Tom Hanks has revealed he cried watching the poignant montage in Toy Story 2.

The scene, set to Sarah McLachlan's When Somebody Loved Me, featured a flashback in which cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack) experiences being loved, forgotten, and ultimately abandoned by her owner.

Tom - who plays Sheriff Woody - admitted to Entertainment Tonight: "I was in tears, and we (with Tim Allen) were looking at each other going, 'That's some powerful stuff' - to be reduced to that and to a level of emotion like that on a cartoon about talking toys and their adventures, it's profound, there's no other word for it."

Tim (Buzz Lightyear) quipped: "It's embarrassing, Tom, is what it is. Grown men weeping."

The comic duo slip back into their animated alter-egos for Toy Story 3 and are still surprised that the Disney Pixar films continue to pack such an emotional punch.

"It is a profoundly moving and special experience," said Tom.

"Look, we make a lot of things, and we see them for the first time - by and large it kind of works; maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but the three Toy Story movies we've seen, every time I've come out of there I've just slapped my head and said, 'I can't believe I'm a part of this'."

Tim added: "There's an integrity to this stuff."