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We thought the story of
Toy Story had been told. The trilogy of Pixar films concluded in 2010 with the brilliant, entertaining and ultimately tear-jerking
Toy Story 3. And here we are today, processing the news that Pixar
is doing Toy Story 4. It already has writers, a director and a release date. Here's what we know about
Toy Story 4 based on Disney's official announcement.
1. It's hitting theaters more than 2 years from now - The release date is June 16, 2017.
2. John Lasseter is directing: John Lasseter directed the first two
Toy Story films, as well as
Cars and
Cars 2 and
A Bug's Life.
3. Woody and Buzz will be back - Disney's announcement says it
will "open a new chapter in the lives of Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the
"Toy Story" gang." That's not a ton to go on, but it does vaguely
confirm that Buzz and Woody will be at the center of this new story, as
opposed to an entirely new set of toys.
4. No cast members have been announced yet - No actors have been
confirmed for voice roles yet, but it seems safe to assume that Tom
Hanks and Tim Allen would return Woody and Buzz respectively. It's
impossible to imagine anyone else voicing the cowboy and spaceman.
5. The writing team has already assembled - Disney says the story was dreamed up by
Toy Story veterans John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich. Also attached to the project are
Celeste and Jesse Forever
writing team Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, along with Pixar's Galyn
Susman, who's producing. Here's a look at the story team at work...
(Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
6. Though it's unconfirmed, there's a good chance Bonnie will be back - (
Toy Story 3 spoilers ahead!) There's no mention of Bonnie in Disney's announcement, but we know from the
Toy Story TV special
Toy Story OF TERROR! and the upcoming
Toy Story that Time Forgot (coming to ABC next month) that the
TS toys are still in the care of young Bonnie, the adorable little girl who adopted Andy's toys at the end of
Toy Story 3 (sniffle).
Assuming these TV specials apply to official
Toy Story canon --
they do feature the original characters and voice actors -- it's likely
that Bonnie will be the toys' current owner. But as we said, that's not
officially confirmed yet. This would be barring a prequel or some other
story inserted somewhere in Andy's timeline, (but let's hope that's not
the case.)
7. Pixar's John Lasseter is really excited about this - From what
Lasseter says, once the idea was conceived, they had to bring it to the
big screen. Here are John Lasseter's exact words:
"We love these characters so much; they are like family to us. We don’t
want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what’s
gone before. ‘Toy Story 3’ ended Woody and Buzz’s story with Andy so
perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another
‘Toy Story’ movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this
new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to
me, I knew we had to make this movie—and I wanted to direct it myself."
I get why people would be wary of a sequel, given how perfectly
Toy Story 3
wrapped up. But Lasseter seems to appreciate that, and the optimist in
me believes this sequel is happening because there's a great idea, and
not just to give Disney more
Toy Story box office dollars. With that said,
Toy Story of Terror was a fantastic TV special, and evidence that there are more toy humor and toy adventures to be had among these characters.