Sitting here watching Toy Story 2 for the umpteenth time with my wife and daughter. My wife bring up an interesting question. Jessie remembers her owner Emily. Stinky Pete remembers sitting on the dime store shelf. So, why doesn't Woody remember his time before Andy?

Wifey was like, "won't those dorks you talk to on the internet know this?"

I said "probably".

I've heard this asked before (and thought it myself) and...yeah I dunno.

Also, what compels them to "play dead" in most situations, even when they're in danger.

it's less "playing dead", and more acting like an inanimate object, which they supposedly are in the minds of humans.

I remember wondering the same thing when I saw the film for the first time a couple of months ago.

To do otherwise would risk revealing the secret truth about every toy. Perhaps they feel that a single toy must be willing to potentially sacrifice it's own individual "life" in order to protect the remaining toys from discovery. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one."

I have no idea if that's the correct answer, it's just what popped into my head when I read your post.

That's something that's always bugged me. I get why the others "play dead," but why does Buzz? He doesn't think he's a toy. Why doesn't he just say "Hey, I'm Buzz Lightyear. Your name is Andy, right?" and start encouraging all the other toys to speak up as well. "Your sheriff was talking just a second ago before you walked in the room, Andy."

And to pre-answer the question of why Buzz does this if he believes himself to be a real person: He was obeying the customs of the new planet he was on. *Edit* Someone asked the question!

Hey, I like that answer! It's never actually "bugged" me, but I have wondered before.

on the Woody rembering thing...I just assume that he was passed on to another owner. He doesn't have any emotions of loss like Jesse. While it's never answered...I think maybe Andy's mom may have been his owner or someone in the family and Andy got Woody.

It's a question that in the back of our minds we ask...but it's ultimately not important to the story..but for the sake knowing..I'd like to know. Someone ask Pixar.

Use some common sense people!

They had his memory wiped just like when C3P0 when he got passed to another owner. This way they can are free to make TS Prequels and not have to worry about little details like this.

Woody was sexually abused and has repressed the memories of that time.

Maybe Woody has alzheimer's.

Wow. Another good one!

Yet they endanger the secret to scare Sid? Not buying it.

Now we're getting somewhere!

Maybe they figured no one would believe Sid - he does have quite the imagination. At least in that case, Sid had tortured and "killed" many toys before, and would have continued doing so if not stopped, so countless future toys were spared by their revealing act. I thought it was more of a stretch that a child would be playing with a mint-condition, vintage 1950's toy. If Woody were forty years old, and had passed through several generations of kid's hands, he would have been in terrible shape. Plus, how many little kids even have toys that old?

Pete remembers being on the shelf because he saw no one wanting to buy him as the Woody's and Jessie's were being sold around him. I'm sure at some point Woody started out just like Buzz and over time came to understand that he's a toy and is there as a child's friend and amusement.

Okay, I'm coming around to your line of thinking.

Although it may not be "film canon", in 2009 John Lasseter explained that, to the creators of the series, "We always imagined he was a hand-me-down to Andy from his father." And that's good enough for me.

His father? Wait a minute, where IS his father?

lol...I always assumed he died or was divorced cuz his mom is a single mom. I remember thinking that was neat when I saw it.

One of those fathers that doesn't play with his toys...and DIVORCES.

Maybe the father's name was Andy. The name on the bottom of Woody's boot. I think it was mentioned in of of the movies that Woody was a family keepsake.

Yeah, the mom says it at the garage sale in TS2.

My kids play with my old Star Wars toys, some of which are now 35 years old.