It is hard to imagine Toy Story without Woody, but writer and director Andrew Stanton did just that for Toy Story 5. The director revealed that he wrote the first draft of the movie without Woody in it. It has been nearly eight years since the last Toy Story film was released, and fans have been eagerly waiting to see the beloved cowboy toy return.

Fortunately, Woody is still part of the movie. As for the director, he seemingly claimed to have a good creative reason behind taking the bold risk of removing Woody from the script.

Toy Story 4 had an intriguing ending, with Woody choosing not to return to Bonnie and instead staying with Bo Peep. It seemed like the ending for the Toy Story franchise, but fortunately, it was not the end. However, there were questions about whether Woody would return for the next movie. To explore that idea, director Andrew Stanton wrote the first draft of Toy Story 5 without Woody as an experiment to see whether the story could work without the character.

“I do admit that I didn't know how to bring him back at first, and so I just, 'cause I know it's gonna take so many drafts to get the movie right, I just wrote the first one without him just to see if I missed him,” he told, as per CinemaBlend. 

Just as Stanton had hoped, writing the first draft without Woody gave him clarity. He admitted that he missed the character while working on the script and realized that Woody was essential to the story. And once he realized it, the writing team began working on how to bring him back. 

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While Stanton and his team ultimately managed to bring Woody back, the character has changed physically and appears noticeably older than before.

One of the most shocking moments from the movie’s first glimpse was that Woody appeared to have gained more weight and looked aged. He was even shown with a bald patch in one scene after taking off his cowboy hat. While the change shocked fans, director Andrew Stanton explained that the decision was meant to show that Woody is enjoying his retirement.

“The bald spot symbolizes that he’s just worn out from not trying to take care of himself so much anymore — just doing whatever dirty work needed to be done to save a toy," he said during a press preview in Anaheim.

He was inspired by the idea during a gag session about older toys. Co-director McKenna Harris also shared that Woody may have also appeared sun-bleached in the movie. Harris added that the sun-bleached look was one of several gags that ultimately did not make it into the movie. So, despite seeming bizarre at first, these changes were made with a positive and thoughtful intention.

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What do you think about Andrew Stanton's experiment to remove Woody from the Toy Story 5 first draft? Let us know in the comments.