Tom Hanks has said he questioned whether film-makers at Pixar were sure they wanted to “take another stab” at a Toy Story movie and warned they would be “toast” if they messed it up.
The actor reprises his role as Sheriff Woody in Toy Story 4, which comes almost 10 years after the release of Toy Story 3.
The third film in the animated trilogy was widely considered to be the conclusion to the franchise and, asked if he ever thought he would make another one, Hanks told PA: “No, I don’t think anybody did.
“The end of 3 was, oh my lord, it was like the end of The Passion Play at Oberammergau or something like that – it had been the all-encompassing look at life and the lessons to be learned from it.
“When you begin this (the fourth film) they don’t even tell us, they don’t give us a script, they just kind of get together with you and they say ‘Here are some of the things we are planning to do’.
“Speaking for the cast, the question was ‘Are you sure? Are you sure you want to take another stab at this?’
“Because we are just the voices and we sweat blood in order to get this thing out; they have to work on it for the better part of five or six years from start to finish and if they screw up, man, they are toast, they don’t want to go through that.”
Hanks said one of the joys of being part of the series, which saw the first film released in 1995, has been sharing it with his family.
He added: “I have offspring that didn’t exist when I started making this. I have got grandkids now.
“I had not seen Toy Story 2 really since it came out, and my granddaughter was over, and she’s only three and she is seeing it for the first time and her reactions were as perfect as perfect can be.
“‘Oh no, oh dear!’ She said ‘Oh dear!’ at one point, and I thought ‘Well, this is a gold standard and I am so fortunate to have been smart enough to say sure, I will do that’.”
Toy Story 4 is out now in UK cinemas.