In the first song of Muppets Most Wanted there is a funny joke. The song is talking about how the Muppets are doing another sequel. The reasons they are doing it are because “that’s what they do in Hollywood”, “the studio considers them a viable franchise”, “The Studio wants more, while they wait for Tom Hanks to make Toy Story 4”.
Now at the time I thought this was just a funny joke with no merit behind it. After all, at the conclusion on Toy Story 3 Woody, Buzz and all our beloved characters find a good home elsewhere when Andy heads to college. Who knew there was more in the works and their story was not over! I am so happy to see them return and my kids are ecstatic!
Nearly two decades after Pixar Animation Studios created the world’s first computer-animated feature film with “Toy Story,” it revealed plans for Disney•Pixar’s “Toy Story 4,” an adventure that returns audiences to the world of the studio’s signature characters.
John Lasseter, director of the original “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2,” will direct the film, which opens a new chapter in the lives of Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the “Toy Story” gang. The story was dreamt up by Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, the storytellers who have been the driving force behind all three “Toy Story” films.
“We love these characters so much; they are like family to us,” said Lasseter. “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.”
Writing team Rashida Jones and Will McCormack (“Celeste and Jesse Forever”) joined the project, and Pixar veteran Galyn Susman (ABC’s “Toy Story OF TERROR!” and “Toy Story that Time Forgot”) is producing.
The film is slated for release on June 16, 2017.
