Obviously, the core toys of Toy Story make these movies so incredibly special. However, the world is also so wonderful because of all the other unique toys that pop up during Buzz, Woody and co.’s adventures. For example, there’s one G.I. Joe-like doll who has shown up a few times, and he has become quite an iconic character. To make him even more legendary, Tom Hanks recalled a story that revealed how he was involved with the naming of this toy.
In the first Toy Story (which you can stream with a Disney+ subscription), the toys all gather around the window and see Sid explode a G.I. Joe-like doll. His name is “Combat Carl,” which Woody states as they look out the window. Since they couldn’t use the name of the real military doll in the movie, they had to come up with something new, and it turns out Tom Hanks was the one to coin the name “Combat Carl,” as he explained to Disney Studios UK ahead of Toy Story 5’s release on the 2026 movie schedule:
