Grammy-winning singer-rapper Bad Bunny is taking his talents to infinity and beyond as he joins the cast of Toy Story 5.
Disney recently announced that the global music star, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming installment as Pizza with Sunglasses, described as an “effortlessly cool and mysterious” toy who is “a member of a small but mighty community of forgotten toys that live in an abandoned backyard shed.”
During the Toy Story 5 United Kingdom Launch Event held in London on May 28, the film’s co-writer and co-director Andrew Stanton shared how the collaboration came together.
“They kind of come up in the moment when you (have) these one-line characters. That's the fun sometimes, 'Who will be perfect for this?'” he recalled. “We found out that Bad Bunny was a huge Toy Story fan.”
Producer Lindsey Collins echoed Andrew, recalling how they discovered the singer’s love for the franchise during the pandemic.
According to Lindsey, Bad Bunny had been posting videos while playing with “his Toy Story dolls,” giving the creative team an idea that eventually became reality.
“We were like, 'Maybe, maybe,'” she said, before she and Andrew both stated, “It didn't hurt to ask.”
Lindsey added that after asking Bad Bunny for the role, he immediately said yes.
Even longtime Toy Story lead star Tom Hanks, who voices Sheriff Woody, appeared surprised by the announcement during the event.
“He's Pizza with Sunglasses?” he asked, before saying: “Perfect casting.”
Bad Bunny’s casting adds to an already intriguing lineup of newcomers joining the fifth installment of Pixar’s beloved franchise. Actor Alan Cumming will also make a cameo appearance as Evil Bullseye, the counterpart of Bullseye, Woody’s loyal horse.
Meanwhile, Greta Lee joins the film as Lily Pad, a tablet competing for Bonnie’s attention, while Conan O’Brien voices Smarty Pants.
They join the franchise’s returning voice cast led by Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, alongside Joan Cusack as Jessie, Tony Hale as Forky, John Ratzenberger as Hamm, Wallace Shawn as Rex, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, Jeff Bergman as Mr. Potato Head, Anna Vocino as Mrs. Potato Head, and Annie Potts as Bo Peep, among many others.
Ahead of the film’s release, Tom previously hinted that Toy Story 5 carries an emotional storyline reflecting modern-day realities.
“These movies, they end up speaking [to] and puts in words [and] stuff that everybody is thinking anyway,” he said about Disney centering the story on toys battling with technology.
“There’s one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen in any of the Toy Story movies — when that little girl is getting her feelings hurt by what other people are texting about her, and she doesn’t understand why. She doesn’t know what she did wrong, but it hurts, and that is a very prescient thing to have in a motion picture today about little kids and toys, don’t you think?”
For Toy Story 5, a balding Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and the rest of the toys face a different kind of challenge as they try to save Bonnie from the growing influence of modern technology.
"The toys are back and this time, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, and the rest of the gang's jobs are challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad, a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie. Will playtime ever be the same?" Pixar wrote in the film’s YouTube trailer description.
Toy Story 5 is set to hit Philippine theaters on June 17.