Since its release in 1995, the Toy Story franchise has featured some of the most famous voices in Hollywood. These films have been perfectly cast since day one and the fourth film is no exception. Releasing this weekend, Toy Story 4 features all your favorite classic characters like Buzz and Woody; but where the film truly shines is in it’s newer characters like Forky or Giggle McDimples.

This week, LRM Online was invited out to Walt Disney’ Studio Lot in Burbank, California to join a round table interview with the voice of Giggle herself, Ally Maki. Giggle McDimples is a Polly-Pocket-sized police officer who acts as Bo Peep’s sidekick in the film. Her hilarious lines and iconic laugh will quickly make her a new favorite amongst children and adults alike. Ally herself is a riot and it’s easy to tell she has put a lot of her own personality into the character.  What I found most interesting, though, was the way she was cast in the film. Ally had this to say…

“The first thing, and the very first session I walked in I go, “Okay, you guys, like, do I need to do anything? Do I need to make my voice higher or lower or whatever?” And, they said, “No, 100 percent when Pixar does the movies they are trying to authentically find the actual heart and soul of the characters that they want.” So, that’s why in their casting process, they do this blind casting thing where they take voice clips of each person, and they don’t tell them who the person is so they can just blindly pick the person. And, through that list, they were like, “That’s the one.” And, she’s like, “She cuts through,” or whatever. So, that’s kind of what happened.”

RELATED – Toy Story 4 Takes In $12 Million In Thursday Night Previews

When Ally was asked to talk further about the casting process she explained…

“They had found this random YouTube video that I had made with my friends and my dog. Just one day it was like this specific thing that I wanted to share with the world, and it got literally no views, but was the thing that basically put me first on the Pixar casting radar. They had seen this video, and they said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is so much the character. We’ve got to put her on that blind casting”. From there I ended up getting blindly picked by Cooley and the Gang. The whole thing is bananas to me.

“Basically, the Pixar casting department. They are the ones who are going out-I asked her, because I thanked her. I was like, ‘If you hadn’t found this video I would never be here.’ She said that they use YouTube as such a resource for casting because they’re trying to find the new, fresh talent out there and they said YouTube is the best place. I try to tell everyone, make your own content and keep making it, because they said the thing about me was they found that one video and they loved it, but then they searched below that and they found 20 more videos. They were able to get a full scale of who I was. They said the most important thing is to create a big body of work around who you are and what your specific voice is. From there, once she had found me on YouTube she put me on that blind casting and then from there it was Jonas and Cooley, and Mark, and the Gang who listened to the sound bites.”

So, there you go, folks! Keep making those YouTube videos because you never know who’s watching. As a content creator myself, I found this immensely inspirational. The fact that a huge company like Pixar pools from a community like YouTube means that any of you could be the next voices in one of their films.  I also love the fact that they don’t look at the faces of those potential castings to make their decision; They cast purely on voice and not on gender, status, or skin color. Just when I thought Pixar couldn’t get any cooler! Good on Pete Docter, Josh Cooley, and the rest of the gang at Pixar for stepping outside the box once again. This is why they make the best-animated films around.

What do you think about Pixar’s strange casting methods? Are you seeing Toy Story 4 this weekend? Let us know below!

—–

Have you checked out LRM Online‘s official podcast feed yet, which includes our flagship podcast Los Fanboys, our premiere podcast Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, and our morning show LRMornings? Check it out by listening below. It’s also available on all your favorite podcast apps!

  FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube! Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts |  Spotify |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play