'Toy Story 4' Release Date, Plot Spoilers: Woody, Buzz Lightyear Won't Be Back in New Installment
Disney will disappoint avid fans of the "Toy Story" trilogy after one of its executives revealed that neither Woody nor Buzz Lightyear would return for the hit animation's fourth movie.
In an interview with Disney Latino's blog, Pixar President Jim Morris said "Toy Story 4" will not be a continuation of "Toy Story 3" or "part of the trilogy" of past "Toy Story" movies.
"The third film had ended in a very beautiful way and completed the trilogy. I think this film won't be part of that trilogy. It's a separate story, which I don't know if it will have a sequel," Morris explained, according to Variety.
"It's not a continuation of the end of 'Toy Story 3.' Temporarily, it is, but it will be a love story. It will be a romantic comedy. The focus is not going to be placed on the interaction between the characters and children," he clarified.
Morris also dispelled the idea that the new film was a money grab for the creators of Toy Story, which many thought had a "logical, perfect end to the series."
John Lasseter, director of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2," said they just love the characters so much which gave them the idea to create another movie.
Lasseter, a chief creative officer at Pixar who will direct "Toy Story 4," will be making Disney's beloved toys come alive with writers Rashida Jones and Galyn Susman in time for its June 16, 2017 release in the United States.
"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," Lasseter said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"But when Andrew [Stanton], Pete [Docter], Lee [Unkrich] 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," he added.
The Toy Story trilogy earned $1.94 billion worldwide, with the third film grossing a franchise high of $1.1 billion, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time until "Frozen" surpassed it last March.