The Co-Director For 'Toy Story 4' Has Been Announced

After the shocking announcement that Toy Story 4 is indeed happening last November, there have been barely any further updates about the film - until now. 

In the Variety article, "10 Animators To Watch" it highlights Pixar storyboard artist Josh Cooley. Josh was worked at Pixar since 2006 and the first feature he contributed to was Cars. Since then, he storyboarded for several other movies, as well as directed a few. Josh Cooley was the director of George and AJ, which follows the adventures of the two Shady Oaks Employees from Up, and he has directed a short film which will be included on the Blu-ray for Inside Out.

Josh Cooley's next project at Pixar is being co-director for a continuation of one of the most beloved movie series in the planet, Toy Story 4. Cooley is elated about his new endeavor and said that:

“To be co-director on Toy Story 4 with John, who brought the Toy Story characters to the screen 20 years ago, is a dream come true. When I first saw Toy Story I was amazed by the groundbreaking computer-generated animation. But it was the strong storytelling that kept me coming back. Toy Story 4 will continue that tradition and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it!”

Pixar's Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter is set to direct Toy Story 4 (he was the director of the first two Toy Story films),  and the screenplay will be from writing duo Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. Toy Story 4 will be produced by Pixar veteran Galyn Susman.

Pixar Story Meeting and Co-Director Josh Cooley

New plot details have also been recently revealed  about Toy Story 4. Collider reported that instead of a continuation of the first three films, Toy Story 4 will be it's own separate story. Pixar general manager Jim Morris revealed this tidbit in an interview with Disney Latino (the text below is translated):

"The third movie ended in a beautiful way and completed a trilogy. I think this movie is not part of this trilogy. It is a separate story, which in turn I do not know if will be continued. Never begin a project with that in mind. It is not a continuation of the end of the story of Toy Story 3.Temporarily it is, but it will be a love story. It will be a romantic comedy. It will not put much focus on the interaction between the characters and children. I think it will be a very good movie."

There you have it. Not only is Toy Story 4 a romantic comedy, but apparently it will focus much more on the toys than the humans.

Toy Story 4 Will Allegedly Be A Love Story

Toy Story 4  is set to be released on June 16, 2017.