We learned a few months back that former James Bond actor, Timothy Dalton, is voicing a new character in Pixar’s upcoming sequel, Toy Story 3. The character is called Mr. Pricklepants, a hedgehog who’s described to have “thespian tendencies,” which makes Dalton a great choice for the role (on top of the fact he has a brilliantly distinctive voice).
Those lucky enough to be in the room for the Disney’s D23 event earlier this year got a look at Mr. Pricklepants, along with the first full-length Toy Story 3 trailer. But we now have a new featurette (which premiered on the Disney Channel) featuring director Lee Unkrich and gives us our first official look at the character. Other than that, it doesn’t give much else away that we haven’t seen before in other trailers and clips, but for any fans of Toy Story and Pixar in general it’s definitely worth a look.
Take a look at the featurette below:
As /Film points out, there’s no word on what sort of role Mr. Pricklepants will have -- i.e. whether he’ll be good or bad, or how much of him we’ll see. But in true Pixar form, you can bet he won’t just be there to be some sort of “background filler.” I really like the casting of Dalton as the character -- not because his voice is distinctive but because it acts as a very funny counterpoint to the look of the character (read: you wouldn’t expect a hedgehog to have that voice! 
).
Toy Story 3 reunites almost all your favorite voice actors from the first two (Jim Varney has passed away) including Tom Hanks (Woody); Tim Allen (Buzz); Joan Cusack (Jessie); John Ratzenberger (Hamm); R. Lee Ermey (Sergeant); Wallace Shawn (Rex); and Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head). Along with Dalton (Mr. Pricklepants), also joining the voice cast are Michael Keaton (playing Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken); Blake Clark (voicing Slinky Dog, replacing Jim Varney); Kristin Schaal; Whoopie Goldberg; Bonnie Hunt; and Jeff Garlin.
Thoughts on our first look at the new Toy character of Mr. Prickleplants? Do you like the voice casting of Timothy Dalton? What are you looking forward to most about the third installment in the Toy Story franchise?
With us all now into the year 2010, you can now start thinking of Toy Story 3 as coming out this year (as director Lee Unkrich enthusiastically Tweeted yesterday). The film hits theaters this summer on June 18th, and I personally can’t wait for it.
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Timothy Dalton is quite simply awesome!!! He was a great James Bond, so cool in The Rocketeer, really funny in Hot Fuzz and cant belive he was in Doctor Who this weekend!!!!
I imagine he might be a villain in this, or at least full of ambiguous menace, because he has a scary voice!
Kids movie.
@790
Oh course it is, but Pixars specialty lies in kids movies that adults can enjoy, sometimes even more then the kids.
I’m quietly optimistic. Pixar ahve never let me down and the trailers look very funny and heart touching
I’ve never seen a Pixar movie that I didn’t like. I didn’t love Cars and The Incredibles, but they weren’t terrible by any means. I love the Toy Story series (doesn’t everybody?) and I’m very excited to see this movie. I saw the 3D double feature and it got me even more excited for the third installment. Question: Will they be using the same 3D glasses they used for the double feature for this? I’m hoping so. They were very nice and worked well and they MADE us give them back after the show. They were good quality 3D glasses, not the cheap Real-D ones you get in a plastic baggy.