Chapter 1
In the bedroom of young Andy Davis, a desperate outlaw was about to be captured.
As a group of toys gathered in a quiet western town—made out of a row of cardboard boxes— the outlaw suddenly appeared.
“All right, everyone, this is a stickup!” said Andy in a gruff voice, pretending to be a villainous Mr. Potato Head. “Don’t anybody move!”
All the other toys were carefully placed in position, watching. Andy pretended to make them all talk.
Andy picked up his piggy bank and shook out its coins. He lowered Mr. Potato Head over the money greedily. Then Andy grabbed a porcelain Little Bo Peep figurine. “Stop it, you mean old potato!” he said in a high-pitched voice, pretending to be Bo Peep.
“Quiet, Bo Peep, or your sheep get run over!” growled Mr. Potato Head. In the middle of a toy racetrack, the sheep stood helplessly, right in the path of danger.
“Not my sheep! Somebody do something!” Bo Peep cried.
Suddenly, Andy grabbed a brown-haired cowboy sheriff doll named Woody. He yanked on the shiny white plastic ring that dangled from a string on the toy sheriff’s back. A small voice box inside the cowboy’s chest squawked a scratchy recorded message: “Reach for the sky!”
“I’m here to stop you,” Woody said to Mr. Potato Head. “Are you gonna come quietly?”
“You can’t touch me, Sheriff!” Mr. Potato Head shouted. “I brought my attack dog with a built-in force field!”
Andy stretched a toy Slinky dog in front of Mr. Potato Head, then grabbed a plastic Tyrannosaurus rex doll and dropped it on top of Slinky.
“Well, I brought my dinosaur, who eats force-field dogs! You’re goin’ to jail,” declared Sheriff Woody.
Andy’s baby sister, Molly, watched from behind the bars of her crib. Taped to one side of the crib was a cardboard sign with the word JAIL scrawled in crayon.
Andy dropped Mr. Potato Head in with Molly. With a shrieking giggle, the little girl grabbed the doll and started banging him against the rail of her crib, knocking some of his parts onto the floor.
“You saved the day again, Woody,” Andy said as he pulled the sheriff’s string once more.
“You’re my favorite deputy,” Woody replied. Andy galloped into the hall. He propped Woody on the stairwell railing—and shoved. Whooping and hollering, Andy clattered downstairs as Woody slid awkwardly down the banister.
“Gotcha!” Andy cried at the bottom. He put Woody on his shoulder and romped around the living room. Then he placed the doll on the footrest of a recliner chair, pulled the lever, and catapulted him across the room.
Suddenly, Andy’s eyes lit up. He ran toward his mother, leaving Woody sprawled on the couch. “Wow! This looks great, Mom!”
Colorful helium balloons bobbed on their strings. Crepe-paper streamers decorated the dining room walls. A banner draped across the archway read: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDY!
“Can we leave this up till we move?” Andy asked his mother.
“Well, sure, we can leave it up,” replied Mrs. Davis. “Now, go get Molly. Your friends are going to be here any minute.”
Andy stopped by the couch to pick up Woody. “It’s party time, Woody!”
Andy pounded up the stairs to his room. As he propped Woody on the bed, he pulled the toy sheriff’s string one last time.
“Somebody’s poisoned the water hole,” said Woody.
“Come on, Molly.” Andy reached into his sister’s “jail” and lifted her out. Without looking back, he called over his shoulder, “See ya later, Woody!”
Slam! Andy kicked the door closed behind him. The room was silent for a moment. Then Woody shoved his hat back and scratched his forehead. A worried frown creased his brow as he sat up.
“Pull my string!” he muttered under his breath. “The birthday party’s today?”
Woody knew only too well what birthdays meant: toys. New toys, and lots of them. Shiny. Still nice in their boxes, with all their parts. Clean, and full of promise. Woody glanced around the quiet room. “Okay, everybody,” he called out. “Coast is clear!”
Slowly, toys began to roll out from under the bed, toddle across the floor, and bounce out of the toy chest. They flip-flopped down from shelves. Chattering, squeaking, quacking, and ringing, they swarmed into the open terrain of the bedroom floor.
Mr. Potato Head wobbled as he sat up on his rounded bottom. He had a blank expression, since all his face parts were strewn around the room. One by one, he jabbed his plastic eyes, ears, nose, and mouth into the small round holes scattered across his body. Then he walked over to Andy’s fat pink piggy bank, who was flipping a penny into his coin slot. “Hey, look, Hamm! I’m Picasso!”
The piggy bank stared at Mr. Potato Head, whose face pieces were stuck into the wrong holes, making his features seem all mixed up, as in one of the famous artist’s paintings. Hamm blinked. “I don’t get it.”
“Ah, you uncultured swine!” Mr. Potato Head sighed in disgust as he put his features back where they belonged.
High atop Andy’s mattress, Woody turned to a plastic Green Army Man standing guard on the bedside table. “Hey, Sarge. Have you seen Slinky?”
“No, sir!” the sergeant said with a stiff salute.
“Okay, thank you. At ease.” Woody leaped off the bed, the spurs of his brown boots jangling when he landed squarely on the floor. “Hey, Slinky?”
A metal fwump! Sounded under the bed. Two paws shoved a checkerboard out from under the hem of the bedspread. Woody’s faithful sidekick, the toy Slinky dog, wandered out and began setting up the checkers.
“I’m red this time,” Slinky said.
Woody shook his head. “No, Slink.”
“Oh, all right. You can be red if you want.”
“Not now, Slink!” Woody shook his head again. “I’ve got some bad news.”
“Bad news?” Slinky yelped.
Woody shoved a hand over Slinky’s mouth and looked around. A few nearby toys inclined their heads, listening for any scrap of hot gossip. Woody led Slinky a few steps away.
“Just gather everyone up for a staff meeting— and be happy!” he whispered.
“Got it,” said Slinky. He forced a quick laugh, then shuffled off across the room.
Woody heard a floor-sweeping swish and glanced down at a toy snake and a shiny toy robot as he walked toward the end of the bed.
“Staff meeting, everybody,” Woody said, then added, “Snake, Robot—podium duty.”
The snake and the robot grumbled a little, but they crawled out from under the bed to help.
A few paces away, the sheriff heard a squeak. He grinned. The knobs were twitching on Etch A Sketch, Andy’s rectangular drawing toy. “Hey, Etch!” the sheriff called out. “Draw!” Woody’s gun arm shot to his empty holster. Too late.
Etch A Sketch had beaten him to the draw. Etch proudly displayed the revolver he’d created on his gray screen.
“You got me again, Etch!” Woody teased.
“You’ve been working on that draw. Fastest knobs in the West!” Woody patted him on the corner of his red plastic frame, then walked toward the podium, which the snake and the robot were building out of some blocks and a Tinker Toy box.
Woody nodded his approval. The meeting would start soon. He’d better make a list.
“Now, where is that— Hey, who moved my doodle pad way over here?” He walked over and picked up the tablet.
Suddenly, behind him—
“Roaaaarrrr!”
Woody casually turned around. “Oh, how ya doin’, Rex?”
Rex, the not-very-ferocious-looking plastic tyrannosaur, smiled hopefully, his tiny claws clutched to his chest. “Were you scared? Tell me honestly.”
Woody bit his lip and cleared his throat. “I was close to being scared that time.”
Rex sighed and followed Woody toward the podium. “I’m going for fearsome here,” he explained. “But I just don’t feel it. I think I’m just coming off as annoying.”
Woody was about to reply, but a shepherd’s crook suddenly hooked him around the neck. One big yank and he found himself nose to nose with a smiling Bo Peep. “Oh… hi, Bo.”
The slender figurine batted her blue eyes. “I wanted to thank you, Woody,” she said. “For saving my flock.”
Woody blushed. “Oh, hey—it was nothing.”
Bo Peep smiled sweetly. “What do you say I get someone else to watch the sheep tonight?” she purred. Woody gulped.
Bo gestured with her crook toward the alphabet blocks that decorated the base of her lamp.
“Remember,” she added, “I’m just a couple of blocks away.” With a little wave, she sashayed past a small pile of toy alphabet blocks and headed toward the podium.
Woody’s heart boinged like a jack-in-the-box. He shook his head to clear it and glanced around. All business again, he scribbled some notes on his doodle pad and strode toward the podium.
Slinky was busy herding all the toys into place. “Come on, come on! Smaller toys up front!”
Everyone crowded around expectantly as Woody took his place at the podium. A toy tape recorder waddled up beside him.
“Oh, thanks, Mike,” Woody said. He picked up Mike’s microphone and blew. “Hello? Testing, testing. Everybody hear me? Great.”
He glanced down at the notes on his doodle pad.
“Okay. First item today: Has everyone picked a moving buddy?”
All the toys began talking excitedly.
“I didn’t know we were supposed to have one already,” Rex whined.
Mr. Potato Head held up one of his extra plastic arms. “Do we have to hold hands?”
The toys nudged one another and laughed. Woody shook his head. “Oh, yeah. You guys think this is a big joke. We’ve only got one week left before the move. I don’t want any toys left behind. A moving buddy—if you don’t have one, get one!”
Woody looked back at his doodle pad. “All right, next.… Oh, yes. Tuesday night’s Plastic Corrosion Awareness meeting was a big success, and we want to thank Mr. Spell for putting that on for us. Thanks, Mr. Spell.”
“You’re welcome,” the electronic Mr. Spell droned, the words scrolling across his display screen.
Woody stared at his list, stalling. There was no use putting it off any longer. He had bad news. The toys would have to be told.
“Oh, yes. One minor note here.” Woody’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Andy’s birthday party’s been moved to today.” He coughed and shouted, “Next, we have—”
The room exploded into squeaks, squeals, bells, barks, and whistles.
“What do you mean, the party’s today?” Rex exclaimed. “His birthday’s not till next week!” Woody held up his hands. “Well, obviously Andy’s mom wanted to have the party before the move. I’m not worried. You shouldn’t be worried.”
Mr. Potato Head elbowed his way to the front of the crowd, glaring at the sheriff. “Of course Woody ain’t worried!” he cried. “He’s been Andy’s favorite since kindergarten!”
Some of the toys mumbled their agreement.
“Hey! Come on, Potato Head,” Slinky responded, speaking up for his pal. “If Woody says it’s all right, then, well, darn it, it’s good enough for me. Woody has never steered us wrong before.”
Woody jumped down from the podium and walked through the crowd, looking each toy straight in the eye. “Listen, no one’s getting replaced,” he said soothingly. “It doesn’t matter how much we’re played with. What matters is that we’re here for Andy when he needs us. That’s what we’re made for. Right?”
One by one, the whirring, muttering, chiming toys fell silent, feeling at least a little reassured.
Hamm the piggy bank finally broke the silence. “Pardon me,” he called from the window- sill. “I hate to break up the staff meeting, but… THEY’RE HERE! BIRTHDAY GUESTS AT THREE O’CLOCK!”
第 1 章
在年輕的安弟·戴維斯的臥室里,出現(xiàn)了一個窮兇極惡的“歹徒”,需要將他擒住。
一列硬板箱圍成了一座安靜的西部小城,一群玩具正聚集在其中。突然,“歹徒”來了。
“好了,大家聽著,搶劫!”安弟裝作是兇惡的“歹徒”——蛋頭先生,用粗啞的聲音喝道,“通通不許動!”
其他的玩具們小心地排好了位置,站在邊上觀看。安弟假裝讓他們都會說話。
安弟拿起他的小豬存錢罐,搖出了許多硬幣。他讓蛋頭先生彎下身子,貪婪地看著這堆錢。他又隨手抓起一位瓷娃娃——牧羊女“寶貝”,用尖細的聲音模仿寶貝說道:“住手,你這個卑鄙的老土豆!”
“閉嘴,寶貝,要不然我撞死你的綿羊!”蛋頭先生怒吼。寶貝的綿羊正無助地站在玩具賽車軌道上,確實危險極了。
“別撞我的羊!來人啊,幫幫忙啊!”寶貝大叫道。
突然,安弟一把抓起了棕發(fā)牛仔玩偶——胡迪警長,猛地拉了一下他背后拉繩上閃閃發(fā)亮的白色塑料小環(huán),這時,牛仔胸腔內(nèi)的語音盒子發(fā)出了大聲而沙啞的錄音:“舉起手來!”
“我來抓你了,”胡迪對蛋頭先生說,“乖乖跟我走吧?”
“你抓不到我的,警長!”蛋頭先生大聲叫道。“我的戰(zhàn)犬在,他裝有超強力裝置!”
安弟把彈簧狗拉得很長,擺在了蛋頭先生面前;然后,他又抓起塑料的霸王龍玩偶抱抱龍,把他放在了彈簧狗的上面。
“是嗎?可是我有恐龍,專吃你的超強力狗!進監(jiān)獄吧!”胡迪警長向蛋頭宣告。
安弟的妹妹莫莉在她小床的欄桿后面觀看著。小床的一邊貼著一塊紙板,板上用蠟筆涂著“監(jiān)獄”的字樣。
安弟把蛋頭先生扔給了莫莉。莫莉尖叫著咯咯直笑,抓過蛋頭,朝床邊的欄桿上摔打起來,把蛋頭身上的一些部件打散到了地板上。
“今天你又立了一功,胡迪!”說著,安弟又拉了一下警長身后的線。
“你是我最好的搭檔,”胡迪回答。安弟飛奔到走廊,把胡迪立在了樓梯欄桿上,猛地一推。胡迪姿勢不那么優(yōu)雅地從欄桿上滑了下來,安弟則歡叫著,噔噔地跑下樓。
“抓到你啦!”安弟在樓梯盡頭大喊一聲。他把胡迪甩到肩上,在客廳里跑來跑去。接著,他又把胡迪擺到了躺椅的腳凳上,一扳升降把手,便把胡迪彈射了出去。
突然,安弟的眼睛一亮,撇下了攤開手腳倒在沙發(fā)上的胡迪,跑向媽媽。“哇!太棒了,媽媽!”
餐廳里的絲繩上拴著五彩的氣球,來回飄動,墻上裝飾著縐紙彩帶,穿過拱道拉著條橫幅,上面寫著:“安弟生日快樂!”
“搬家前我們能一直留著這些裝飾嗎?”安弟問媽媽。
“當然可以,我們一直留著,”戴維斯夫人回答。“去吧,把莫莉抱來,你的朋友們馬上就來了。”
安弟又到沙發(fā)邊上抓起了牛仔。“聚會要開始了,胡迪!”
安弟“咚咚”跑回樓上自己的房間。他把胡迪放回到床上,最后又拉了拉警長身后的繩。
“有人在水井里下了毒,”胡迪說。
“快來,莫莉。”安弟伸手把“監(jiān)獄”里的妹妹抱了出來,然后頭也不回,向身后說了聲:“回頭見,胡迪!”
“砰”的一聲,安弟用腳把身后的門踢上。屋子里沉寂了好一會兒。然后牛仔胡迪把帽子往腦后一推,撓了撓額頭,坐了起來,接著又皺起了眉頭。
“開玩笑吧!”他低聲私語。“生日聚會是今天?”
胡迪警長很明白安弟的生日意味著什么:玩具——許許多多的新玩具。他們閃閃發(fā)亮。這些還在包裝盒里的嶄新的玩具完好無損,干干凈凈,滿是希望。胡迪的目光掃視了一圈寂靜的屋子。“出來吧,伙伴們,”他開始召集玩具們。“安全了!”
慢慢地,玩具們有的從床底滾了出來,蹣跚來到地板上,有的從玩具箱里跳了出來,有的還從架子上翻滾了下來。他們涌到了地板中間的開闊地,“喋喋”“吱吱”“呱呱”“丁零”聲不絕于耳。
蛋頭先生一下子坐在圓圓的屁股上,左右搖晃。他面無表情,因為他的五官散落在了屋子的各個角落。他把塑料眼睛、耳朵、鼻子和嘴巴一個個戳進身體各處的洞洞中。然后,蛋頭先生走到粉紅色的小胖豬存錢罐前,小豬正把一枚硬幣彈進自己的投幣孔里呢。“嘿,火腿!看我像不像畢加索!”
蛋頭把五官全安錯了位置,樣子特搞怪,就像畢加索的畫一樣??墒腔鹜榷⒅邦^看了看,眼睛眨了眨,說了聲:“看不懂。”
“哎,沒文化的笨豬!”蛋頭厭煩地嘆口氣說道,然后又把他的五官擺正。
胡迪高高地坐在安弟的床墊上,問一個站在靠床的桌上值勤的綠色塑料士兵:“嘿,隊長??匆姀椈晒妨藛?”
“沒有看見,長官!”中士直挺挺地敬了個禮回答道。
“好的,謝謝。稍息。”胡迪從床上跳下,穩(wěn)穩(wěn)著地,棕色皮靴上的馬刺兒“當啷”作響。“嘿,彈簧狗?”
床底下發(fā)出“哐”的一聲金屬響動,接著兩只爪子從床單邊緣的底下推出了一個跳棋盤。胡迪的密友彈簧狗走了出來,開始擺棋子。
“這次我走紅的,”彈簧狗說。
胡迪搖搖頭:“不,彈簧狗。”
“好吧,你走紅的。”
“不,現(xiàn)在不下棋,彈簧狗!”胡迪又搖搖頭。“我得到了一些壞消息。”
“壞消息?” 彈簧狗尖聲問道。
胡迪一把捂住彈簧狗的嘴,看看周圍。附近有幾個玩具正側(cè)著腦袋,想聽聽有什么八卦。胡迪拉著彈簧狗走開了幾步。
“把大伙兒都召集起來,開個全體大會——開心點兒!”胡迪小聲吩咐道。
“明白了,”彈簧狗強作笑容,拖著腳步走到了房間的另一邊。
胡迪走向床頭時,聽到有類似掃地的“嗖嗖”聲,低頭一看,是玩具小蛇和一個閃閃發(fā)亮的玩具機器人。
“各位,全體大會,”胡迪說,接著又補充道:“小青蛇、機器人,準備講臺。”
盡管他們咕噥了幾句,可還是從床下爬了出來,過去干活了。
幾步之外,胡迪警長聽到了“吱吱”聲,他笑了笑。四四方方的玩具神奇畫板上的按鈕正在練習(xí)快速作畫。“嘿,神奇畫板!”胡迪喊了聲,“拔(畫)槍!”胡迪飛速抬手去摸空空的手槍皮套。但是已經(jīng)晚了。
神奇畫板在競賽中獲勝,驕傲地展示著他在灰色畫板上畫的手槍。
“你又贏了,神奇畫板!”胡迪嬉笑道。
“你一直在練習(xí)吧,都成西部最快的槍手了!”胡迪拍拍畫板紅色塑料邊框的一角,然后朝講臺位置走去,小青蛇和機器人正忙著用幾塊積木和錫人玩具盒子搭建講臺呢。
胡迪點頭以示贊同。會議馬上就要開始了,最好能把發(fā)言要點列個單子。
“喂,我的那啥在哪兒——嘿,誰把我的記事本扔到這兒了?”他走過去把本子撿了起來。
突然,在他身后——
“啊——!”
胡迪漫不經(jīng)心地回過頭去:“噢,你好,抱抱龍。”
抱抱龍是塑料霸王龍,但不是面目兇狠的那種,他把小爪子緊握在胸前,滿懷希望地笑道,“老實說,我嚇到你了嗎?”
胡迪咬咬嘴唇,清了一下嗓子:“差一點就被你嚇到了。”
抱抱龍輕嘆了口氣,跟在胡迪后面朝講臺走去。“我就是想要變得兇一點兒,”他解釋說,“但就是沒有感覺。我是不是變得越來越討人厭了?”
胡迪剛想說些什么,脖子突然被一根牧羊拐杖鉤住。拐杖猛地一拉,他便到了滿臉微笑的寶貝跟前,鼻子對鼻子。“噢……你好呀,寶貝。”
苗條的牧羊女眨了眨藍汪汪的眼睛,說道:“我來謝謝你,胡迪,謝謝你救了我的綿羊。”
胡迪臉一紅:“噢,噢——這沒什么。”
寶貝甜甜地一笑,柔聲地說:“今晚我請別人來照看我的羊群,怎么樣啊?”胡迪驚訝地吸了口氣。
寶貝用手杖指了指裝飾燈基的幾塊字母積木,接著說:
“別忘了,我離你可不遠。”牧羊女輕輕一擺手,便大步走過那一小堆積木,走向講臺。
胡迪的心怦怦亂跳,像玩偶匣里的玩偶一樣。他搖搖頭,清醒了一下,又環(huán)顧了下四周。正事要緊,他快速在記事本上寫下了幾條,闊步走向講臺。
彈簧狗正忙著讓玩具們就位。“快點,快點!小個子到前面!”
大家圍攏在一起,充滿期待。胡迪在講臺上站好。一個玩具錄音機蹣跚著來到胡迪旁邊。
“噢,多謝,邁克。”胡迪拾起邁克的話筒,輕輕吹了吹氣。“喂,喂?試音,試音。大家能聽到嗎?很好。”
胡迪低頭掃了一眼記事本。
“好了。今天的第一項議題:大家都找到搬家伙伴了嗎?”
所有的玩具都興奮地討論起來。
“我可不知道我們還要找個搬家伙伴,”抱抱龍抱怨道。
蛋頭先生一只手舉起了自己的另一只塑料胳膊,問道:“我們還要手拉手嗎?”
玩具們你推推我,我擠擠你,哈哈大笑。胡迪搖搖頭。“好吧,你們覺得很好笑嗎?我們只有一周時間就要搬家了。我可不想誰落下。誰還沒有搬家伙伴,抓緊找一個!”
胡迪又看了一下記事本。“好了,下一項是……對了。周二晚上的‘塑料老化問題’大會非常成功。我們要感謝拼字先生,他非常努力。謝謝您,拼字先生。”
“不用謝!”電動拼字先生“嗡嗡”地答道,他的顯示屏上也同時滾動著“不用謝”三個字。
胡迪盯著本子,遲疑了一會兒。不能再往后拖了,應(yīng)該告訴玩具們這條壞消息了。
“噢,好了。還有一條小通知。”胡迪把嗓音壓到極低。“小主人安弟的生日聚會提前到了今天。”他咳嗽了一下,開始大喊,“下面我們要——”
房間里玩具們突然亂作一團,“吱吱”“嘎嘎”“汪汪”“叮當”,尖叫聲、口哨聲連續(xù)不斷。
“什么意思,聚會提前到今天?”抱抱龍大聲說,“下周才是他的生日!”胡迪舉起雙手,“好的,很明顯,安弟的媽媽想在搬家前辦聚會。我不發(fā)愁,你們也不應(yīng)該擔心。”
蛋頭先生擠開一條路,走到了最前面,眼睛盯著警長,大聲說:“胡迪你當然不必擔心,自從安弟上幼兒園起,你可一直是他最喜歡的玩具!”
有些玩具咕噥著表示同意。
“喂,算了吧,蛋頭,”彈簧狗開始替朋友說話了,“如果胡迪認為不必擔心,那好,我絕對沒問題。胡迪從沒有把咱們帶錯路吧。”
胡迪一下從講臺上跳下來,走到他們中間,掃視著每一個玩具的眼睛。“聽著,大家都不會被取代,”他安慰著玩具們。“安弟和我們玩了多久,這不重要。重要的是,只要他需要,我們都能在他身邊。這就是我們存在的目的,對吧?”
玩具們感到了一絲安心,不再“呼呼”“咕噥”和“叮當”了,一個個安靜了下來。
最后,小豬存錢罐火腿打破了寂靜。“抱歉,各位,”他在窗臺上說,“我不想打斷大會,但是……(他大聲喊)小客人們已經(jīng)到了!才三點鐘啊,就都來了!”