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See also: Geri

The Cleaner is a character in Toy Story 2.

Toy Story 2

During the events of the film, as Al McWhiggin (the owner of Al's Toy Barn and Woody's kidnapper) takes Woody out of the glass case for a snapshot with the Roundup Gang, Woody's arm falls off, prompting a panicking Al to call the cleaner over the phone. Although the cleaner states that he's busy, he agrees to come over the first thing next day.

After the scene where Buzz Lightyear and his rescue squad of toys cross the street to get to Al's Toy Barn, the cleaner rings the doorbell to Al's Penthouse and begins the process of restoring Woody to prime condition for Al before he is about to be shipped to a museum in Japan. In this attempt, he is able to sew back Woody's severed arm; this may clearly be the hardest part of the restoration, reflecting his great skill. His last act of work was painting over Andy's name under Woody's boot, although Woody would later wipe it off upon realizing it was important for a toy to bring joy to a child.

Once Woody was finished, he gives Al strict instructions that Woody is for display only, and that he won't last if played with. The restoration of Woody was done at no fee – he felt it was reward enough to work on such a rare toy.

Trivia

  • The cleaner's character model also appears as Geri in the short film Geri's Game. There are some differences between the two appearances. In Geri's Game, Geri has brown eyes; in Toy Story 2, the cleaner has blue eyes. The shape and size of their glasses are different as well. In addition, Jonathan Harris voices the cleaner while Bob Peterson voices Geri (albeit without dialogue).
  • When he is preparing to fix Woody in Toy Story 2, one of the drawers in his case contains chess pieces, a reference to the short.
  • He is the second and final Disney character to be voiced by the late Jonathan Harris, the first being Manny.
  • On Pixar's website, it says that the cleaner's line, "You can't rush art," is also true at Pixar.[1]

Quotes

Al: "Oh, thank goodness, you're here."
The Cleaner: "Is the specimen ready for cleaning?"
—The Cleaner arrives at Al's Penthouse
Al: "So, uh, how long is this gonna take?"
The Cleaner: "You can't rush art."
—Al asks the Cleaner how long it will take to fix Woody.
The Cleaner: "There you go. Heh heh heh heh heh heh. He's for display only. You handle him too much, he's not gonna last."
Al: "It's amazing! You're a genius! He's just like new!"
—The Cleaner and Al, after the cleaner restores Woody to its original, pristine condition


References

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