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.

BREAKING: 'Toy Story 4' Will Be Released In 2017

The Toy Story trilogy is the most beloved movie series on the planet. So when the third one ended so perfectly when Andy gave his toy collection to Bonnie, Pixar had decided that the Toy Story films were complete, right? Nope.

"So long, partner."

Toy Story 4 is indeed happening and it is set to be released on June 16, 2017. John Lasseter who directed the first two Toy Story movies will return and direct the fourth film. Here's Mr. Lasseter's comments on the fourth installment in the Toy Story series: “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.” John Lasseter is referring to Andrew Stanton (director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E), Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc. and Up), and Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3). Writing duo Rashida Jones and Will McCormack are also working on Toy Story 4, and it will be produced by longtime Pixarian Galyn Susman (producer of Toy Story of TERROR!).

Image Source: De todo un poco.

There's a lot of skepticism whether this film is really needed, and that it is just being made for the money. After all, Disney's CEO Bob Iger did announce the news the same day that Disney reports their record fiscal year results. John Lasseter denies naysayers and had this to say: "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. 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." He also told The LA 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. 

Toy Story 4 will be a love story?

The next Toy Story film to be released is a 22-minute holiday television special. It is called Toy Story That Time Forgot and it will air this December 2nd on ABC. The synopsis for the short film is: During a post-Christmas play date, the Toy Story gang find themselves in uncharted territory when the coolest set of action figures ever turn out to be dangerously delusional. It's all up to Trixie, the triceratops, if the gang hopes to return to Bonnie's room in this “Toy Story That Time Forgot.”

Image from Toy Story That Time Forgot.

What are your thoughts on 'Toy Story 4'?

Source: Disney Insider