I can’t help but notice that now that the first trailers are out, and Toy Story 4 is back in the spotlight, there seems to be a lot of confusion and misinformation circulating about the current plot and where things stand. It’s been ages since I did a recap post – considering we’ve heard nothing from Pixar for such a long time – so I figured it would be helpful to summarize what we actually know about the movie as of right now.
This is the post I’ve been hoping to make for a year and a half now. As my followers know, I’ve been fighting hard for Jessie’s return since her Walt Disney World meet and greet was cut from Frontierland back in October 2016. Today, the Disney Parks Blog shared the exciting news that Jessie will be a part of the daily character experiences in Toy Story Land!
I know I usually report on Toy Story Land in Walt Disney World, but the news coming out of Disneyland is too good not to share! Over this past weekend, there was a media preview event at Walt Disney Imagineering, and new concept art was revealed for Pixar Pier – which opens this summer at Disney California Adventure – featuring an overwhelming wealth of Toy Story goodness!
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.
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…
I received confirmation a couple days ago that Jessie is in fact slated to be cut from meet and greets at Walt Disney World, and needless to say it hit me like a punch in the gut. But since Jessie never gives up, and I’m going to continue to fight to keep her as a meetable character in the parks, I thought this would be as good a time as any to write something more personal, and share just why this character and her fictional world mean so much to me. Although I’ve written before about why Jessie is important as a character in the Toy Story series of films, these are my own reasons why she matters, to me…
I really want to write a strictly happy blog post – you have no idea how much I would love to write a gushing report about exciting news or some thrilling new development in the Toy Story world! Unfortunately, that has not been the case so much lately. I’ve been meaning to post an update on Toy Story Land construction for the past several weeks, but I just wasn’t able to find the time. Since then, however, another upsetting bit of news has come out of Walt Disney World – and I’m going to need your help on this one, if there’s any chance of making things right…
With this week being Halloween, I thought I’d look back at all of two years ago, when
Toy Story of TERROR! made its debut on national TV. Even though I own the special on Blu-ray – which I bought, of course, the morning it came out, and rushed home to devour all the bonus features – every time it’s shown on television, I can’t help but watch. It takes me back to October 2013 and the anticipation surrounding its first broadcast.
Back in May, the Disney Parks Blog announced that six new Enchanted Windows would be added to Main Street, USA at Disneyland, as part of the park’s 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration. Elaborate, moving displays, showcasing popular animated films in the windows of the Emporium, have been a long-standing tradition, and the latest additions were set to include Peter Pan, Cinderella, The Princess and the Frog, Frozen, Aladdin, and Toy Story. Several of the windows have been in place for a while, but just yesterday, the new Toy Story window was unveiled! Although I haven’t seen it in person, I was able to find a fantastic video of it, as well as a few photos.
Ever since the Toy Story 4 announcements at the D23 Expo this past August, my excitement has been tempered with a little bit of fear. What could possibly scare me about Toy Story? Well, it’s the fact that in everything I’ve heard about the plot of the movie, only Woody and Buzz Lightyear are mentioned as going on the quest to find Bo Peep. From statements made by John Lasseter over the course of the Expo weekend, to articles about Pixar President Jim Morris’s presentation in Australia, only those two characters are consistently listed as heading out on the film’s epic journey.
