Toy Story 4 Will Still Include the Late Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head: Here's How

The legendary insult comedian had signed on to do the film in 2014. In 2017, he died at age 90.

By Corinne Heller Mar 28, 2019 7:08 PMTags
Don Rickles, Mr. Potato HeadGetty Images/Buena Vista Pictures

The voice of the late Don Rickles will be used again to portray Mr. Potato Head.

The legendary insult comedian had signed on to do Toy Story 4 in 2014. In 2017, he died at age 90. Director Josh Cooley confirms that Rickles' voice will be featured in the film, with permission and by request of his family.

"All of his pieces may be replaceable, but his voice is not," Cooley tweeted on Thursday. "Honored he signed on for TS4, honored he's in TS4."

"Of course we loved Don obviously, and after he passed, his family contacted us and asked if there was any way that we could create a performance using the recordings that we had," Cooley told EW.

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Animated Disney vs. Live-Action Disney

The studio was able to incorporate previously recorded and unused voice segments from the gruff-voiced Rickles, who portrayed Mr. Potato Head in the first three films in the Disney-Pixar franchise.

"Now, he signed to be in Toy Story 4. Unfortunately we did not get a chance to record him for the film," Cooley told EW. "But we went through, jeez, 25 years of everything we didn't use for Toy Story 1, 2, 3, the theme parks, the ice capades, the video games—everything that he's recorded for Mr. Potato Head. And we were able to do that. And so I'm very honored that they asked us to do that, and I'm very honored that he's in the film. Nobody can replace him."

Mr. Potato Head has a line in a recent trailer for Toy Story 4.

Toy Story 4 stars other returning stars such as main actors Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, plus Wallace Shawn and Joan Cusack, and franchise newcomers like Jordan PeeleChristina Hendricks, Patricia Arquette and Keanu Reeves.

The movie is set for release on June 21.