John Lasseter, Pixar bigwig and Toy Story 1 and 2 director, will be returning to direct the fourth outing for Buzz, Woody and the gang, from a story by him, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich (collectively the driving force behind Toy Story's success in the first place). Parks and Rec's Rashida Jones and her writing partner Will McCormack (who previously wrote rom-com Celeste and Jesse Forever together) are also aboard, and Galyn Susman, who has produced the two Toy Story TV specials, is producing.
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| Director John Lasseter with some of the crew of Toy Story 4. |
Lasseter commented:
"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."
There's been a range of emotions on Twitter, covering everything from excitement...
@Stinks19 @DisneyPixar I have never seen such a beautiful Tweet.
— Eric Burgmann (@Eric_Burgmann) November 6, 2014
To worry...
No Toy Story 4 please. The series already ended so nicely.
— Robert Manion (@robertmanion) November 7, 2014
While@MaizeWallin settled for "omfg."
Either way, for good or for bad, the bloody thing's still trending now, so, if one thing's for sure, it's that people are definitely still interested in Toy Story.
Toy Story 4 is due to be released on 16th June, 2017. UK release date TBC. The studio's next film is Inside Out, due on 26th June, 2015.
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There's all the juicy details; impassioned editorialising commencing in 3, 2, 1...
Gosh. That's a lot to process. And I'm... conflicted. I trust Pixar. And I've defended them vehemently when others accused them of doing too many sequels; hell, I didn't even mind the announcement of Cars 3 that much (although admittedly that might have been due to the shrewd tactic of announcing it alongside the long-craved-for The Incredibles 2...)! But this seems like too much.
Toy Story 3 wrapped up the greatest trilogy of all time on a perfect, emotional, cathartic note that deftly bookended the childhoods of an entire generation. And now there's going to be another one... I rarely wear my cynic hat where Pixar is concerned (I very much liked Brave and Monsters University!), but it would take a very naive (or optimistic, depending on your viewpoint) person to not think this a bit of a cash grab, what with Toy Story 3 being the second highest-grossing animated film ever made.
That said... The original Toy Story didn't really need a sequel at all. And yet Toy Story 2 remains my favourite film of all time. Toy Story 2 had such a great ending that a third was definitely not needed. And yet I remain firm in my view that Toy Story 3 is probably the finest animated film ever made. But I never felt this conflicted about, and, sadly, sort of against, the existence of those sequels this much...
But (another complete flip-flop of opinion coming - I did say I was conflicted...) John Lasseter and co. do know what's best for Toy Story better than I do. And they've not steered the franchise wrong yet, so I shall remain hopeful.
Still no A Bug's Life 2, though... Damn.
But who cares what I think -- what do you think? Toy Story 4: yea or nay? 'You've got a friend in me' or 'destroy Buzz Lightyear!'? Sound off below!
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