted. She has strong feelings for Woody and cares for him, which cause her (along with Slinky) to give him the benefit of the doubt when he allegedly murders Buzz Lightyear, whom she clearly considers attractive as well, and consistently whispers to the wall her worries about where Woody could be. Despite this, she still behaves like a free spirit. She only believes what she has witnessed for herself, such as when she looks into Lenny's visor and sees Buzz riding behind Woody aboard RC, while the rest of the toys immediately take her word for it. By the time she is moved to Molly's room, she becomes more of a leader amongst her toys as she is described by Woody to be the most capable of easing Molly's cries at night which often caused great dismay to everyone.

Since she parted ways with Andy, Bo has taken on a different point of view in life. As a lost toy, she never worries about being loved by a child and is open to see the world.

Voice acting

Voice actress Annie Potts voiced the character in Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 4. Regarding the new portrayal of Bo in the fourth film, Potts told Glamour that Bo "is modern, independent, capable and confident. Bo is written and conceived to be inspiring as she has weathered life’s ups and downs with grace." Story supervisor Valerie LaPointe said that Potts gave this new version of Bo a deeper voice, more grit and natural charm. Directing animator Patty Kihm said: "If you look closely, you'll see cracking in her hair – this is a subtle but constant reminder to the audience that she's made of porcelain.

In the video game Toy Story Racer, Bo is voiced by Rebecca Wink.

Relationships

Woody

Bo Peep was Woody's love interest in Toy Story 1, 2 and 4. Early on in the first film, she is shown to want to spend some intimate time alone with him. When Andy receives a Buzz Lightyear, Woody feels jealous and replaced by the newer toy - Bo does all she can to reassure Woody that Andy still has a special place in his heart for him. Even aside of this, Bo cares deeply for Woody, illustrated when she is upset that the toys (except Slinky Dog and Rex) accuse Woody of deliberately pushing Buzz out of the window due to his jealousy. Later, she is shown to be devastated when she hears that Woody has also gone missing. She is relieved when she and the other toys see Woody in Sid's house the next day, however begins to doubt him when she notices he is holding Buzz's severed arm (Buzz's arm fell off when he attempted to fly out of the window earlier and Woody took it to impersonate Buzz when the latter refused to help him show the other toys he was still alive). Despite witnessing this, the night before Andy is scheduled to move house, Bo is shown to still be worried regarding Woody's whereabouts, suggesting that she still somewhat believes Woody would never have intentionally harmed Buzz. Bo is the first one to acknowledge that Woody was telling the truth when she sees him and Buzz riding on RC towards the moving van the next day. At the end of the film, her romantic feelings for Woody are evident when she kisses him repeatedly under the mistletoe during Christmas.

In Toy Story 2, Bo still maintains her care for Woody, assuring him that Andy will take him to summer camp even without his hat and calls him cute for caring about spending quality time with his owner. When Woody's arm gets ripped during playtime and he is put on the shelf, Bo is shown to be heartbroken. Later, when Al McWhiggin kidnaps Woody, Bo Peep is particularly devastated - when Buzz goes on a rescue mission, Bo gives him a kiss intended for Woody. At the end of the film, Bo is delighted that Woody is home safe.

In Toy Story 3, despite her departure, Woody still maintains his romantic feelings for Bo Peep. This is evident when Rex mentions her in the list of toys who are no longer part of the gang and Woody reacts with sadness.

In Toy Story 4, it is revealed that nine years earlier, after successfully aiding Woody, Buzz and Jessie in rescuing RC, Bo Peep was donated to another owner. Woody attempted to persuade her to come back to Andy but she rebuffs him (despite their obvious feelings for each other). After nine years, Woody and Bo Peep are reunited by chance at a carnival where Bo is now embracing life as a lost toy - it is noted by Bo Peep's new friend Giggle McDimples that Woody and Bo still obviously have feelings for one another (despite being separated for nine years). After reuniting with Buzz, Bo Peep attempts to help rescue Forky but after failing to do so, decides to give up. This leads to Bo and Woody having a heated argument which seems to result in them parting ways on bad terms. However, Bo eventually realises that she admires Woody for his persistence in attempting to rescue his friends and goes back for him. The two then reunite with Buzz and the rest of the gang - Woody becomes hesitant to return to Bonnie (his new owner who has been neglecting him). Buzz, realising that Woody still has feeling for Bo, encourages him to stay with her. Woody and Bo spend the rest of their life helping lost toys find owners.

Buzz Lightyear

Whilst not romantically involved with Buzz Lightyear, Bo Peep cares for him as a close friend, especially when Woody and Buzz overcome their heated rivalry and become best friends. In Toy Story, Bo Peep like the other toys is immediately fascinated with Buzz and his features, going as far as saying she wishes him to be her moving buddy. Throughout the movie, Bo attempts to stop Buzz from getting into trouble - for instance, when Buzz says he will try and stop Sid from blowing up a Combat Carl toy, Bo uses her cane to attempt to pull him back. When Buzz falls out of the window, Bo is shown to be worried, although refuses to believe Woody did this intentionally. Her concern for Buzz is also evident when she later sees Woody carrying Buzz's severed arm and screams, beginning to doubt her belief of Woody not harming Buzz. When she later sees Woody and Buzz riding RC to catch up with the moving truck, she is relieved that Buzz is alive and furthermore that Woody was indeed telling the truth that he did not harm Buzz. At the end of the film, she is glad when Buzz and Woody are safely back with the gang.

In Toy Story 2, Bo Peep still regards Buzz as a close friend. When Woody is placed on the shelf after his arm is ripped, Bo and Buzz look at each other with worry. When Woody is stolen and Buzz instigates a mission to save him, Bo gives Buzz a kiss intended for Woody when Buzz finds him. At the end of the film, Bo is shown to be happy that Woody and Buzz are safely home.

Before Toy Story 4, Buzz is devastated when Bo Peep is taken away nine years before the events of the film. Buzz and Bo are overjoyed to see one another again after nine years, Bo still referring to him as her moving buddy. The toys both attempt to help Woody rescue Forky, Bonnie's new favourite toy. When this fails and Woody persists, despite being Woody's best friend, Buzz sides with Bo when the latter convinces Woody to abandon his mission to go back for another rescue attempt. Near the end of the film, Buzz is shown to care for Bo and Woody's romance by encouraging Woody to stay with Bo instead of returning to Bonnie.

Appearances

Toy Story

The character is introduced in Toy Story as a porcelain figurine that is a detachable component of a bedside lamp along with a three-headed-sheep belonging to Andy's younger sister Molly. Nonetheless, Andy is seen playing with her and the rest of his toys; in Andy's games of imaginative play, Bo is used as the damsel-in-distress of the stories. Bo is the protagonist Woody's romantic interest, and acts as a voice of reason for him. She is depicted as gentle, ladylike, and kindhearted. Woody is excluded from the group of toys when Buzz Lightyear starts to attract more attention, but Bo remains loyal to him rather than taunting him because of Buzz's rise in popularity. After Woody accidentally knocked Buzz out the window, she is one of the only toys who does not antagonize him. At the end of the film, when Woody and Buzz return, she gives Woody a kiss.

Toy Story 2

Bo is just seen at the beginning and the end of Toy Story 2. She continues to show her attraction to Woody, flirting with him, and also assures him that Andy will always care about him while playing a minor role.

Toy Story 3

Bo appeared briefly in the beginning of Toy Story 3 but doesn't speak. Her cameo is in the home movies Andy's mom makes. By the time of the actual events of the film, it is revealed that Bo is one of the toys that have been given away.

Toy Story 4

Main article: Toy Story 4

Bo Peep's appearance in Toy Story 4.

In August 2015, it was revealed that Bo Peep would have a major role in Toy Story 4, with initial reports stating that the film would center on a quest by Woody and Buzz to find Bo.

The film's opening sequence reveals how Bo is separated from Woody: after coordinating the rescue of RC, Bo and her sheep are given away by Andy's mother, and although Woody tries to convince Bo to stay, she states that she understands that part of the cycle of a toy is being taken away. For a brief moment, Woody considers going with Bo, but changes his mind after realizing that Andy needs him.

The main plot of the film is set after Andy gives his toys away to a girl named Bonnie at the end of the third film. Bonnie takes her toys—including Forky, whom she makes herself out of a spork and some trash—on a road trip. During the road trip, Forky gets lost and Woody goes after him to retrieve him. Woody spots Bo's lamp through a window of the store, and decides to look for Bo inside. Bo is not in the store, but Woody subsequently runs into her at a carnival near the store. Bo is still with her sheep, who are revealed to be female, and mentions the name of the three heads to Woody: Billy, Goat, and Gruff. In a conversation with Woody, Bo reveals her fate and that of her sheep after being given away: she spends two years being owned by a girl who does not care much for Bo, and then in the antique store, so she decides to leave and be on her own with Billy, Goat, and Gruff. Bo changes her outfit: she takes off her dress and transforms it into a cape, wears a white bandage to fix her broken right arm and a purple bandage to fix her broken left hand, and devotes her new life to help lost toys to return to their owners.

Bo rejects both Woody's proposal to go with him and become one of Bonnie's toys, since she has embraced her life as a "lost toy", as well as his call for help to search for Forky, though she ultimately agrees to accompany him to the latter, because she acquiesces "for old time's sake", and because Woody reminded her of how much she provided to Molly Davis as a toy when Molly was scared at night. To him though, she is still gentle, ladylike, and kindhearted. Bo reveals that her arm was broken off some time ago, but she managed to re-attach it to herself using scotch tape with his help. With the assistance of some lost toys and after being joined by Buzz, Bo leads the rescue mission for Forky, who has been captured by the film's main antagonist Gabby Gabby; however, Woody rushes out to free Forky in time to return to Bonnie, who is in the store, but this results in Bo's sheep being captured by Gabby Gabby and her toy henchmen. Though Bo manages to free her sheep, they are chipped in the process. Bo angrily refuses a second attempt to free Forky, which causes Woody to question her understanding of loyalty. After listening to Giggle badmouth Woody for his loyalty, Bo then realizes that loyalty is what she loves the most from Woody, and goes back to help.

The group try to help Gabby Gabby be adopted by a girl named Harmony who constantly visits the antique store, but she is rejected. Bo then helps Woody in trying to reach Bonnie along with Forky and Gabby Gabby, but Gabby Gabby spots a lost girl and decides to stay with her. Bo and Woody arrive to Bonnie's rental RV, and the two of them say goodbye to each other. But Woody feels uncertain about his decision and Buzz encourages him to stay with Bo, stating Bonnie will be okay without him. Woody then runs back to Bo and they both bid farewell to the rest of Bonnie's Toys. In the mid-credits scene, Bo and Woody are seen helping toys being won by children who attend the carnival.

Lamp Life

A short film titled Lamp Life, which reveals Bo's whereabouts between leaving and reuniting with Woody, was released on Disney+ on January 31, 2020.

Reception

Bo Peep's role in the first two films was called by Slate a "trophy for male cinematic heroism: a blond, blue-eyed, delicate, and conventionally beautiful female who existed to be rescued and to reward Woody for his heroic acts with chaste kisses." Her participation in action scenes in these films was described by the Washington Post as limited, "suggesting she was perhaps as fragile as porcelain itself."

It was Bo’s revival that inspired director Josh Cooley and producers Jonas Rivera and Mark Nielsen to take a big risk in making a fourth film when the previous three had been huge successes critically.

— Claire Corkery from The National reviewing Toy Story 4.

Following her return and protagonism in Toy Story 4, Bo gained significant coverage. Describing her new look, The Telegraph says that "Wearing trousers instead of her old, pink floor-length shepherdess dress and bonnet, the new version of the Bo Peep is simply the right way to tell the story." Michael Cavna from The Washington Post wrote that "no character emerges from Pixar’s Toy Story 4 exuding a stronger sense of self than Bo", and stated that Bo's new presence in the film rises as a symbol that reflects the contributions of leading women. Inkoo Kang from Slate considers that Bo had become "the rare female character expanded in a sequel whose journey doesn’t feel secondary." Claire Corkery from The National wrote that Bo transformed "into a superhero who spearheads the many rescue missions the film series has become famous for." Josh Newis-Smith stated in Glamour that Bo "is just the empowered female Disney character we need in 2019."

However, there was negative criticism regarding Bo's new portrayal. Writer and film critic Stella Duffy said that the new portrayal of Bo is not feminist because "She’s still going to fall in love, she’s still going to have the happily ever after, that’s not feminism! It’s a woman who kicks off her skirt to reveal bloomers." Nell Frizzell from Vogue wrote that Bo changed from a "shepherdess in distress" into "badass", but considered that while movie studios (particularly Disney) have set a new binary between damsels in distress or action heroines, all of them are slim, blond, and beautiful. Ernesto Huerta asked in Mexican newspaper Milenio if Bo's new personality responds to a need of the audience or to the political correctness that currently reigns in Hollywood. Beth Webb asked in British magazine Little White Lies: "The return of the sheep-herding heroine in Toy Story 4 signals a new chapter for the studio – but has anything changed behind the scenes?", in regards to what she considers the neglection of the female staff by animation studios, as well as John Lasseter's "missteps".