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
So right about Andy’s Mom but I think you are wrong about Andy’s dad.
In the first Toy Story we see Andy’s Mom’s license plate it’s A113 which is either a vanity plate or a government plate. That usually means that the person who owns it is important in the military or other government job. Which could explain why they had to move in the first movie AND why he isn’t around much.
A113 is neither. It’s just the name of the classroom at CalArts, where a lot of Pixar people went to school. It’s in every one of their films.
A113 is a pixar reference for a room in Cal Arts used by character animators.
I love this new theory for the beauty of its symmetry in the mother/son stories, as well as how the two gave up their well loved toys differently (I cried at the end of Toy Story III). so well done!!! 🙂
a113 is in all pixar movies. its the room number of a college film class most pixar originals met in.
Duh…
I thought everybody who’s seen the movies already knew this.
I bet you’re a kick at parties.
Haha yeah, I admit my comment came across as a little douchey, but I guess I was just surprised that it was considered some big “mind blowing” secret that Emily grew up to most likely be Andy’s mom. I thought of that the first time I saw Toy Story 2 (at age 9, no less), and my family said they suspected the same thing during our car ride home from the theater. I’ve heard a couple other people suggest it over the years as well. I guess what I’m saying is, I’ve been thinking this was common knowledge for over 10 years now, so you can understand why I’d be pretty nonchalant about some person only just now claiming to have uncovered this supposed secret.
Thank you!!! At least I know there’s at least one other person who had this figured out. I didn’t realize it was some great mystery.
Reblogged this on Pru Stubbs Today and commented:
I love this theory because it gives a real layered connected feeling. It’s like the last moments of Toy Story 3… Achingly beautiful!
emily’s hat has a white strap around it, andy’s has red.
It clearly states in the article that this difference is present. It states that this is not a red ribbon, but a place on the hat that the white ribbon should be. They suggested that this piece of ribbon was lost somewhere along the way. Please read before you comment.
Regardless, the hats are shaped completely different. Both Jessie and her owner’s hats are flatter on the top and round:
Andy and Woody’s hats are shaped more like a fedora or standard cowboy hat:
He explained that. Its not a red ribbon its missing from Andy’s hat.
It IS a red ribbon. If you look closely at the still the author has provided (especially as the ribbon wraps around the side), it’s clear that it’s a separate, raised element – not an absence of one.
To me personally, it looks like an indentation where something was attached to it for a long eriod of time and then removed. Much like how when you move furniture off of carpet that has been there for years, the carpet that was pressed down where the furniture was is a different color and also pressed down deeper into the floor.
If it were a missing band then the stripe around the hat would be MORE vivid, and the REST of the hat would be faded, not the other way around.
it is not white because the strap probably fell off or something because it is FADED if you looked closely
I like this theory. My only issue is that Jessie would probably recognize Andy’s mom as Emily.
In TS3 when they end up in the garbage bag on the curb, I believe Jessie makes a reference to it being Emily all over again. Well I know she makes that reference but I could be wrong about when it takes place.
My only complaint with this theory is that if both Woody and Jessie belonged to the family for so long, then why does Woody know absolutely nothing about Jessie or his TV show?
Emily gave Jessie away when she was a teenager. & the article says that Woody could have belonged to Andy’s dad as a way to get around the whole “he’s an old family toy” bit. So, with that being said, Jessie and Woody would have never met because the parents probably hadn’t met when both of them had the toy. Also, it is possible that Jessie and Stinky Pete only knew about the show because of all the memorabilia that Al had… It’s kind of the opposite of how Buzz didn’t know he was just a toy until he saw the commercial of himself on tv because he was programmed to think he was a real space ranger. The technology with Woody and Jessie wasn’t as good so they weren’t programmed to know anything about themselves. I don’t know though… Just a thought.
MK Ultra
Gee “Barb” I can only dream to be as smart as you someday!! If you knew this why didn’t you post it?!?!?! Typical “know it all” quick to claim knowledge AFTER someone points it out!!! Mr. Jon Negroni, I for one thank you for such an informative well laid out article with information I had never heard nor seen before
Barb was the first to point it out to Cass. Though her second reply is a bit condescending. all that aside… the whole relationship theory is pretty cool & this is the first Ive ever heard of any of it… including the A113. I typically don’t try to catch all the secrets & hidden whatevers. I just watch the movie
This does make sense although I do think you are reading way 2 into it. I just wanted to add in a couple of things to the theory. First of all woodys dad: I saw trivia in a very reliable source that woody was a gift to Andy from his dad. Assuming Andy got woody as a toddler that would explain why woody wouldn’t have known about the TV show or jessie!
I think that Andy must or always wanted a woody hat but his mum got her hat and put a different ribbon on it to make it like a replica. My mum used to always do this, itstead of buying the exact one that probably cost loads, they must of made a homemade one 🙂 just a thought
I like this theory, but the bit about the “faded mark” around the rim of the hat is a bit of a stretch. It looks far more like a change in colour used to demark a different surface, in this case the material thickness of the hat brim.
Reblogged this on Redladybirds and commented:
I love toystory 🙂
I love this! It gives toy story an even warmer feeling 🙂
I love this!! At the end of TS2, Andy refers to Jessie as “Bazookie Jane” (If I remember correctly). So, SOMEBODY would have had to know what Jessie’s real name is…at the end of TS3, he knew her correct name as well as Bullseye. So, maybe his mom was Emily, and she’s the one who knew who Jessie really was! Just a theory.
Has anyone else notices that woody was a gift from his DAD?!?! Wouldn’t that mean that while Woody’s and Jessie’s owners grew up playing with similar toys that doesn’t mean that the grew up together. Just because Emily watched Woody’s Round up doesn’t mean Woody’s owner did. Maybe he played other cowboy stuff with him. Who knows. I agree on a second watching that Andy and Emily have very similar hats… and I think if the artists were going to put a band on the hat they would haveade it match the laces instead of going to all that trouble unless it was (as the article states) just a shadow where a band had been. Also… a single mom (especially if something terrible happened to Andy’s dad… and we don’t seem to have him going back and forth so I personally always assumed he was dead) especially one just starting out in that world might not have had much money for gifts… so an old cowboy doll of dad’s coupled with mom’s old hat would have been an awesome birthday gift. Also would explain why as an older teen Andy still had so much of a hard time giving Woody away. Of all his toys he was raking woody to college… as a piece, not only of his childhood, but also of his dad. Woody represented his father while buzz represented himself and a long gone childhood. So those were the 2 things he had to give up to move on in life. (Sorry so long… I am a rambler)
Can you give Pixar the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are probably better storytellers than conspiracy theorists?
The hat in Toy Story is an important part of setting up Andy’s character. Once the viewer sees it, especially adults, they can immediately identify the kind with the kind of youth and innocence the lacy embellishment on the hat conveys. Only a young, non-cynical boy would wear a hat like that. This connection is one of the first emotions created between the audience and Andy in TS 1 and is why we can immediately connect Andy with our own experience. This emotion and re-connection to innocence on a personal level is vital to the whole concept of TS 1 and a great reason to model Andy with kind of a girly hat.
Now follow me on this. Doesn’t it make sense that, after a long dual between a cynical Sheriff and a cocky Space Ranger and after all the characters have been more or less developed, that the writers of Toy Story 2 would reuse the same strong connection created by Andy in TS1 to set up Jessie in TS2, especially when that same youthful innocence is also central to the Jessie character?
TS2 is about growing up and losing that innocence, which is manifested in the plot by the Andy. You couldn’t rehash the same subject with Jessie. Reusing the hat and the embellishment recreates that instant connection the audience recognized in TS1. The hat reinforces that connection to innocence already present in the viewer’s minds, which is another reason why everybody cries when that innocence is ultimately shattered. Because everything the audience has reveled in since the beginning of TS1, the re-experience of innocence, is snatched away just like that animated doll on the screen. That’s why the scene works so well. Its a motif, a common occurrence in almost every art form.
Unless Jesse is close to the size of a human, even a child, there is no way that either Emily or Andy ever wore her hat.
No, the theory is that Andy is wearing Emily’s hat, not Jesse’s hat.
I think the point is we see that the hat Andy wears is the same hat Emily wore but only with the ribbon removed and/or changed .. It’s definitely not Jessie’s hat .. besides, Jessie still wears the hat, so it’s not the same one.
Emily had the same exact hat in the shot of her bedroom.. with the white ribbon, human sized :).. it does look a lot like Andy’s except for the shape change and ribbon.. but it’s pretty easy for a hat to change shape with age, Andy could have also bent it up to not be so flat.. so the idea is Emily gave Andy the hat as a child..as his mother, and the former owner of Jessie.
Who knows 🙂
Does it have to be at least three times bigger? It’s not actually Jessie’s hat, Einstein. It was probably merchandise created for the television show for little girls who want to dress like Jessie. Ever been to a toy or costume store before?
What I don’t get is wouldn’t Woody remember who owned him before Andy?
That would explain why Andy had Woody in the first place, because he is way too young to have grown up watching woody’s roundup. His mother probably found woody in a flea market, and it reminded her of her favorite Jessie doll, so she got it for her son. She is also old enough to have watched woody’s roundup.
How is this news? I figured this out in 1999?
Why didn’t you write up this article earlier then?
I admit, my jaw dropped a little while I read this.
Emily and Andy’s mother have different coloured eyes. Debunked.