Chapter

In his apartment, Al was stomping around in a chicken suit. He grabbed his cell phone and started yelling into it. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll be right there. And we’re gonna do this commercial in one take, do you hear me? Because I am in the middle of something really important!” He hung up and stared at Woody, who was now trapped inside a rectangular glass case.

“You, my little cowboy friend, are going to make me big”—he began to flap his wings—“buck-buck-bucks!” Al laughed and flapped his way out the apartment door.

When Al was gone, Woody rammed his shoulder into the door of the case. After a few pushes, he was able to open it. He jumped to the floor and rushed over to the door. The doorknob was way out of reach, and he couldn’t open it. Instead, he jumped up to a chair and onto the windowsill, where he peered outside.

Woody gasped. There were tall buildings everywhere, and the street was far below. It was clear that Woody was a long way from home. “Andy,” he said with a sigh.

He jumped down from the windowsill and began to explore Al’s apartment. As he struggled with a heating grate, he heard a noise across the room. He turned around to see an open box filled with packing peanuts. From the box, a trail of peanuts led right to his feet. Woody was confused.

Suddenly, a floppy toy horse slipped between Woody’s legs. “Whoa-oa-oa!” Woody yelled as the horse lifted him onto its back and began to leap around like a bucking bronco. Woody struggled to hang on. “Hey, stop! Horsey, stop! Sit, boy! Whoa!”

The horse stopped suddenly, causing Woody to tumble forward to the floor. He landed on his head, looking backward and upside down through his splayed legs. That was when he noticed a cowgirl doll standing right in front of him. She stared back at Woody, bending down to his level with an eager grin on her face.

“Yeeeee-hawwww!” she yelled suddenly, grabbing Woody in a giant hug. “It’s you! It’s you!” She gave him a big noogie. “It’s really you!”

“What’s me?” asked Woody, startled.

“Whoo-ee!” cried the cowgirl, spinning Woody around. Holding on to his pull string, she yanked him back and caught him with her other arm. Then she put her ear to his chest and listened.

“There’s a snake in my boot!” said Woody’s voice box.

“Ha!” said the cowgirl, slapping Woody on the back. “It is you!”

“Please stop saying that,” pleaded Woody. He had no idea what was going on.

“Prospector said someday you’d come!” the cowgirl exclaimed. Then a look of realization flashed across her face. “The Prospector! He’ll want to meet you!” She whistled to the horse, who dove into the cardboard box, dug around, and pulled out a smaller box. “Say hello to the Prospector!” the cowgirl announced excitedly.

“It’s a box,” said Woody, growing more confused by the minute.

“He’s mint in the box,” said the cowgirl. “Never been opened.” The horse spun the box around to reveal an old miner doll with a white beard, tucked snugly in his unopened box.

“Oh, we’ve waited countless years for this day! It’s so good to see you, Woody,” said the Prospector. He was dressed in mining clothes, with a plastic pick hanging behind him in the box.

“Hey! How do you know my name?” asked Woody.

“Everyone knows your name, Woody,” said the cowgirl.

“Why, you don’t know who you are, do you?” asked the Prospector. Then he turned to the others. “Bullseye?” he called, as if he were asking the little horse to do him a favor.

Bullseye galloped over to a pile of boxes, climbed up to a light switch, and turned on the lights with his nose. Woody glanced around the newly lit room and gasped. He was surrounded by a huge set of toys and all kinds of memorabilia, each one labeled WOODY’S ROUNDUP. And his picture was on every item.

There were a Woody yo-yo, a cereal box, plates, a radio, and even a magazine cover with a close-up of Woody’s face.

“That’s me,” Woody said, amazed. He began to back up, bumping into a wall. When he turned and looked up, he realized it wasn’t a wall at all—it was a giant cardboard cutout of himself. “Wow.”

The Prospector nodded at Bullseye, and the horse pushed an old videotape into the player. The cowgirl, whose name was Jessie, turned on the TV with the remote, and a pair of barn doors flashed on the screen. A title card read COWBOY CRUNCHIES PRESENTS, and then an announcer’s voice boomed, “Cowboy Crunchies, the only cereal that’s sugar-frosted and dipped in chocolate, proudly presents…Woody’s Roundup!”

The Woody’s Roundup theme song began to play, and a black-and-white TV version of Jessie danced onto the screen. “Yo-de-lay-he-hoo!” she bellowed. A crowd of animals—skunks, rabbits, armadillos, a squirrel—came from every direction and surrounded Jessie.

“That’s me!” cried Jessie. She jumped up and down and pointed at the screen enthusiastically. Woody stared from the screen to Jessie in awe.

The theme song continued, and Bullseye appeared. As the TV version of the horse played horseshoes on screen, the real Bullseye lowered his head modestly.

Next, the Prospector emerged from a cardboard mine on the screen. “Has anyone seen my pick?” he asked. He turned around to reveal his pick attached to his rear end, and a chorus of laughter rang out from an unseen TV audience.

The theme song came to an end, and Woody watched in disbelief as his on-screen self burst forward and leaped onto Bullseye, who reared up dramatically. An audience full of kids cheered as Woody waved his hat.

As the facts came together for Woody, his shock turned to joy. He began to understand that he had once been a big TV star!

Back at Andy’s house, the toys gathered around the TV. They switched from channel to channel, searching for the Al’s Toy Barn commercial.

“I can’t find it!” cried Rex.

“Keep looking,” said Buzz.

“Oh, you’re going too slow,” said Hamm in frustration. “Let me take the wheel.” He bumped Rex aside and began flipping through the channels.

“It’s too fast!” complained Rex.

Suddenly, the Al’s Toy Barn commercial flashed past. The toys all began to shout.

“Stop! Back, back, back!” said Rex.

“Go back, Hamm!” yelled Slinky.

Hamm returned to the commercial just in time to hear Al exclaim, “…and look for the giant chicken!” A map flashed on the screen, and Buzz pointed to Etch.

“Now, Etch!” he ordered.

Etch quickly sketched a copy of the map right before the commercial ended. He placed a chicken on the spot that marked the Toy Barn.

“That’s where I need to go,” announced Buzz.

“You can’t go, Buzz,” said Rex. “You’ll never make it there.”

Buzz began to copy the map onto a piece of paper. “Woody once risked his life to save me. I couldn’t call myself his friend if I weren’t willing to do the same,” he explained. “So who’s with me?” He glanced around the room.

A short while later, as a group of brave toys prepared to leave, Bo Peep approached Buzz.

“This is for Woody—when you find him,” she said. Then she gave Buzz a big kiss on the cheek.

Buzz blushed. “All right, but I don’t think it’ll mean the same coming from me.”

As Bo walked away, Robot and Rocky carried Wheezy over to Buzz.

“Mr. Buzz Lightyear,” Wheezy said weakly. “You’ve just got to save my pal Woody.”

“I’ll do my best,” Buzz replied.

Then Buzz, Slinky, Rex, and Hamm climbed out the window and walked to the edge of the rooftop. Slinky acted as a bungee cord, allowing the toys to hold on to his rear legs as they jumped off the roof.

As Rex’s turn approached, the toy dinosaur began to tremble with fear.

“You’d think with all my video game experience, I’d be feeling more prepared,” he said nervously. Holding on to Slinky, he slipped and fell off the roof with a yell. A few seconds later, he appeared again, still holding on to Slinky and bouncing up and down with the dog’s coil tail.

“The idea is to let go!” shouted Slinky.

Once Rex reached the ground safely, Buzz looked toward the window. “We’ll be back before Andy gets home,” he told the others. The toys inside gathered at the window and waved goodbye. “To Al’s Toy Barn…and beyond!” yelled Buzz as he held on to Slinky and leaped off the roof. Slinky jumped last. The search for Woody had begun!