Toy Story 4 is coming, though that’s likely not what it will be named. As we learn more about the plan for the new movie, it’s looking like a standalone film with only some of the same characters from the original Toy Story . In an interview back in March , Pixar studio president Jim Morris disclosed the direction the new addition to the Toy Story world will take.
“This third film ended in a beautiful way and completed a trilogy. This movie isn’t part of the trilogy. It’s a separate story and I don’t know if it will be continued. [ Toy Story 4 ] 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.”
Pixar made quite a splash this week at Cannes when they unveiled their newest movie, Inside Out , to a captivated audience. But that wasn’t all Pixar’s chief creative officer, John Lasseter, brought in his bag of tricks. He also had an overview of the Pixar and Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming slate of films, including Toy Story 4 and The Good Dinosaur .
John Lasseter previews upcoming Disney/Pixar films ‘Toy Story 4’, ‘Finding Dory’ and more: http://t.co/JoWU3P1hTN pic.twitter.com/d8BoeTdEmb — Entertainment Weekly (@EW) May 20, 2015
Lasseter, who directed Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and will co-direct the new film, didn’t reveal plot details or show clips, as he did with the other announced films, but he did tease that this Toy Story is going to be quite different.
“We’re in the early stages of the film, but it’s shaping up nicely. It’s funny. The story is not as much a continuation of the past films, but a brand new chapter in the Toy Story world”
Josh Cooley who recently played a large part in Inside Out as story supervisor, screenplay writer, and actor, will co-direct the film with Lasseter. Rashida Jones and Will McCormack will team up to write the film.
Rootin’, tootin’ news from the playset: Josh Cooley ( @CooleyUrFaceOff ) will co-direct #ToyStory4 , debuting in 2017. pic.twitter.com/tkcggO0zVT
— Disney•Pixar (@DisneyPixar) March 11, 2015
The Good Dinosaur is about an Apatosaurus dinosaur named Arlo who, after losing his father in a tragic accident, falls into a river, gets knocked out by a rock, and finds himself in a land far away. As he makes the trek back home to the Clawed-Tooth Mountains, he befriends a human cave-boy named Spot.
That’s the official synopsis, but Lasseter went into more detail in his presentation.
“This is a boy and a dog story, but the roles are reversed. Arlo, the dinosaur, is the boy in the story and Spot is the dog. We’re putting our own unique Pixar spin on the dinosaur world — the feathers on the Velociraptor look like the haircuts of famous football players.”
Asking the “what if” questions is a tried and true way to get started on the writing of a story, and Pixar seems to use it with all its stories. What if toys came to life and had their own world? What if monsters were not only real but were actually nice? Lasseter’s what if question for The Good Dinosaur was, “What if the asteroid that wiped out all the dinosaurs had missed earth?” A great question that leaves the world wide open not only for all the animals existing in the ecosystem and how they would evolve, but also for man and how they would interact with the large beasts.
With Inside Out opening in June and The Good Dinosaur in November , 2015 will mark the first time in the Pixar’s history that two films will be released in the same year.
Watch a more detailed look at all the films Lasseter announced in the video below from NewsFeed by Clevver.
The Good Dinosaur will hit theatres this November and Toy Story 4 will arrive in June of 2017.
[Image courtesy Pixar via 20th Century Network]