It all started with a hat.
Several months ago, one of my anonymous Pixar Theory Interns (that’s a thing on a resume) came to me with a crazy proposition: Andy’s mom is Emily, Jessie’s previous owner.
I laughed. I then agreed.
For some time, I compiled all of the evidence and found some incredible support for this theory. For one thing, take a close look at Andy’s cowboy hat he frequently wears in the movies:
Here’s another close look:
As you can see, Andy’s hat is noticeably different from Woody’s. Why is this? Why wouldn’t Andy want to wear a hat that closely resembles the one worn by his favorite toy?
It’s no secret that Andy has a close connection with Woody. In Toy Story 2, his mom (who we only know as Ms. Davis) mentions that Woody is an old family toy.
Remember that Woody doesn’t even recall that he is a collector’s item – a toy made in the 1950s. This is a deviation from other toys who know full well where they come from. It’s possible that Woody doesn’t know because he’s been in Andy’s family for a long time, possibly belonging to his father.
But we need more evidence. Take a close look at Jessie’s hat:
Ah, this hat looks familiar. It’s the same red hat with white lace that Andy wears. The only difference is that Jessie’s hat has a white lace around the center. But look at Andy’s hat again.
There’s a faded mark where the white lace should be. Why do you think that is? And what does Jessie have to do with this?
(Bob Saget’s voice) Kids, you remember the story of Jessie. Her owner Emily grew up with her, much the same way as Andy. She was incredibly loved, but Emily eventually gave her away when she grew older. Jessie ended up in storage for a long time, as confirmed by her in the movie when she has a literal panic attack over having to go back.
Now, take a close look at what’s on this bed in Emily’s room:
That is a hat that looks extremely similar to, you guessed it, Andy’s. The room is also pretty old-fashioned, leaving room for this to take place years before Andy was born.
In fact, you can clearly tell that this isn’t modern day with shots like these:
The only difference between the hat that Emily wears throughout this sequence and Andy’s hat is an extra white lace around the center, which is visibly missing from Andy’s hat. Otherwise, the hats are identical.
Also, in the donation box that Emily puts Jessie in, we don’t see the hat. We do see other remnants of her connection with Jessie, but the hat is noticeably absent. The box isn’t even big enough to hold it. So Emily held onto that hat…and maybe passed it on to her child, who would grow to also love a cowboy doll.
We never get a closeup of Emily’s face, but we do see that she has light, auburn hair as a teenager. Also, it is very short.
Compared to:
The middle picture is closest to the strawberry blonde color we see when Emily is young. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that her hair lightened as she aged, which is clearly the case in these photos (or she could have dyed it).
Here’s what we know for sure:
We don’t know the first name of Andy’s mom. We don’t know Emily’s last name. We know that Andy’s hat and Emily’s hat are the same. We know that Emily is old enough to be Andy’s mom. We definitely know that Pixar is perfectly capable of sneaking this in without being overt about it.
You may be wondering how the two characters could be the same if Emily was willing to give Jessie up so easily, while Andy was far more hesitant.
Actually, the scenarios are quite similar. Andy forgot about Woody as he grew up too, despite their strong connection. Andy even gave Woody away, albeit in a different manner than Emily.
In the end, it makes perfect sense that these two concurrent stories are so similar because they’re related by blood. It’s also a freak of destiny that Jessie would one day belong to her owner’s son, though we never get to see the mom’s reaction to seeing Jessie again.
She was probably indifferent and believed it to be a different version of the same toy. How would you respond if you saw your child with a toy that looked like one that you had as a kid? Your first assumption probably wouldn’t be that they’re the exact same toy.
What do you think? Do you believe that the two characters are the same and that Andy’s mom/Emily found redemption through the love her son had for the toy she left behind? Or, do you hate fun, love, and destiny? Let me know.
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All images courtesy of Disney/Pixar
Toy Story 4!
Woody was put in storage when she lost Jessie, later when Andy was born she gave him woody.The reason why he forgot who his real owner was Andy’s mom he was put away for many years. I didn’t read others post.
If that were true then we would have seen Woody in Jessie’s flashbacks. When she sees woody the first time shes not excited because they are being reunited but rather excited because now the sets complete and they can go to tokyo and be looked at forever in a toy museum (or w/e it was idr lol) :3
It said woody belonged to his father most likely, not his mom
isn’t that what I said…or did I word something wrong o.O
Me asuste un poquito pero esta interesante lo que a encontrado el chico de post …………..es como un mensaje subliminal…………0.o
this is so not true. she’s not his mom at all
why don’t you keep an open mind you never know and pixar has done this countless other need i remind you of the pizza car that is like every pixar movie
How can one keep an opened mind if there are facts? Emily is not Andy’s mom, his mother’s name is Jennifer Davis, not Emily and Emily is not short for Jennifer, Jenny is.
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Andy_Davis
Research paper really should have abstract, and infrequently for sake in the international exchange, English abstract is important. The issue was to switch the thought of scope into among budget.
I don’t know if maybe you are not English, but your comment made NO SENSE. AT ALL.
This is the link to show that jesse is in the movie plz take a look!!!
LOOK AT THIS PLZZZZZ JONNEGRONI!!!!
That video makes me thinks Sids mom is Emily not Andy’s mom.
Hi Jon, I love your site and even more so, your theory. I think the idea about Andy’s mom is highly probable, and it got me thinking. Andy’s dad is really not mentioned in the TS movies, and I think his mom gave him Woody because it was his father’s toy, and maybe he has passed away and the toy is something to remember him by. Going with that, I have to believe that Jessie belonged to her, and Woody belonged to him as children, maybe the mutual love of the cowboy themed toys brought them together as childhood friends (kind of like Carl and Ellie). Possibly they were neighbors (girl/boy next door). That would mean they could have grown up together, gone to school together, become high school sweethearts (noting the picture on Emily’s dresser, although could have also been her parents), and eventually got married and had Andy. Which led me to an endearing thought that made me love the Toy Story more than ever, and that is the toys were responsible for Andy’s birth. If those toys had not existed, maybe Andy would not exist. Considering that story, maybe Carl and Ellie were friends of Emily and her husband and became like an ‘Aunt & Uncle’ to their kids?? Or surrogate grandparents if they’re older (I’m not quite sure). And is it possible that all of the humans in these stories are closely related, so this is one family’s legacy? Love it, keep up the good work! -Stacy K
this is highly probable, they could have met at cowboy camp
Lots of “could have’s”… and yes, I get that this is the concept of a theory. The problem here is the failure of mom to ever notice Jessie and comment on her. Absolutely no references by Mom at all. While the gap in narrative from 2 to 3 CAN account for that and ALLOWS for this theory, there is only the hat to support this. The hat is compelling, but not quite enough to be a full-fledged easter egg for me. By the same token, the hat could have also come from myriad sources (not the least unlikely a garage sale that may have also produced Woody in a much earlier time).
Some questions: If mom so easily gave up Jessie, why did she keep the hat? Has anyone screen-capped the box left roadside to see if a hat is in there? Value: $0.02.
Boo is Andy’s mom. Look at her room when she enters with Sully, the first toy that she grabs is Jessie.
that could tattaly be true, but boo is the wich in brave
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At the start of Toy Story 2, Andy’s mom looks under his bed and pulls out one rusty metal roller skate for the yard sale. There is a newer, very similar version of that skate under the bed with Jessie. You see it when Jessie’s owner pulls her out to get donated.
The only problem with the hat theory is that Emily’s hat is shaped a bit more like Jessie’s hat from what I’ve seen, though this doesn’t debunk the Emily is Andy’s mom theory by any means, so the hat Andy wears COULD be his deadbeat dad’s hat, as is Woody. Though I still don’t get why Woody couldn’t remember the show he starred in.
going from the Pixar theory, woody could have been made before AI developed to include programming like buzz lightyear, seems as they are made of different things and need different things to operate them. this means that Woody would be more realistic and consider himself a toy, whereas the more developed AI includes a background history to the characters as toys
I’m not sure exactly why but this blog is loading incredibly slow for me.
Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end?
I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
Your style is very unique in comparison to other
folks I’ve read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you
have the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this blog.
Nice theory but i feel that Andy’s mom is too young to be Jesses owner. The “Woody” toy line had its heyday in the late 50’s. According to Stinky Pete, Sputnik came along and messed that up in 1957. If the events in toy Toy Story happened concurrently with our timeline and occur in 1995 and we conservatively place Andy’s mom at the age of 30 at the outset, she would be too young to have been the owner, much less, experience all of the pop culture references during the “When She Loved Me” sequence. I realize that you can be a mom at a more advanced age but all evidence shows that Andy’s mom is a younger woman during TS1. I like the idea of Woody being a hand me down gift from Carl and Ellie, originally meant for their unborn.
the only problem with that is that Emily didn’t grow out of Jessie due to the space programme, she just grew up and started playing with other things, which means that she could have played with Jessie later on. the pop stuff on the walls is maybe early 70s, putting her as a teen around that time. if we look at it that way, she would be around 30 at the time of TS1, which is old enough to be Andy’s mom and still have been Emily.
Your math is very generous to fit the theory. The pop culture iconography in the sequence place Emily as a teen in the mid to late 60’s. The posters and the princess phone support this. Furthermore, her clothing as a child show childrens fashion from the late 50’s. For arguments sake, lets say she was born in 1960, making her 15 in 1975 and 35 at the time of Toy Story I. This would make her birth three years after the cancellation of Woody’s Roundup and the demise of the connected toy line and all of its tie in merchandise. This doesnt logically support the assertion that parents would buy their daughter a toy and a lunchbox and hat from a toy line that was discontinued at least 8 years previous. The ultimate nails in the coffin of this theory are 1) The hats that andy and emily wear are different styles. Andy’s hat crown is angular (like woody’s) and Emily’s hat crown is round (like jesse’s). They are not the same hat. Not at all. And 2) According To “The Art of ‘Toy Story’” Book, Andy’s Mom’s Name is Jennifer Davis. Not Emily. This is also supported in the Disney wiki.
Consider this water hole…poisoned.
mind blown 🙂
keep up the good work!
the hat in the room doesn’t have the white string on the edge of the hat
I really hope you read this comment but I watched the movie PLANES which take place within the card timeline. And I wanted to say that during the attack scene where skippers squadron attacks the enemy fleet the ships are presented without a face. Could it be possible that the war they talk about so much during the movie be humans? Please reply back or something thank you
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