SA's Mansfield to voice character in Toy Story 3

"It's official and has just been finalised. This is really exciting news! I am a big fan of Disney.Pixar and this is indeed an honour," said a thrilled Mansfield earlier this week.

Under the direction of Rick Dempsey, senior vice-president, creative - Disney Character Voices, Mansfield will record the voice for the South African theatrical and DVD release of the film. According to Dempsey there is lots of excitement surrounding the release of Toy Story 3 and Disney.Pixar is "especially excited to have Jeremy Mansfield provide the voice for one of the characters".

Behind-the-scenes look

A behind-the-scenes look at how the voice recording was done will be shown in an exclusive insert on M-NET's All Access on 21 May at 7.30pm.

The film, set to release in South Africa on 3D screens on 18 June and across other screens nationally on 25 June, welcomes Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), Buzz (voice of Tim Allen) and the whole gang back to the big screen as Andy prepares to depart for college and his loyal toys find themselves in - daycare!

These untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nicely, so it's all for one and one for all as plans for the Great Escape gets underway.

Some new faces

A few new faces - some plastic, some plush - join the adventure, including iconic swinging bachelor and Barbie's counterpart, Ken (voice of Michael Keaton), a lederhosen-wearing thespian hedgehog named Mr Pricklepants (voice of Timothy Dalton), and a pink, strawberry-scented teddy bear called Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear (voice of Ned Beatty) and, of course, Lifer, the Chatter telephone (voice of Jeremy Mansfield).

Directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo), produced by Pixar veteran Darla K Anderson (Cars, Monsters, Inc), and written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), Toy Story 3 is a comical new adventure in Disney Digital 3D.

Oscar-winning composer/songwriter Randy Newman, a key collaborator on the first two Toy Story films, is back on board to provide another brilliant score and new song. Toy Story 3 is based on a story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.

Vocal cast

The vocal cast reunites Hanks and Allen with Joan Cusack as Jessie, Don Rickles as Mr Potato Head, Wallace Shawn as Rex, John Ratzenberger as Hamm, and Estelle Harris as Mrs Potato Head, while featuring the Toy Story debuts of Beatty, Keaton and Dalton, as well as Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt and Whoopi Goldberg.