It feels like things are really starting to pick up lately in the Toy Story world – Toy Story Land will be opening at Walt Disney World in less than 12 weeks, and with Incredibles 2 hitting theaters in just two months, we’ll soon be hearing more about Toy Story 4. Some new info has come out over the past week, so here’s a roundup of those updates!
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.
It’s been over two weeks since I’ve published anything on this blog, and there’s a good reason for that – I’ve been at Disney World! My family and I are annual passholders, so we head to the parks as often as we can – this time it was to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and to celebrate Toy Story‘s 20th anniversary with the toys themselves. We had some amazing luck while we were there that led to an unforgettable Pixar experience, which I’ll be writing about soon in a future post. But for now, I thought I’d recap the little snippets of Toy Story related news that came out while I was away.
This week, John Lasseter has been in Lyon, France for the Lumière Film Festival, which celebrated Pixar’s films as a part of its 2015 program. Lasseter was honored at the event with a plaque on their Wall of Filmmakers; he introduced a 20th anniversary screening of Toy Story on October 12th; and he led a masterclass and also introduced a showing of Cars on October 13th. As always, when I hear that someone from Pixar – especially John Lasseter – is going to be making public appearances, I search high and low for coverage and recaps; even more so now, since I’m always looking for any new information about Toy Story 4. The international events are the trickiest, and although I haven’t had a lot of success finding videos of the full presentations on You Tube (more may pop up in time), I did discover this fantastic interview…
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Toy Story, the first feature-length animated film. Throughout all of 2015 to date, mentions of the milestone have popped up here and there, the most notable being the events at the D23 Expo in August. Now, with the film’s actual anniversary date approaching on November 22, I’m finding more and more.
Even though the next Academy Awards are still a while away, I thought that – with the Emmys this weekend and all – it might be a good time to revisit some of my very favorite archival material relating to the Toy Story films. I usually don’t make a big fuss over awards shows myself, unless there’s a movie (or a television show, or a musical performer) that I care especially about – needless to say, anything Toy Story would definitely get me to watch! And I’m no film critic or analyst, by any means, so don’t expect any discussion of the merits of nominations or statistical facts from me here. With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s take a look at the toys’ presence at the Oscars back in 1996, 2000, and 2011…
I felt the need to write this post for myself as much as for the other Toy Story fans out there. There have been so many unfounded rumors going around lately about Toy Story 4, that I often end up searching through past articles and interviews for a reminder of what we truly know about the movie to date. I thought it would be helpful to have all the relevant quotes – from reputable, official sources – saved in one spot for future reference. So, grab a cup of coffee (or whatever your choice may be), get comfy, and travel back with me through the past ten months to review what the Toy Story 4 cast and crew have given us – there’s more than you might think!
Toy Story Fangirl 