Here's Mel Brooks' appearance in Toy Story 2 was to go straight to video. Impressed with the sequel's progress, it was later upgraded to theatrical, though this involved a time crunch to get it ready for release.
Toy Story 3 arrived fifteen years after the original and this entry marked a slightly more mature, melancholy tone with the toys essentially being cast aside by the grown Andy and finding themselves in a daycare center. The third move was originally billed as the last instalment and it ended on a fittingly emotional note, though Toy Story 4 was later put into production and was released in 2019.
The ending of Toy Story 3 saw Andy give all his old toys away to a young girl named Bonnie, meaning they'll get at least a few more years of play. Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang are still with Bonnie when Toy Story 4 begins. The movie recruited a lot of famous voice cameos, including the likes of comedy legends Betty White, Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, with the latter playing the fittingly named Melephant Brooks.
Melephant Brooks is one of the older toys owned by Bonnie in Toy Story 4 and thus gets little play or attention. Melephant - alongside the other veteran toys Carl Reineroceros, Bitey White and Chairol Burnett - tend to get left behind during playtime, as does Woody. These dejected toys watch from the wardrobe as Bonnie plays with the others, while Brooks' reminisces about the games they used to play like House.
While Melephant Brooks is very much a cameo role in Toy Story 4, the character returned for Disney+ series Forky Asks A Question. This ten-episode series finds Tony Hale's Forky asking Bonnie's other toys questions about life, including "What is money?" and "What is love?" Melephant Brooks and the other forgotten toys field this question, with Brooks claiming he knows everything about love. In the course of explaining the concept a love square forms, as it's discovered Carl loves Chairol and not Bitey, while Melephant wants to be with Bitey but Chairol loves Melephant. Sadly, "What Is Love?" proved to be Mel Brooks and longtime friend Carl Reiner's final collaboration, as the latter ed away in June 2020.
