- "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, better 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
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. However, when Woody reveals that he still has an owner and has no intention of going to the Konishi Toy Museum in Tokyo, Japan, with the Roundup Gang, Jessie begins to hyperventilate for fear that she'll go back into storage again. She then begins to mock Woody for still having an owner.
That night, after Woody's attempt to retrieve his ripped-off arm has been sabotaged, Woody, having spotted the remote in front of Jessie's case, accuses Jessie for turning on the TV, to which Jessie responds by fighting Woody. The Prospector breaks the fight, and Jessie still feels bitter about Woody caring only about Andy. The next day, after Woody's arm has been fixed, Jessie sarcastically lets Woody leave, but the Prospector convinces Woody to speak with Jessie to make amends. When Woody talks to Jessie, she tells him the story about Emily (seen during the "When She Loved Me" musical sequence), a little girl that had been her owner. Throughout her years as Emily's toy, Jessie has enjoyed being played with, such as being taken for a horseback riding, a drive in her car, and a swing on a tire. However, years have passed, and Emily has found more mature activities to do, forgetting about Jessie until finding her under the bed one day. Jessie had spent one more time in the car with Emily, only for Emily to place her in a charity box, leaving her shocked and heartbroken that she has been given away. Being in a box for a long period of time Jessie has developed claustrophobia. After hearing that story, Woody initially decides to leave, but with more of the Prospector's convincing, Woody, thinking that the same fate will happen to him as Andy grows up, warms up to the idea of going to the museum, and Jessie's feelings of bitterness and 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 get himself and the others to Japan, where he believes he will finally be appreciated.
At the airport, Buzz and the toys extricate Woody and get 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 Andy will not like her, but Woody tells her that it will not be so bad because Andy has a baby sister. Excited, she 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's arm. 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. As they celebrate their success, Jessie describes Woody rescuing her as "Woody's finest hour."
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 fond affections toward Buzz. When Andy puts her in the trash bag with the other toys aside Woody and Andy's mom, mistaking the bag as trash, puts it on the curb outside the house next to the driveway, Jessie refuses to relive the trauma she felt years ago when she is given away by Emily, so she convinces the other toys to go to Sunnyside Daycare. However, Woody, having seen what has happened, yells at Jessie that Andy has intended to put him in the attic, only for Jessie to yell back to him that Andy has left her and the others on the curb.
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 persistently tries to convince her and the others that Andy still care about his toys and that they return home with him. Upon hearing Jessie's belief that Andy has moved on and that she and the others must do the same, Woody calls her selfish and decides to leave to return to Andy by himself, 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. After Buzz decides that he go see Lotso to request a transfer of him and his friends to the Butterfly Room, Jessie and the others help launch Buzz upwards so that he leaves the Caterpillar Room by the open window above the locked door leading to a hallway.
While Buzz is gone, 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. Feeling guilty about not listening to Woody, 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 has been 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, Woody, who has returned to Sunnyside to rescue his friends, calls to them, and Jessie and the others are overjoyed to see him again. 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. On the night the toys carry out their plan to break out of Sunnyside, Jessie signals to Hamm and Rex to distract Buzz, then she and Bullseye emerge out from their cells, get a plastic storage bin, and slam the bin on Buzz, trapping him. Jessie then gets a tortilla for Mr. Potato Head's parts that have left his plastic potato body, allowing him to change himself into "Mr. Tortilla Head" by attaching his parts onto the tortilla. After catching the key that Woody and Slinky have fired from the Monkey's office, Jessie passes it to Mrs. Potato Head, who unlocks the door upon receiving a signal from Mr. Tortilla Head, then Jessie, Bullseye, Mrs. Potato Head, and the Aliens get a head start.
"Buzz Lightyear al rescate!"
Later, after Woody and the others catch up at the playground outside the building, 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.
At the dumpster, when Lotso coaxes the toys into returning to the Caterpillar Room and join his family again, Jessie retorts, claiming that Sunnyside is a prison, that Lotso is lying and bullying her and her friends, and that she and her friends will rather face the dumpster than join Lotso's family. After Lotso's gang become aware of their leader's selfish nature and throw Lotso into the dumpster, Jessie and the others escape, but Woody gets pulled into the dumpster by Lotso, prompting Jessie and the others to come to his rescue, just as a garbage truck arrives. Inside the garbage truck, Jessie is rescued from being buried in trash by Buzz, who is then flattened by a television. Jessie 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 drop down to his rescue, as Jessie watches horrifiedly. After Woody, Buzz, and Lotso clear the shredders, Jessie calls to them so that they catch up with the others. 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. Jessie asks Buzz what they are going to do next, and Buzz takes hold of Jessie's hand. After realizing that she and Buzz have both been deprived of any escape chance, 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, which briefly makes Buzz suspicious. However, with Woody's intervention, the toys are donated to Bonnie Anderson instead of being stored 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. She pinpoints to Buzz about the message from the revolutionized Sunnyside that Ken is the one who has written the message.
Finally, she 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.
Hawaiian Vacation
In the first episode of Toy Story Toons, after the toys come up with an idea of recreating Hawaii for Barbie and Ken, who have unexpectedly revealed themselves in Bonnie's room, Jessie acts as one of the Aloha Spirits, greeting Ken with an enthusiastic "ALOHA!"
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