Jessie (Toy Story)
Encyclopedia
Jessie, the Yodeling Cowgirl is a fictional character who is the main tritagonist
Tritagonist
In literature, the tritagonist is the third most important character of a narrative, after the protagonist and deuteragonist. In Ancient Greek drama, the tritagonist was the third member of the acting troupe....

 of the films Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2 is a 1999 American computer animated film directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon. It is the sequel to the 1995 film Toy Story, released by Walt Disney Pictures and the third film to be produced by Pixar...

and Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...

. At Christmas in 1999, the Wall Street Journal called Jessie toys among the hottest of the season. In the movie, she is a very rare toy modeled after a character on the fictional television show Woody's Roundup, where the characters included Sheriff Woody
Sheriff Woody
Sheriff Woody Pride, or simply Woody, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Toy Story franchise . He is voiced by Tom Hanks in the films, and by Jim Hanks in most other media.-Toy Story:...

, Jessie, Stinky Pete the Prospector and Bullseye, Woody's horse. Her hair is formed in a ponytail
Ponytail
A ponytail is a hairstyle in which most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip or similar device, and allowed to hang freely from that point. It gets its name from its resemblance to the undocked tail of a...

 braid
Braid
A braid is a complex structure or pattern formed by intertwining three or more strands of flexible material such as textile fibres, wire, or human hair...

 tied with a bow.
Jessie the doll has a character very similar to the one portrayed on the television show. She is excitable, brave and very athletic. The doll, however, carries a great deal of sadness, as she was abandoned by her original owner, which left her somewhat distrustful. Years of being in storage have made her somewhat withdrawn, and noticeably afraid of the dark, to the extent of hyperventilating whenever she is inside dark enclosed spaces, or even at just the thought of being abandoned.

But she longs to again be a source of joy to a child, and this wish comes true at the end of Toy Story 2 when Andy accepted her (and Bullseye) into his toy collection. In Toy Story 3, while she still displays signs of the fear of the dark, storage, and being abandoned in the beginning when she and the toys mistakenly believe that they are being thrown away by Andy, throughout the rest of the film, she appears to be more loyal, confident and helpful to others, in the process developing a romantic relationship with Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear is a character and the main deuteragonist of the Toy Story franchise. Buzz is a space ranger action figure and the co-leader of Andy's Room. He has also appeared in the movie Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and the television series spin-off Buzz Lightyear of...

.

She reappears in the short film, Hawaiian Vacation
Hawaiian Vacation
Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation is a 2011 Pixar animated short directed by Gary Rydstrom. The short features characters from the Toy Story films and takes place after the events of Toy Story 3...

, that was added with Cars 2
Cars 2
Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...

.

Jessie is voiced by Joan Cusack
Joan Cusack
Joan Mary Cusack is an American film, stage and television actress. Throughout her career, Cusack has appeared in many films as well as appearing in stage productions....

 in all the films, while Mary Kay Bergman
Mary Kay Bergman
Mary Kay Bergman was an American voice actress and animation voice over teacher, who was the lead female voice actress on South Park from the show's 1997 debut until her death and was best known as the official voice of Snow White for the Walt Disney Company starting in 1989 with the Snow White...

 voiced her yodels and "Woody's Roundup" TV-show voice in Toy Story 2. Bergman died just before Toy Story 2 was released, so the film was dedicated to her. Singer Sarah McLachlan provides her singing voice.

Jessie also makes a cameo in Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, and written by Jill Culton, Peter Docter, Ralph Eggleston, Dan Gerson, Jeff Pidgeon, Rhett...

as one of Boo's toys that she gives to Sulley.

In October 2000, Jessie received the Patsy Montana
Patsy Montana
Ruby Rose Blevins , known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country music singer-songwriter and the first female country performer to have a million-selling single...

 Entertainer Award from the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum and association which honors women of the American West who have displayed courage or spirit and who have distinguished themselves while exemplifying the pioneer spirit...

. She is also portrayed by Devon Dawson live on stage as a guest with Riders in the Sky in their concert and plays the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

.

Toy Story 2

When Jessie is introduced, she tackles Woody with excitement about finally meeting a Woody doll. She is happy that she and the other toys are finally going to come out of storage and go to the toy museum in Japan that they are destined for.

It is Jessie who introduced Woody to the facts about the character on which he is based. She shows him a large array of merchandise based on "Woody's Roundup" and Stinky Pete explains how the show was canceled after the launch of Sputnik and the resulting interest in the Space Race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...

 and science fiction, diminishing the popularity of westerns.

When Woody indicates that he has no intention of going to Japan, she becomes bitter, and Woody comes to suspect her of attempting to sabotage his escape, including waking Al to prevent Woody from recovering his damaged arm. After Woody is fixed, he learns Jessie's tragic back story about her previous owner. Emily, a young girl who owned Jessie had loved her just like Andy loves Woody, but as she grew older found more 'grown-up things' like make-up to play with, forgetting all about Jessie. Years later, Emily found Jessie under the bed and spent one last day with her on a car trip, only to place her in a charity box. Woody, realizing he could easily suffer the same fate with Andy, then chooses to stay, which Jessie finds absolutely thrilling, especially when he begins to anticipate his journey to Japan in excitement.

Ultimately, it is Stinky Pete that is revealed as the attempted saboteur when Woody finally decides to take Jessie and Bullseye with him back to Andy's room. Because of Stinky Pete's sabotage, Al packs the roundup gang into the case and heads for the airport. There, Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear is a character and the main deuteragonist of the Toy Story franchise. Buzz is a space ranger action figure and the co-leader of Andy's Room. He has also appeared in the movie Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and the television series spin-off Buzz Lightyear of...

 and the toys free Woody and gets rid of the vile Stinky Pete, but Jessie still remains trapped as the case gets loaded into the luggage transporter, while Bullseye manages to escape in time. Buzz and Woody mount Bullseye and chase after the luggage transporter, which Woody climbs onto.

Woody follows the case into the plane's cargo hold and frees Jessie from inside. When Woody offers to take Jessie to Andy's home with him, she is rather uncertain at first, but eagerly accepts when she learns from Woody that Andy has a baby sister named Molly. However, the two toys become trapped in the cargo hold, but Woody locates another escape hatch. Using his pull-string, Woody and Jessie swing down from the plane and land on Bullseye right behind Buzz just before the plane takes off. At the very end of the film, when Andy returns from camp after the toys return home, he is pleased to have the new toys added into his collection, calling Jessie "Bazooka Jane", and Buzz seems to have developed a romantic interest in her, nervously complimenting her hair.

Touched and amused by this comment, Jessie, in return, describes Buzz as "the sweetest space toy she has ever met". Then, Andy's dog, Buster, has to go outside...and Jessie finds the toy racetrack, and rides on top of a toy car, yodeling, to the door. Buzz gets impressed by this, to the point where his wings suddenly pop open. Shortly after, she and Buzz are seen together with Woody and Bo Peep as they watch Wheezy sing "You've Got a Friend in Me
You've Got a Friend in Me
"You've Got a Friend in Me" is a song written and first recorded by Randy Newman. Originally written as the theme song for the 1995 Disney·Pixar animated film Toy Story, it has since become the theme song for its sequels, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3...

."

Toy Story 3

In Toy Story 3, after Andy seemingly throws them away, it is Jessie who convinces the other toys to be given to Sunnyside Daycare, refusing to relive the trauma she felt when she was given away by Emily. She fails to realize that Andy intended to put them in the attic and that his mother threw them out by accident, and stubbornly 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 that the children at Sunnyside are replaced with new children when they grow older, 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 reluctantly 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. During that, Jessie got her hair painted green.

Afterward, Mrs. Potato Head sees Andy searching for his missing toys through her eye that was left in his room, allowing Jessie and the others to realize that they were wrong about Andy. They decide to return home, but are instead imprisoned in the daycare by Lotso, who had also reset Buzz into thinking he is a space ranger again and turned him against them. All the toys have left for company is Woody's 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. The toys carry out their plan to break out of Sunnyside but matters are further complicated when they accidentally reset Buzz into a Spanish version of his deluded self. Jessie is initially uncomfortable with this change, but is quickly won over by his spain lover charms. It is also only through this that Buzz finally notices Jessie's deep romantic feelings for him.

When the toys get stuck in a garbage truck along with Lotso, Jessie is heroically rescued from being buried in trash by Buzz, who is then nearly crushed by a falling television set. Jessie despairs over Buzz's apparent death, but he soon emerges unscathed and with his normal personality restored by the hit. She passionately kisses him on the cheek over and over, happy to see that he is alive and to say thanks for saving her. The toys are then dumped in a landfill and wind up falling towards an incinerator while Lotso escapes and ends up being strapped to a garbageman's truck along with a few other toys. Fearing that this could be how it all ends for them, Buzz takes Jessie's hand, which results in the other toys doing the same.

Just as the toys are about to meet their end in the flames, they are all scooped up in a crane operated by the Squeeze Toy Aliens. Once they are safe outside the incinerator, Jessie and Buzz's mutual looks indicate the clear understanding of their feelings for each other. The toys return home to Andy and prepare to be stored in the attic; with Woody's intervention, though, they are instead given to Bonnie, a girl who took Woody to her home while he was away. Andy plays with his toys one last time, giving her the closure to lovingly see her old owner off to college. 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 Mí" (a Spanish version of "You've Got a Friend in Me
You've Got a Friend in Me
"You've Got a Friend in Me" is a song written and first recorded by Randy Newman. Originally written as the theme song for the 1995 Disney·Pixar animated film Toy Story, it has since become the theme song for its sequels, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3...

").

Personality

Jessie refuses to reveal her weaknesses to the other toys, but a lot of them are clearly shown and mentioned in both films; but all of the toys accept them. She is sassy, sweet, rambunctious and adventurous. Just like the rest of Andy's toys, she also tends to be quite stubborn. She has a fear of abandonment which was caused when her first owner, Emily, gave her away to a charity. This fear causes her to hyperventilate. She also suffers from nyctophobia
Nyctophobia
Nyctophobia is a phobia characterized by a severe fear of the darkness. It is triggered by the brain’s disfigured perception of what would or could happen when in a dark environment....

 which also triggers her hyperventilation or panic attacks. These two phobias were developed when Al put her into storage. She is also shown to be a third leader to Andy's toys as they listen to her when Woody and Buzz aren't around.

Relationships

Woody and Jessie share a sibling-like relationship. 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.

Both Bullseye and Jessie bonded in Woody's Roundup. Since then the two have been inseparable. The two are almost never seen without the other being close behind.

Her relationship with Buzz was only hinted at the end of Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2 is a 1999 American computer animated film directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon. It is the sequel to the 1995 film Toy Story, released by Walt Disney Pictures and the third film to be produced by Pixar...

 when Buzz became instantly infatuated with her looks and her adventurous personality. In Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...

, 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 (in Spanish) "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. She even kisses him on the cheek when Buzz woke up. 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 seem to finally seal their relationship, with Jessie taking the initiative for the two to dance an exciting paso doble which ends the movie.

Merchandising

Disney heavily promoted Jessie following the release of Toy Story 2, as she gave them a character that they could market to girls, something the original film did not really provide.
Among the items released were:
  • Several 10" and 12" fashion-style dolls
  • Several plush
    Plush
    Plush is a textile having a cut nap or pile the same as fustian or velvet.Originally the pile of plush consisted of mohair or worsted yarn, but now silk by itself or with a cotton backing is used for plush, the distinction from velvet being found in the longer and less dense pile of plush...

     and rag doll
    Rag doll
    A rag doll is a children's toy. It is a cloth figure, a doll traditionally home-made from spare scraps of material. They are one of the most ancient children's toys in existence; the British Museum has a Roman rag doll, found in a child's grave dating from 300 BC.Rag dolls have featured in a...

    -type dolls
  • Action figures in the Toy Story 2 and Toy Story and Beyond lines.
  • Wallets, purses and other accessories for girls
  • Nightlight
    Nightlight
    A nightlight is a small light fixture, often electrical, placed for comfort or convenience in dark areas or areas that become dark at certain times, such as in an emergency...

    s and other bedroom accessories
  • Costumes and dress-up sets
  • High-end sculptures and collectibles
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