Ex-Bond to voice Toy Story role

[Blowfeld]

By Neil Smith
Entertaintaiment reporter, BBC News

Former James Bond star Timothy Dalton is to voice a character in Toy Story 3 - a hedgehog toy named Mr Pricklepants.

There will also be a Bond-style secret agent character in the upcoming Cars 2 - an Aston Martin named Finn McMissile.

The announcements were made by Disney/Pixar chief John Lasseter at a central London presentation outlining the joint studios' forthcoming animated slate.

It was also revealed that singer Mandy Moore will voice the lead in a cartoon based on the fairy tale Rapunzel.

Clad in one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts, Lasseter told an invited audience "there should be a red carpet outside" due to the amount of premieres he had in store.

These included a first-look glimpse of the new 3D version of Toy Story 2, due in cinemas early next year ahead of Toy Story 3's release in summer 2010.


Clips from the latter revealed familiar characters Woody the Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear coping with new owners after being mistakenly discarded.

Other newcomers to the popular franchise include Ken, a male Barbie doll voiced by Batman star Michael Keaton.

Excerpts from Toy Story 3 were also shown, alongside the first 30 minutes of Disney's next feature animation, The Princess and the Frog.

Plans for a new feature-length Winnie the Pooh film, due in cinemas in spring 2011, were also announced.

'Hitchcockian espionage'

Referring to Cars 2, Lasseter revealed it would take race car Lightning McQueen on a world tour that would include stops in Britain, France, Germany and Japan.

However, the sequel of his 2006 success would "not just be a racing movie" but also a "Hitchcockian espionage, spy thriller thing".

The plot, he explained, would see slow-witted tow truck Mater being mistaken for a secret agent while accompanying his friend to Europe.

In keeping with the original, landmarks like the Eiffel Tower in Paris and London's Big Ben will be adapted as if they existed in a cars-only universe.

'Girl power'

Rapunzel, Lasseter continued, would be Disney's 50th film and the first fairy tale to be re-told by the studio using computer animation.

There would be "a lot of girl power", he said, in this tale of a young princess whose 70-foot locks give her "more blond hair than Sweden".

Due in cinemas at the end of 2010, the film will be followed 12 months later by another fairy tale entitled The Bear and the Bow.

Set in "the rugged highlands of 18th-Century Scotland", Brenda Chapman's movie will be the first Pixar feature to be directed by a woman.

Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters voice characters in the film, which tells of a Scottish princess who dreams of being an archer.

Lasseter said it would be a "strong female story" and represent a "tour de force" for Chapman, who previously co-directed The Prince of Egypt for Pixar's rival DreamWorks.

Lasseter's appearance in London followed a visit to the Venice Film Festival, where he and his fellow Pixar directors were given a lifetime achievement prize.

Up, Pixar's latest 3D animated feature, was premiered earlier this year at Cannes and will be released in UK cinemas on 9 October.

This story can be found at Dalton to voice a character in Toy Story 3

[FormerBondFan]

Interesting stuff.

[Kristatos]

I loved Cars, but the description of Cars 2 doesn't exactly have me enthused, I'm afraid. A sweet, charming comedy gets a "spy thriller" sequel - I'm having Crocodile Dundee 2 flashbacks (shudder).

[FormerBondFan]

Is Tim going to be in Cars 2?