Still, when it came to casting the voice actor for Bonnie’s Dad, the fact that Hernandez, a Mexican-American actor, was hired to give life to him was serendipitous. “When we made Toy Story 3, all my family thought she was based on my sister Raquel because she looked liked her when she was really little, and now in, Bonnie sort of looks like my niece Carly.” The connection was so indelible between the on-screen household and Rivera’s personal life, that his family felt Bonnie was directly related to them. “Albert leaned into that as we came up with this design.” I know a lot of families that way in California,” said Rivera, an Oakland native. “We thought Bonnie’s dad would be closer to that model of a family. His father was the child of Mexican parents, while his mother was of English Canadian descent. Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disneyįor Rivera, Bonnie’s inconspicuous biracial experience represented the exact reality he grew up in. Jonas Rivera, director Josh Cooley and producer Mark Nielsen attend premiere of ‘Toy Story 4’ at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, CA on June 11, 2019. Albert’s dad is Mexican American like my dad is. But in my mind, and since I know him well I feel I can speak for Albert, the character is a reflection of our families. “We never named him he’s just Bonnie’s Dad. Their design, Rivera told Remezcla in a recent interview, was a subconscious nod to Latinos.Īlthough they never sat down to decide they wanted to have a multiracial family or a Latino father, Rivera believes the look of Bonnie’s Dad came from the creative interpretation of the character by his close friend and the film’s character designer Albert Lozano. Voiced by actor Jay Hernandez (star of CBS’s Magnum P.I.), Bonnie’s Dad, father to the young girl who inherits the toys from Andy in the franchise’s third installment, looks ethnically ambiguous, as does Bonnie herself. The most recent example of this personal touch appears in Toy Story 4. As an integral member of the teams behind several of the most acclaimed animated features of the last decade, Mexican-American producer Jonas Rivera has found subtle ways to connect his work for Pixar - which earned him two Oscars - with his heritage.

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