BAM Studios recently welcomed Joan Cusack back into the recording booth to reprise her role as the spirited cowgirl Jessie for Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5, continuing a creative relationship that spans decades.
According to BAM Studios CEO Brian Reed, the studio has been recording Cusack as Jessie since the character’s earliest years, collaborating on feature films, shorts, video games, commercials, and Disney theme park productions.
“Working with Joan is always a joy,” Reed said. “She brings incredible energy, warmth, and authenticity to Jessie every single time she steps behind the microphone.”
For the latest installment, Cusack returned to BAM’s Chicago studio, where Reed and his team captured the performance of the fan favorite character who first galloped onto the screen in Toy Story 2 and has remained a central part of the franchise ever since.
The recording sessions were engineered by Sidney Jones with assistant engineer Alex Vaca, continuing BAM Studios long tradition of providing world-class voice recording and audio post-production services for major film, television, advertising, and interactive projects.
Toy Story 5 reunites many familiar voices from the franchise while introducing a new adventure for Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the gang. The film explores the challenges of growing up in a world increasingly shaped by technology while celebrating the timeless friendships that have defined the series for generations.
Cusack has spoken about how meaningful it has been to be part of a franchise that has shaped generations’ childhoods. “It’s been the most important thing I’ve done in my whole life,” she told ABC. “That’s what kids watch. So to do something like that where you’re contributing to their world was fun to think about.”
She also teased that Toy Story 5 will reveal new sides of Jessie, with the cowgirl stepping into a more mature role. “She kind of grows up to be, in this film, a real leader,” Cusack shared. “She’s brave, she’s fearless, it just gets to some emotional depth that is kind of unexpected.”
Cusack, who has two sons with husband Richard Burke, has taken a step back from Hollywood in recent years and has embraced life in Chicago. “I think because I’ve worked for a long time, and I feel so honored to be able to work in this industry, but it’s also great to live your life and raise your kids and be in Chicago and be a normal person,” she told Variety. “It’s kind of priceless. It’s kind of cool.”
For Chicago, the session is another reminder that internationally recognized entertainment is being created locally. For BAM Studios, the project is another milestone in a history of bringing award-winning talent through its Chicago doors and contributing to productions seen and heard around the world.
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