Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani from 'Dancing With the Stars' talk about 'Toy Story 3'

Cheryl Burke at Toy Story 3 premiere. AP/Katy Winn.

Dancing With the Stars participated in the filming of Toy Story 3. Professional dancers Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani choreographed the scene where Spanish Buzz and cowgirl Jessie perform a Latin dance. The two Dancing With the Stars pros talked about their amazing experience. “I’ve never been animated. This is something we will have for a lifetime,” Burke explained.

So, how did Dancing With the Stars become involved with Toy Story 3 in the first place? The producers said, “Everybody loves Spanish Buzz in and we thought it would be a lot of fun to have Buzz and Jessie do a really great Spanish dance. At Pixar, we have some great animators, but as it turns out, we don’t have a lot of great dancers. We knew we were going to have to go to some expert help, so we contacted Dancing With the Stars and they recommended two of their top Latin choreographers, Tony and Cheryl.”

Tony Dovolani took part in Toy Story 3. ABC.

Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani visited Pixar Studios and performed a dance to a Spanish version of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”, recorded especially for Toy Story 3 by the Gypsy Kings. Cheryl said that the choreography was a little challenging and that she and Tony had to alter it for the body shapes of their animated counterparts. However, the dancing duo thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Pixar. “It was an amazing day. We met a lot of great people. It’s an amazing place,” Burke said enthusiastically. Tony Dovolani agreed with his partner and added, “We were excited from the first moment we found out we were going to get to work with Pixar. It’s a project you can’t help but get excited about.”

The producers were also very happy about working with the pros from Dancing With the Stars. “We went to a private dance studio. Tony and Cheryl showed us the dance for the first time. I loved watching our animator pick it apart systematically so that we can replicate it and put our own spin on it,” said producer Darla K. Anderson.

Burke and Dovolani visited Pixar Studios. Disney.

Cheryl Burke attended this past Sunday’s Toy Story 3 premiere at the El Capitan Theater in L.A. She recently sent out the following tweet, “Can’t wait to come home tomorrow to see my friends and the premiere of Toy Story 3 that Tony and I were a part of.” Tony was unable to make the premiere, but Evan Lysacek attended in his place. Be sure to check out the premiere photos below.

So, what do you think? Are you excited to see Toy Story 3 when it premieres nationwide on Friday, June 18th? Be sure to leave your thoughts and comments below.

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