Toy Story 4 opens this weekend in the United States and Canada. Most sequels introduce new characters to keep things fresh.
One of the new characters is a Canadian played by an actual Canadian. Keanu Reeves voices the character of Duke Caboom, a Canadian daredevil motorcycle rider.
The story told in The Hollywood Reporter was that Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley and the producers conducted a blind audio test with recordings of Canadian actors. They came across a voice that they did not recognise. Turns out that voice was Keanu Reeves.
I want to believe a story that major film producers and the director wanted a Canadian to play the part of a Canadian and chose Reeves on a blind audio test.
Here is why I am a bit skeptical:
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Most people learned that Keanu Reeves is into motorcycles after a Squarespace Super Bowl ad during Super Bowl LII in 2018 that featured Reeves and his Arch Motorcycle company Web site.
Big animated films want famous people more than voice actors in their films. They figure the adults who bring their kids will recognise the voices more than their kids.
So you have a Canadian who is famous to American audiences and a motorcycle enthusiast, and we're supposed to believe they picked Reeves randomly?
I imagine Peter Keleghan, Colin Mochrie, Dan Levy, and Jon Dore among many Canadians in an audition room reading random Canadian lines. If the producers were considered female daredevils, Ellen Page, Sandra Oh, Caroline Rhea, and Emily Hampshire in the audition room.
Cooley told the Los Angeles Times that he created the Caboom character with Reeves in mind. The blind listening story sounds more Hollywood than the likely to be real story.
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The film might have some Canadian jokes. Perhaps Caboom jumps over barrels of maple syrup.
The idea of incorporating Canadians into the process of playing a Canadian character is something we have encouraged here at CanadianCrossing.com. They did cast a Canadian as a Canadian, even in an animated film. They told the story of casting Canadians to play a Canadian. Progress.
video credit: YouTube/JoBlo Movie Trailers
photo credit: Toy Story 4 film
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