Pixar Animation is returning to its most successful franchise, “Toy Story,” for a fourth movie, to be directed by the studio’s chief creative officer, John Lasseter.
Walt Disney Co., which owns Pixar, said Thursday during an earnings call that the latest incarnation of “Toy Story” will be released June 16, 2017.
Lasseter told the Los Angeles Times that “Toy Story 4” will be a love story and will pick up where “Toy Story 3” left off, when Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the series’ toy chest of characters were handed down to a little girl named Bonnie.
“A lot of people in the industry view us doing sequels as being for the business of it, but for us it’s pure passion,” said Lasseter, who directed the first two “Toy Story” films. “We only make sequels when we have a story that’s as good as or better than the original.
“We don’t just, because of the success of a film, automatically say we’re going to do a sequel and then figure out what we’re going to do.”
That philosophy sets an awfully high bar for a “Toy Story” sequel — the first three have grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide and collected uniformly positive reviews for their storytelling and technique. The third, directed by Lee Unkrich in 2010, won Oscars for animated feature and original song, and became only the third animated movie in history to be nominated for best picture.
In addition to the three features, the “Toy Story” characters have also appeared in three short films and two TV specials, including “Toy Story That Time Forgot,” which will air on ABC on Dec. 2.
The idea for a fourth film germinated at a lunch Lasseter held in his office in Emeryville, Calif., with Pixar directors and key creative executives Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Unkrich, he said.
Over the last two years Lasseter and Stanton wrote a treatment and pulled in other writers, including Rashida Jones and Will McCormack after seeing their 2012 comedy “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” about a divorcing couple who try to remain friends.
“They have such a great sense of character and originality,” Lasseter said of Jones and McCormack. “And I wanted to get a strong female voice in the writing of this.”
The last film Lasseter directed, 2011’s “Cars 2,” performed well at the box office, particularly internationally, but was a rare critical misfire for the studio.
Lasseter said he will work on “Toy Story 4” while continuing in his significant other roles at Disney, which include heading up two other animation studios — Walt Disney Animation and Disneytoons — and serving as the principal creative adviser for the media company’s theme park designers. Galyn Susman, who produced the “Toy Story” short “Hawaiian Vacation” and the two TV movies, will produce “Toy Story 4.”
“One of the things that was very important for me as an artist is to continue directing,” Lasseter said. “When I direct, I get to work with the individual artists, with the animators. It’s very important to keep young talent coming into the studios … to get back in and help tell stories.”
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