It’s been quite some time since I’ve shared an update on Toy Story Land’s construction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, but that’s not because of a lack of progress. Progress has actually been quite steady, and the constant influx of aerial photos online have been difficult to choose from! But with the land’s opening less than six months away now, let’s take a look at the current state of things in Walt Disney World…
It feels like it’s been forever since there have been any official reports on the progress of Toy Story 4 – the most recent hints being glimpses of work in progress at the D23 Expo this past summer. The silence was broken yesterday, however, as news came out that Stephany Folsom has joined the film’s team as its new screenwriter.
It’s been nearly five months since the D23 Expo back in July, and I’ve been working on this post here and there since then, trying to collect my thoughts and photos from our experience – there was a lot about the event to process, and I’ve been rather overwhelmed with the thought of summarizing it all. However, with the recent controversy over John Lasseter’s allegations of misconduct, my recollections are now rather bittersweet. I’m thankful, though, that we attended the Expo while the magic was still unsullied for us. And since I refuse to let anyone destroy my love for Pixar or the toys – I will continue to view the studios as the sum of all the talented people who work there, not as one sole person – I’d like to look back, and share what we saw and learned at the Expo in regards to Pixar, and Toy Story specifically.
Yesterday’s breaking news about John Lasseter’s six-month sabbatical from Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, resulting from accusations of “missteps” brought against him, hit me like a ton of bricks, as I’m sure it did many other Pixar fans. But before anyone starts sharpening their pitchforks to come at me, I’d like to clarify that the intention of this post isn’t to be political, or controversial. Until more concrete details come out, I respectfully choose to keep my views and opinions to myself. One thing I do want to address, however, is the insight that this situation has brought to light regarding the delays Toy Story 4 has suffered in production over the past few years.
Cars 3 premieres this week, and with it has come a steady stream of promotional ads, new merchandise, special events, and of course trailers and television commercials. The advertising campaign for a new Pixar movie is always exciting, especially when the characters and setting allow for a little extra creativity in commercials. A couple years ago, the Inside Out cast popped up in all sorts of television ads, from the Super Bowl in January through the movie’s theatrical release in June. Dory and her aquatic friends weren’t quite as conducive to interacting with people in a commercial setting, nor were dinosaurs, so I don’t recall seeing quite as many for those films. But I do remember lots of commercials during the months surrounding Toy Story 3‘s release, and thought it would be fun to look back at them in a throwback post.
Despite the disappointment of Jessie still being absent from meet and greets at Walt Disney World, there’s been a lot of exciting news lately relating to the Toy Story franchise in the parks! Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen two new shows debut that give the characters a greater presence in entertainment offerings, and the construction for Toy Story Land is really starting to kick into gear…
For the past eight months, I’ve been putting up quite a fight for Jessie, whose meet and greet in the Magic Kingdom fell victim to apparent budget cuts last September. Besides a steady stream of social media posts, countless emails have been sent to Walt Disney World, by both myself and other fans; conversations have been shared via phone and in-person; and a petition and Facebook page have even been created, all in an attempt to get Jessie’s presence reinstated in the Disney Parks. But sadly, once again, another character change-up has only lengthened Jessie’s absence.
This past Wednesday, Toy Story fans were deeply saddened by the passing of Don Rickles, legendary comedian and the voice of Mr. Potato Head. And as soon as the news broke, speculation began as to what this would mean for his character’s future in the film franchise. Instead of addressing this at the time it was announced, however, I decided to wait a while and see what, if any, further information came out in regards to the impact on Toy Story 4. We still don’t know a lot, but here’s what we do know so far…
Ever since the second delay of Toy Story 4 was announced last October, pushing the film back to a June 21, 2019 release, hardly any updates have been shared about the movie. However, just today Pixar Post made the discovery that a new writer is being credited with penning the Toy Story 4 screenplay.
I’ll admit it; I know I’ve let this blog slide for the past few months. It’s not for a lack of love for Toy Story, though – if anything, it’s because Jessie’s cut from the Walt Disney World parks and Toy Story 4‘s second delay kind of put me in a fangirl tailspin. Since my last post, my family and I made a trip to Walt Disney World (which, by the way, isn’t all that magical when your favorite character is missing), and I’ve been focusing my efforts on fighting to get Jessie reinstated. But there have been a few little snippets of Toy Story news since then, so I thought I’d catch up and share what’s been going on since November…
Toy Story Fangirl 