The Toy Story Character You Forgot Was Voiced by Young Sheldon's Annie Potts
Young Sheldon favorite Annie Potts had a Pixar past: long before she became Sheldon's Meemaw, she gave voice to Toy Story icon Bo Peep.
If you only know Annie Potts as Meemaw from Young Sheldon, you’ve been missing one of Pixar’s most familiar voices. Yep, that’s Potts behind Bo Peep in the Toy Story movies — a role that went quiet for years and then came roaring back in Toy Story 4.
Wait, Bo Peep is Meemaw?
She is. Potts first voiced Bo Peep in Toy Story, then basically vanished from the spotlight as the sequels leaned harder on Buzz and Woody. Toy Story 4 finally put Bo front and center again and let Potts turn a porcelain lamp into an action lead. If Bo Peep ever sounded oddly familiar to you, that’s your answer.
Annie Potts: the long road to Meemaw (and beyond)
Potts didn’t just pop up in sitcom land. She studied theater at Stephens College in Missouri, then kicked off her film career with 1978’s Corvette Summer opposite Mark Hamill. That performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year, which is Hollywood’s way of saying: take note.
From there, she stacked up memorable credits: Pretty in Pink, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, and the original Ghostbusters, where she played Janine Melnitz and basically hardwired her voice into 80s pop culture.
TV is where she really dug in. Starting in 1986, she spent 150-plus episodes on Designing Women as Mary Jo Shively. Later, her turn as Dana Palladino on CBS’s 1993 sitcom Love and War got her a 1994 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actress. And of course, there’s Young Sheldon, where she’s been the not-so-secret weapon as Meemaw. These days she mostly sticks to television and smaller projects, but the resume is doing the talking at this point.
Toy Story 5: what Disney just locked in
Disney finally put a date on it: Toy Story 5 hits theaters July 19, 2026. The movie is said to be directed by Andrew Stanton and McKenna Harris. Voice-wise, Tom Hanks is back as Woody, with Tim Allen and Joan Cusack returning as Buzz Lightyear and Jessie. There’s a teaser trailer out, and it teases a new problem for the gang to deal with. No other casting details were confirmed here, so whether Bo Peep rides again is still a question mark.
Where to watch right now
Young Sheldon is streaming on Netflix in the US. All four Toy Story films are on Disney+.
The franchise at a glance
- Toy Story — Rotten Tomatoes: 100% critics | 92% audience — Box office: $401 million — Streaming: Disney+
- Toy Story 2 — Rotten Tomatoes: 100% critics | 87% audience — Box office: $497 million — Streaming: Disney+
- Toy Story 3 — Rotten Tomatoes: 98% critics | 90% audience — Box office: $1.06 billion — Streaming: Disney+
- Toy Story 4 — Rotten Tomatoes: 96% critics | 94% audience — Box office: $1.07 billion — Streaming: Disney+
Bottom line: Annie Potts has quietly been part of multiple eras of pop culture, from Ghostbusters to Toy Story to Young Sheldon. If Toy Story 5 brings Bo Peep back into the mix, that’s one more win for the voice that’s been in your head for decades.