Earlier this year, we learned that Toy Story 4 would be a love story, a rom-com of sorts that wouldn’t serve as a continuation of the original trilogy. Here’s what Pixar President Jim Morris said about the film at the time:
“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 make much focus on the interaction between the characters and children. I think it will be a very good movie.”
While we’ve known for some time that the movie would center around a love story, the question of who would be loving whom was still very much up in the air. This past Friday, however, Disney Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street and revealed additional details on the plot. And as one might imagine, it centers around everybody’s favorite toy cowboy.
It seems that Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts), will be the star-crossed lovers driving the franchise’s fourth installment. Given their flirtation in the first two Toy Story films, the idea makes a lot of sense, but fans will remember that the comely shepherdess was MIA for the third film. We’ll have to wait and see how the team behind the latest effort will address her absence.
We’re excited to see how this plays out but we have to admit, we’ll be a bit disappointed if Buzz Lightyear, Hamm, Mr. Potato head, Rex, and the rest don’t at least have some screen time in supporting roles. If anyone in the movie business has earned the benefit of the doubt, however, it’s Pixar. Here’s what Lasseter had to say about Hollywood’s current sequel culture:
“At Pixar and at Disney, we only make sequels if we come up with a story that’s as good or better than the original. That’s our rule. We don’t do things just to print money.”
Even if that’s not true, we’re glad someone’s at least pretending to be interested in legacy over profits.
Toy Story 4 is set to hit theaters June 16, 2017 with John Lasseter and Josh Cooley co-directing, and Rashida Jones and Will McCormack penning the screenplay.
