Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear

Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear
Series information
Appearance	Toy Story 3
Portrayed by	Ned Beatty

"Welcome to Sunnyside, folks!"

—Lotso greeting Andy's toys

Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, also known as Lotso, is the main antagonist of Toy Story 3. He is the head toy at Sunnyside Daycare and an old, jumbo, extra-soft teddy bear with a pink and white plush body and a velvety purple nose who carried a wooden toy mallet as a cane. He is the leader of the Sunnyside toys, and runs the place like a prison warden. His main helper is a very big doll known as Big Baby. After his original owner replaced him, Lotso became cruel, heartless, and corrupt. Lotso also smelled like strawberries, according to other characters (including Rex and the garbage man that found him). His thick Southern accent, initially soft-spoken demeanor, and many of his iron fisted policies as "Warden" including throwing uncooperative prisoners into "the box" are clear references to "The Captain", Strother Martin's character from Cool Hand Luke (as well as Ned Beatty (Lotso' voice actor)'s previous character, Sheriff J.C. Conners, from White Lightning).

Toy Story 3

Lotso was first introduced greeting Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the other toys in a friendly manner, and then showed them around Sunnyside. He assigned the new toys in the Caterpillar Room, knowing that the toys there were treated abusively by the younger kids. When Buzz came to Lotso and his henchmen asking for them to be moved, Lotso agreed but only to Buzz's moving. However, he refused to listen to Buzz's plead. The vile teddy bear had his henchmen hold him in the Time-Out Chair and get him a Buzz Lightyear action figure manual so he could reset him to his demo mode. Lotso then made Buzz think he was a real space ranger again and manipulated him into believing that the toys were minions of Emperor Zurg. Lotso made Buzz kidnap and lock the other toys up, with Mr. Potato Head being put in "The Box". Woody, who had escaped Sunnyside earlier, managed to save his friends and formulated a plan to escape Sunnyside, including the attempt to get Buzz to rejoin their side. When the toys tried to escape via the garbage chute that the Chatter Telephone had told Woody about earlier, Lotso and his henchmen caught up with them. Ken, who had been Lotso's henchman, suddenly appeared and stood up to the teddy bear. Woody then attempted to remind Lotso of his old owner, Daisy. Mad that Daisy had replaced him with another Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, he arrived at Sunnyside with Big Baby and Chuckles the Clown. Lotso and Big Baby had risen to power and transformed the daycare center into a toy prison, while Chuckles had been taken home to Bonnie's house. Woody then tossed Daisy's name badge (which was handed over to him by Chuckles during his stay at Bonnie's House earlier) to Big Baby. Lotso selfishly refused to believe Woody's story (consistently believing that Daisy had dumped him) and smashed the badge with his cane, but Big Baby, who had come to believe the truth, turned on Lotso and threw him into a dumpster, allowing the toys to escape. Unfortunately, one of the Squeeze Toy Aliens became stuck by the dumpster's lid, and as Woody rushed back to free the alien, Lotso grabbed Woody and pulled him into the dumpster, prompting Andy's other toys to rush to his rescue, just as the garbage truck arrived and poured the contents of the dumpster into the truck. The truck then took the toys to the Tri-County Waste Plant, where Lotso was almost killed by the shredder before being saved by Woody and Buzz, who helped him to the emergency stop button. Just when it looked like he would save Andy's toys from the incinerator that loomed ahead, the evil bear turned his back on them with the line "Where's your owner now?" and left them to be die since he believed all toys were trash. The toys were able to escape from being incinerated, thanks to the giant crane that the Squeeze Toy Aliens had commandeered. Afterwards, Hamm and Slinky expressed their desire for revenge on Lotso for almost getting them killed, but Woody convinced them to let him go, knowing that Lotso just needed to regain the love he had lost for many years as punishment. Eventually, Lotso was found by a garbage man who claimed he once had one when he was a kid. Lotso was last seen tied up on the man's garbage truck with a few other toys (the same garbage man had collected), one of them telling him to keep his mouth shut so that the junkyard filth and insects won't get in, something which Lotso instantly obliges to.

It is unclear what becomes of Lotso's fate after the events of Toy Story 3, but he most likely remained strapped to the truck like the other toys.

Toy Description

From Official Website:

"Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear is a jumbo, extra-soft teddy bear with a pink and white plush body and a velvety purple nose. This lovable bear stands fuzzy heads and shoulders above other teddy bears because he smells like sweet strawberries! With a smile that will light up your child's face and a belly just asking to be hugged, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear is sure to become a bedtime necessity. Stain-resistant. Spot clean plush surface with a damp cloth."

Trivia

Lotso's cameo in Up.

• In a viral marketing campaign, Pixar posted two fake commercials, for a "real" Lotso teddy bear manufactured in 1983, on YouTube. One was a typical American toy commercial from the 80's, and the other was done in Japanese. Both feature the "Toy Story Collection" edition of Lotso, that comes with the Certificate of Authenticity.
• Lotso made a cameo appearance in Up when he was first spotted next to Dee's bed when Carl's house flies past her window outside, and it was later confirmed that he would be a new character in Toy Story 3.
• Lotso is the first Disney villain of the 2010's decade.
• When the toys are saved from the incinerator, Hamm and Slinky want revenge on Lotso for almost getting them killed, but Woody tells them he's not worth it. This may be because of Woody's memory of what has occurred between him and The Prospector in Toy Story 2, only this time, Woody is letting Lotso learn love on his own when the garbage man finds him and ties him to the front of his truck.

External links

• Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear commercial (circa 1983)
• Japanese Lots-o-Huggin bear commercial