Last week, I got to go to one of my favorite places in the world. No, not Disneyland, but close — Disney Studios in Burbank! Not only did I get to check out the Hall of Legends, where I saw Tim Allen’s handprints (Buzz Lightyear himself) but I got to interview Ally Mack from Toy Story 4!
A small group of bloggers sat down in a conference room with the beautiful Ally Mack to talk about her new role as Giggle McDimples. Giggle is a close friend of Bo Peep (and her sheep) despite their differences, they’ve formed a close bond during their status as ‘lost’ toys. Giggle is a Polly Pocket type of toy, but she doesn’t let her size stop her. She leads part of the charge to help Woody and Bo rescue Forky, not letting her size get in the way. She sends a powerful message that we can all be important and helpful in life, no matter our situation.
Ally Mack is a petite actress with a flair for fashion and a smile ten times her size. She lit up the room when she entered and her laugh had us all caught up within seconds. She sat down and addressed us with so much kindness and interest, as though we were exciting for her to speak with, instead of the other way around!
While her outfit got our attention, her manicure stole the show. Check this out!
We peppered her with a lot of questions, and she rolled with all of them, including the one where someone noticed a new engagement ring on her finger. Her romantic story took place the night of the premiere of Toy Story 4, and while I’ve leave her personal life for her to share, I will say that her engagement is something she’s going to remember forever, and her fiance is a keeper!
Ally shared with us that making the movie was as fun as we’d all expect, and that she had a Polly Pocket collection growing up. (Did you? My youngest daughter had a HUGE one, and she used to spend hours with it.)
When asked about her relationship with Bo, Ally talked about how she had no sisters growing up, only brothers, and she realizes how much we all need female friendships, a sisterhood. How right is she? In order to help other girls find those much-needed relationships, she started the Asian-American Girls Club, an organization she began in her living room late one night. Her goal is to reach girls everywhere and to help shed light on their specific identity, one that needs this type of club as it doesn’t fit in other groups.
In order to help grow the girls’ club and reach other young women, she has reached out via DMs on Instagram, and it is working! The recipients of her messages have been overwhelmingly happy with her approach. That’s success!
The story of how Disney Pixar found Ally is one that should be encouraging to ALL of us with a social media presence. She had made a fun video about a trending topic and put it up on YouTube a while back. In it, she laughs and is herself, and while there weren’t a lot of viewers, she was seen by those involved with the casting for Toy Story 4. Her laugh is so suitable for Giggle, and she shared that she loves to laugh, and to take things that people say about her and laugh about them, using it to her advantage. We could all stand to learn something from that.
In short, she wants people to know they can be anything, and that women need to see different types of women to help further that. Her and Bo’s relationship is an example of how we are better together, and I think anyone with a good friend can agree!
Disney Pixar’s Toy Story 4 is going to cap off the Toy Story series in a satisfying way, with a few tears and a lot of laughs. The team does it again, and everyone who has ever said “To infinity and beyond!” at least once needs to go see it. And everyone else.
Here’s the trailer, in case you haven’t seen it yet. Enjoy, and see you at the movies!
Thank you, Ally, for taking the time to meet with us and for the extra time for photos. I can’t wait to see the movie again! (And don’t miss my Toy Story 4 no-spoiler review!)
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