In an early version of the story, Polly would've been Lawrence Lightyear's personal robot bird companion until she was placed into storage after he went missing in another record-breaking flight around Alpha Centauri. She was later found by Buzz Lightyear in her exhibit after 100 years and shows him a message from his father who is alive and tells him that his ship fell off course and tells Buzz to meet him in the year 3000, find his homing beacon and find him. After that, she gives Buzz the homing beacon and he leaves the museum to find him.
Ultimately, she was cut from the movie because the scene where Buzz tries to reconnect with his father in the museum was causing more trouble.