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"This is Jessie, the roughest, toughest cowgirl in the whole west. She loves critters, but none more than her best pal, Bullseye!"
Andy, as he shows Jessie to Bonnie

Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (or simply known as "Jessie") is the tritagonist in the Toy Story series. She is one of Woody's best friends and later becomes Buzz Lightyear's girlfriend. Both she and Woody have a relationship that is a lot like a brother and sister.

Toy Story 2

Jessie-signature-ToyStory2

In Toy Story 2, she is the second toy that Woody meets in Al McWhiggin's apartment after Bullseye and before Stinky Pete the Prospector.

She is sassy, sweet, cute, athletic and has a habit of yodeling when happy or excited. Just like Woody, Jessie was once a toy that belonged to a young child named Emily (as seen during the "When She Loved Me" musical sequence). As the years passed, Emily found more mature activities to do, forgetting about Jessie, until finding her under the bed one day. After Emily gave her away to a local charity, Jessie became claustrophobic (from being in a box for a long period of time), and emotional. When Woody warms up to the idea of going to a toy museum in Japan with the Roundup Gang, Jessie's sadness brightens up to happiness and excitement.

However, when Woody offers to take the Roundup gang with him back to Andy's house after having a change of heart and deciding to go back to Andy's room with Buzz and the other toys, Jessie initially feels uncertain, but Stinky Pete, now showing his true colors, locks them in Al's apartment. Woody and Jessie try to stand up to the Prospector, but they learn that the Prospector has never been sold from a dime store shelf, which makes him feel more determined to go to Japan, where he will finally be appreciated.

At the airport, Buzz and the toys extricate Woody and gets rid of the evil Prospector, but are unable to free Jessie from the case, despite Bullseye being able to escape, as the case gets loaded into a plane bound for Japan. Determined to rescue Jessie, Woody whistles for Bullseye, whom he and Buzz mount and gallop across the airfield to rescue Jessie.

Woody, after being separated from Buzz again, follows the case into the plane's cargo hold. There, Woody again offers to take Jessie back to Andy's house. She initially fears that if Andy doesn't like her, but Woody tells her that it won't be so bad because Andy has a baby sister. She ecstatically agrees to go with Woody (and the other toys), but the two become trapped in the plane. Finding another escape route, they exit the plane, but Woody slips, prompting Jessie to grab hold of Woody. Using his pull-string, Woody and Jessie swing down from the plane and land on Bullseye, right behind Buzz, finally completing the mission, just seconds before the plane takes off.

Back at Andy's room, when Andy comes home from Cowboy Camp, he is pleased to see Jessie and Bullseye added into his toy collection, calling them Bazooka Jane and her jet-propelled horse. With Andy's name printed on the bottom of her boot, Jessie is overjoyed to feel appreciated again. Buzz clearly, but nervously, develops a crush on her and the two enter a relationship somewhat similar to the way Woody and Bo Peep have done. The two couples are seen standing together as they enjoy watching a newly-fixed Wheezy sing "You've Got a Friend in Me".

Toy Story 3

"I should have seen this coming! It's Emily all over again!"
—Jessie, inside a trash bag with other toys

In Toy Story 3, she is first shown in an opening sequence taking place in the Wild West. When Woody is knocked off the train by bandits One-Eyed Bart and Betty (Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head's characters, respectively), Woody is seen riding on Bullseye behind Jessie as they chase after the train. After Bart explodes a railroad bridge and escape with One-Eyed Betty and their stolen loot on a corvette that the Aliens are driving, Jessie and Woody rush over to stop the train to save the orphans aboard. Woody jumps into the locomotive and pulls on the brakes, but the train goes off the bridge and into a ravine, leaving Jessie to assume that Woody has died, along with the orphans. But then, to Jessie's surprise, the train shoots out of the ravine, lifted up by Buzz. Woody, Buzz, and Jessie then attempt to stop the criminals, but they are interrupted by a spaceship controlled by Evil Dr. Porkchop (Hamm's character), who warps the criminals back into the spaceship and executes Death by Monkeys to capture the three heroes. As One-Eyed Bart prepares to finish them off, the scene cuts to Andy's room, revealing that the sequence has actually taken place in Andy's imagination.

During the main events of the film, Jessie continues to have a romantic relationship with Buzz. When Andy seemingly throws them away, Jessie refuses to relive the trauma she felt years ago when she was given away by Emily, so she convinces the other toys to go to Sunnyside Daycare. Jessie fails to realize that Andy intended to put them in the attic and that his mother threw them out by accident, and refuses to listen to Woody when he tries to clear up the misunderstanding, arguing that Andy has moved on and that they must do the same.

Jessie is thrilled to learn from Lotso that when the children at Sunnyside are replaced with new children when they grow old, meaning the toys will never be outgrown. She tries to persuade Woody to join the others in beginning their lives anew at the daycare, but Woody calls her selfish and leaves to return to Andy alone, leaving Jessie hurt and saddened. Shortly after, she and the other toys discover they have been placed in a room with very young children, who roughly yet innocently abuse them.

Afterward, Mrs. Potato Head sees Andy searching for his missing toys through her eye that she has left in his room, making Jessie and the others realize that they have been wrong about Andy. They decide to return home, but are instead imprisoned in the daycare by Lotso and his henchmen, who have also reprogrammed Buzz into thinking he is a space ranger again and turned him against them. All the toys have to remember Woody by is his hat, which was left behind during his escape. Fearing the worst had befallen Woody, Jessie is left in her cell feeling incredibly guilty.

Following another rough play date with the young children, Andy's toys are reunited with Woody, who had returned to rescue his friends. Jessie apologizes for not listening to Woody, who apologizes in return for leaving. Jessie then expresses her willingness in helping Woody return home to Andy before Andy leaves the next day. The toys carry out their plan to break out of Sunnyside and Jessie is reunited with Buzz, who has been reset to a Spanish-speaking version of his deluded space ranger self. Jessie is initially uncomfortable with this change, but is quickly won over by his charms all over again. When the toys get stuck in a garbage truck, Jessie is rescued from being buried in trash by Buzz, who is then flattened by a television. When the toys pull him out and he appears to be dead, Jessie, fearing that she let Buzz be left alone dead from the hit while he was saving her, despairs over Buzz's apparent death, but he reawakens to his normal self. Jessie is overjoyed to see that Buzz has returned and she kisses him numerous times on his cheek while thanking him for saving her.

The toys are then dumped in a landfill and are pushed into a trench leading into a dark tunnel. Jessie is the first to realize the magnetic ceiling where Slinky and other metal objects are being pulled up to. Seeing a set of shredders that looms ahead, the toys, under Buzz's command, take a metal object to hang from the ceiling, safe from the shredders, but then Lotso calls for help from under the golf bag, prompting Woody and Buzz to come to his rescue, as Jessie watches horrifiedly. After Woody, Buzz, and Lotso clear the shredders, Jessie calls to them so that the toys are all together. However, the conveyor belt they are on is taking them to an incinerator and because of Lotso's betrayal, the toys are dropped into a furnace, where Buzz takes hold of Jessie's hand, Jessie takes hold of one of Bullseye's hooves, and the other toys to do just the same. Just as the toys accept their seemingly inevitable doom, they are all saved by the Aliens with a giant "Claw". Outside, Jessie and Buzz find themselves still holding hands as they smile at one another. They tell Woody that they still need to get him home, but when Woody expresses worry about how the toys will handle their lives in the attic, Buzz and Jessie remind Woody that they are Andy's toys and that their job is to be there for him.

The toys hitch a ride in Sid's garbage truck to return to Andy's house and say their farewell words to Woody. Jessie tells Woody that she still knows about Buzz's Spanish mode, making Buzz curious. However, with Woody's intervention, the toys are donated to Bonnie, a girl who has taken Woody to her home when Woody has previously left his friends, instead of just being put in the attic. Jessie is played with by Andy one last time, giving her the closure to lovingly see her old owner off to college. In the end credits, Jessie quickly adapts to her new life as one of Bonnie's toys and, at one point, decides to take advantage of Buzz's Spanish side so they can dance together to "Hay Un Amigo En Mi," the Spanish version of "You've Got a Friend in Me", to amusement of Woody and the others. As the two dance, Jessie catches a rose, thrown by Woody, in her mouth by its stem.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

Jessie made silent cameos during the intros of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins

In the show's pilot, Jessie made a silent intro cameo appearance in the film's opening sequence, walking alongside Buzz as they inspect the recently arrived VHS copy of the video.

Relationships

Woody

Woody and Jessie share a sibling like relationship like a brother and sister. Since meeting each other in Al's penthouse, the two share a close bond. The two are shown to have pretty heated arguments from time to time, but deeply care for each other.

Bullseye

Both Bullseye and Jessie bonded when they were in storage for an unknown amount of years. Jessie would ask Bullseye yes or no questions, and he would tap once for yes and twice for no. Since then the two have been inseparable. The two are almost never seen without the other being close behind.

Buzz Lightyear

Her relationship with Buzz was only hinted at the end of Toy Story 2 when Buzz became instantly infatuated with her looks and her adventurous personality. In Toy Story 3, their relationship hadn't evolved much since Toy Story 2, but it's shown that Jessie is fond of Buzz, and he is protective of her. After their "Operation: Playtime" plan failed, Buzz gives an exceptionally sad look to Jessie as she climbs out of the box, and he also gives her sympathetic looks when she has panic attacks and when they argue about going to Sunnyside. Before getting taken to Sunnyside, Buzz is shown being a little more concerned over Jessie when she goes into a panic attack and says "We're being abandoned!". Even later, in the demo mode which he is put in by Lotso and his minions, he remains attracted to Jessie, calling her a "temptress" with "bewitching good looks". Then again, after being reset into Spanish Mode, Buzz is shown to be even more attracted and open towards her, calling her "my desert flower", dancing around her and asking her to join him in his adventures exploring the galaxy, shielding her from Mr. Potato Head when he saw him as a threat, getting jealous when she hugged Woody, and saving her from not only being pinned under the trash, but from a falling TV set. Jessie first shows signs of strong feelings for Buzz during this rescue and when he is first thought to have perished after the TV set falls on him, she is clearly in despair. But it is actually during the incinerator scene when they truly realize their feelings for each other, and after the group is rescued, only Buzz and Jessie continue to be holding hands after the claw delivers them all to safety, At the end of Toy Story 3, the two finally seal their relationship, with Jessie taking the initiative for the two to dance an exciting paso doble that closes the trilogy.

Toy Description

From Official Website:

Jessie is an exuberant, rough-and-tumble cowgirl doll who's always up for a daring adventure to help critters in need. With Andy's imminent departure hanging over the toys, Jessie is afraid of being abandoned by her owner once agin. She takes charge, insisting that the toys take control of their own destinies. But is it a decision they'll later regret?

Trivia

  • When Jessie first meets Woody, she exclaims, "Sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln!" Abraham Lincoln's mother was Nancy Hanks, a blood relative of Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks is a direct descendant of an uncle of Nancy Hanks.[1]
  • When Jessie fights Woody after he blames her for turning on the TV, Jessie's position (pinning Woody on the ground, foot on his back, pulling his arms back) is the same as Buzz's when he fights Woody underneath Andy's car at the gas station in Toy Story.
  • John Lasseter's wife, Nancy, suggested that in Toy Story 2 that there should be a strong female character, which soon led to the creation of Jessie.
  • Jessie was originally going to be a cactus called Señorita Cactus, but it was decided later on that she would be a cowgirl. [2]
  • Another Jessie doll makes a cameo in Monsters, Inc. as one of the toys that Boo gives to Sulley after she returns to her room.
  • Jessie is the only female toy in Andy's room who solely belongs to Andy, while the other female toys belong to Molly.
  • She is a female counterpart to Woody (just like Mrs. Potato Head is to Mr. Potato Head), but has a different personality.
  • While all the other toys have brown, blue, and black eyes, Jessie is the only one with green. Also, she is the only toy with red hair.
  • Even though he is Woody's horse, Bullseye seems to be more attached to Jessie. Whenever Bullseye is around she usually has an arm around him. Other times during dramatic situations, he hides behind her or Jessie holds him close.
  • Jessie was honored with the Patsy Montana Entertainer Award from the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
  • Buzz and Jessie's dance moves during the end credits of Toy Story 3 is choreographed by Tony Dovolani and Cheryl Burke of Dancing with the Stars.

References

Quotes

"Yodel-ay-hee-ho!"
—Jessie's yodeling phrase
"Oh, wow! New toys! Cool! Thanks, mom! It's Bazooka Jane and her jet-propelled horse!"
—Andy, as he sees Jessie and Bullseye added into his toy collection
"Yee-hah! Oh, Bullseye, we're part of a family again!"
—Jessie, showing Bullseye Andy's name printed on the bottom of her boot
"That critter needs help!"
—Jessie, before helping Buster
Buzz (to Jessie): "Uh, ma'am? I, uh, um, well, I just wanted to say you're a bright young woman with a beautiful yarn full of hair. A hair full of yarn. It's ah... um... I must go."
Jessie (embraces Buzz): "Well aren't you the sweetest space toy I've ever met?"
—Buzz Lightyear and Jessie enter a relationship together
Jessie: "Did you fix Buzz?"
Hamm: "Well, sort of."
—Jessie, after meeting Spanish Buzz, and Hamm
Buzz: "That wasn't me, was it?"
Jessie: "Oh Buzz! You're back!"
Buzz: "Uh, yes. Yes, I'm back. Where have I been?"
Woody: "Beyond infinity, Space Ranger."
Buzz: "Woody!"
—Buzz, Jessie, and Woody, after Buzz is back to normal and his memory restored
"Buzz! What will we do?"
—Jessie, after the toys land in a furnace
Jessie: "C'mon, Woody! We gotta get you home."
Buzz: "That's right college boy."
Woody: "Wait. What about you guys? I mean...maybe the attic isn't such a great idea."
Jessie: "We're Andy's toys."
Buzz: "We'll be there for him. Together."
Woody: "I just hope he hasn't left yet."
—Buzz, Jessie, and Woody, after escaping the incinerator
Woody: "Jessie, will you be okay in the attic?"
Jessie: "Of course, I will. Besides, I know about Buzz's Spanish Mode."
Buzz: "My what?"
—Jessie tells Woody about her knowledge of Spanish Buzz
Buzz: "That Barbie has some nice handwriting."
Jessie: "Uhh, Buzz? Barbie didn't write this."
—Buzz remarks on the message, only for Jessie to pinpoint Ken's signature at the end
Buzz: "I don't know what came over me."
Jessie: "Just go with it, Buzz."
—Buzz and Jessie as they dance
"Buzz, you ok? Buzz! Buzz!""
—Jessie, after Buzz is pulled out of a TV that has crushed him
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