Bad Bunny is set to join the cast of “Toy Story 5,” voicing a character known as Pizza with Sunglasses. This casting news follows the artist sharing Instagram videos of himself playing with Woody and Buzz Lightyear dolls during the pandemic.
The 32-year-old music icon will lend his voice to a slice of pepperoni pizza in the upcoming addition to the beloved Pixar series.
Director Andrew Stanton recently disclosed that the decision to cast the Puerto Rican rapper came after recognizing his evident enthusiasm for the “Toy Story” characters.
During the UK launch event for “Toy Story 5,” Stanton was asked about the casting process for cameo roles. He explained, “These roles often come together spontaneously when you have these one-line characters. We take a moment to think, ‘Who would be perfect for this?’”
Stanton added, “During the pandemic, we discovered that Bad Bunny is a huge fan of ‘Toy Story.’”
‘He was making videos with his Toy Story dolls during the pandemic. He was playing with his Buzz and Woody dolls, and he was doing all of these videos. And so we were like, “Maybe… it wouldn’t hurt to ask him.” And he said yes.’
Bad Bunny has secured a cameo role in Toy Story 5 after the director discovered videos of the rapper playing with Woody and Buzz Lightyear dolls in snaps during Covid
The music superstar, 32, lends his voice to the Pizza with Sunglasses in the latest instalment in the beloved Pixar franchise
It has been teased that Bad Bunny, who has also featured in movies such as Bullet Train and Caught Stealing, will be making a cameo appearance as one of a group of ‘forgotten toys’.
The studio teased: ‘Effortlessly cool and mysterious, Pizza with Sunglasses is a member of a small but mighty community of forgotten toys that live in an abandoned backyard shed.’
Other famous names lending their voice to Toy Story 5 – which is released in cinemas next month – include Conan O’Brien as potty-training toy Smarty Pants and Alan Cumming as Evil Bullseye.
Meanwhile Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack all return as Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie respectively.
The new movie sees the toys find themselves under threat when eight-year-old Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) becomes enamoured with her frog-like tablet Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee) but Andrew has stressed that Lilypad is not a villain.
The director told Variety: ‘She is to the toys because they’re understandably intimidated.
‘She’s just the next phase in Bonnie’s life. She’s built like a toy in the sense that she wants to help the kid go forward, but she’s got very different skills and zero experience, whereas Jessie has nothing but experience and is probably unprepared for what to do.’
The film’s co-writer Kenna Harris explained that there was lots of debate about whether to make Lilypad the film’s antagonist.
Andrew Stanton has revealed that the crew approached the Puerto Rican rapper after noticing his love for the characters
‘He was playing with his Buzz, and Woody dolls, and he was doing all of these videos. And so we were like, “Maybe… it wouldn’t hurt to ask him.” And he said yes,’ said the director
They said: ‘Lots of people at the studio wanted her to be a villain, and it was so hard to strike the balance because I think we all come in with such loaded emotions towards devices. At the end of the day, it never made sense.
‘We’re not getting rid of these devices, no matter how hard we try. I’m always going to have my phone. I’m probably going to be partially addicted to it. So it felt right for the toys to have to grapple with that nuance.’
Toy Story fans couldn’t help but be distracted by Woody’s appearance after Pixar dropped the trailer to the long-awaited Toy Story 5 back in February.
However, like Andy himself, who has starred in the films since 1995, the toys have aged over time and Woody has a bald patch. In the trailer, Trixie the dinosaur cheekily admits: ‘Someone needs a brown marker.’
Lilypad the tablet questions: ‘What are you? Some sort of old man toy?’
This causes an outraged Trixie to exclaim: ‘She thinks you’re old because you’re bald, Woody!’
Woody’s bald patch went far from unnoticed by fans on social media and one joked: ‘pixar said ‘hey millennials, remember woody? yeah he’s got a bald spot now. so do you. movie tickets are $18′.’
Other fans said of Woody’s aging: ‘That’s wild! Woody’s finally showing his age after all these adventures. Time for a toy hair transplant? Can’t wait for TS5!’