Al McWhiggin (Toy Story 2)

Al McWhiggin “It's showtime!” Gender: Male Type: Hilarious Businessman Age: Unknown Species: Human Portrayed by: Wayne Knight Status: Alive Media of origin: Toy Story

" (chuckling) You, my little cowboy friend, are gonna make me big buck-buck-bucks! [laughs greedily] Buck-buck-bucks! [continues laughing] Buck-buck-bucks!"

— Al, to Woody after having the latter in a case.

Albert "Al" McWhiggin, also known as the Chicken Man, is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Stinky Pete) of Toy Story 2 and the unseen overarching antagonist of the 2013 Halloween television special Toy Story of Terror!.

He was voiced by Wayne Knight.

Background

He is the greedy owner of Al's Toy Barn and an avid toy collector who steals Woody in hopes of selling him and Woody's Roundup gang to Tokyo for money. However, Woody's friends Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex, and Hamm saw Al steal their friend and went out to rescue Woody and bring him home.

Why He Deserves Some Bucks

1. His commercials are timeless and hilarious to watch, especially for how eccentric and over-the-top his chicken persona is.
2. Wayne Knight does a great job voicing him. He especially hams it up that fits Al's goofiness. Making Al one of the hammiest villains in a Pixar film.
3. Despite being a minor antagonist of the film, he serves as one of the movie's most memorable comic relief villains in the film.
   • He contributes to most of the film's comedy alongside Rex, making him very entertaining to watch. This includes the Cheese Puffs scene; where Al was deep asleep and was tired enough to drop a bowl of cheese puffs he had on his lap that makes Woody tip-toe his way out upon Bullseye aiding Woody, and when Woody tries to get his arm back from Al placing it in the pocket of his shirt; three comedic scenes he provided was laughing to himself when Bullseye licked his fingers like a dog does, belching in front of Woody to make a humorously disgusted response in return, and then waking up in paranoia when Stinky Pete turned on the TV.
4. He may not be a villain in the traditional sense, but his personality is so silly, humorous, and ridiculous that it makes him very funny and entertaining to watch.
5. He is Pixar's best example of making an obnoxious character actually funny and well-written with a level of charm without going overboard.
   • Even though he's an obnoxious, greedy, childish, and high-strung man who has little or no patience for anyone or anything that gets in his way. He is also a shrewd businessman. When things do not go his way, Al resorts to dirty tricks to get what he wants, making him very underhanded and dedicated.
6. For all intents and purposes, he takes relatively good care of his toy collection, best shown when he gets a repairman to fix Woody's arm.
   • Despite all of his negative traits, he is genuinely grateful to the toy repairman for fixing Woody when his arm is ripped off.
7. He has a unique villain song that is never heard in the film.
8. Many amazing and funny quotes he provided like,
   • “And we're gonna do this commercial in ONE take! DO you hear me? Cause I'm in the middle, of something VERY important! You, my little cowboy friend, are gonna make me big buck-buck-bucks! [laughs greedily] Buck-buck-bucks! (continues laughing) Buck-buck-bucks!!”
   • “I can't believe I have to drive ALL the way to work, on a Saturday! All the way to work!!”
   • “Ohohoho money baby! Money money money (Maniacal laughter) And now, the main attraction!!!”
   • “Original hand-painted face. Natural-dyed, blanket-stitched vest! Hmm, a little rip. Fixable. Oh, if only you had your hand-stitched, polyvinyl... [gasps as seeing Woody's hat] A HAT! DAH I FOUND HIM! I FOUND HIAHAHAM! (Jovial laughing)”
   • “I'll give you eh, 50 cents for all this junk.”
   • “Wait! Uh, I'll give you 50 bucks for it! Everything's for sale! We'll trade, you want my watch??”
   • “NO! HIS ARM!! Where's his arm??”
   • “It's me, Al! I got an emergency here! Yeah, we're all busy b-but IT HAS TO BE TONIGHT! Alright! Alright! But first thing in the morning.”
   • “WUH WHA, WAIT! NO OFFICER I SWEAR!”
   • “Ahh ahh, there you go cheapskate.”
   • “IT'S AMAZING! YOU'RE A GENIUS! IT'S JUST LIKE, NEW!!!”
   • “(Chortling) It's like printing, my own MONEY.”
   • “Six packages to Japan is, HOW MUCH? What? That's in ten right?? Dollars??? Doh! You are DELIBERATELY taking advantage of people in a hurry you KNOW that!?”
   • " I can't believe I have to drive all the way to work on a Saturday! ALL THE WAY TO WORK!

Bad Qualities

1. He's more of a petty thief than an actual villain, even by that, he still has done his own crimes.
   • Despite being grateful, he aggressively slammed into the toy repairman he paid to fix and stitch Woody for no discernible reason.
   • Even though he's hilarious, he often tends to be a jerk to his co-workers when he calls them on the phone. Pressuring them to manage their time and for deals not going his way.
2. He is shown to be a lazy couch dweller in his home at night during the scene where Woody sneaks into his penthouse's main room, evidenced by him burping in his sleep and having spent time eating from a bowl of cheese puffs.
3. At the end of Toy Story 2, he ends up pathetically weeping on TV after losing the Roundup Gang.

Trivia

• In an early concept art, Al was originally going to have a full head of hair.
• Al may have feared of being caught for stealing Woody (and possibly other valuable toys) because when Stinky Pete turned on the television, he jumped up from his sleep yelling, "No officer! I swear." as though he thought the police were in the room. This could imply that deep down, he feels guilty about stealing Woody, or at the very least fears that he won't be in the clear forever despite his cocky attitude. This moment may also imply that he may have had a bad encounter with the police before.
• Al is partially based on Pixar animator and storyboard artist Matthew Luhn's father Mark, who is a toy store owner and collector. A group of animators shadowed Mark Luhn for days to study his mannerisms and learn about toy collections.
  • He looks like Wayne Knight with a different hairstyle. In fact, the reason he has a goatee was that Wayne Knight happened to be growing one during recording; originally he was designed clean-shaven, referenced by Etch's composite sketch of him a sans beard.

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