One of Moray’s most famous sons is set to star in a special Christmas edition of the most famous Disney franchise of them all.
Elgin-born actor Kevin McKidd will star alongside Toy Story regulars Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in a 22-minute Christmas special, “The Toy Story that Time Forgot”.
Taking a break from his regular appearances in Grey’s Anatomy, Kevin has provided the voice of a dinosaur gladiator in the Pixar animated special.
It is not yet known if his character is a one-off or will make a reappearance in ‘Toy Story 4’ which it has already been revealed will release in 2017.
In the Christmas special – which airs in the United States on ABC this week – McKidd will provide the voice of Reptillus Maximus, one of the new toys bought for little Bonnie.
Reptillus will be one of a group of deluded action figures that make regulars Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their friends take part in violent gladiator games.
It is not the first time McKidd has featured in a Pixar movie, playing a central role in the feature film ‘Brave’ in 2012. Kevin says that his Toy Story character is based on one he played in the Home Box Office series ‘Rome’ from 2005 until 2007.
He said: “Pixar very quickly told me the inspiration for the character was the character I played in ‘Rome,’ Lucius Vorenus.
“His speech patterns and his attitudes and his sort of warrior nature as the kind of template for this character in the ‘Toy Story’ thing.
“This character is a very bombastic character, so everything he does is very loud and bombastic, so you just have to be careful that you don’t blow out your vocal cords in the first 10 minutes.”
The actor said that he had to rely on the Theatre training that began in Moray to make sure that he did not completely destroy his voice.
He added: “Back in Britain, before I moved here, radio plays were still very popular in the UK.
“So when I was living there I would regularly do radio plays. It really is a great training ground for this animated stuff because it’s all coming through the voice — there’s no other way of expressing the situation than the voice.”
The special will be screened in the UK next month via Sky Movies Disney