While many people still think it is a money grab, Pixar seems adamant that their next Toy Story movie will be different from the others, and that means changing up the story a little bit.
Speaking with Disney Latino earlier this week, Pixar president Jim Morris revealed that Toy Story 4 will break from the original trilogy of films and be a brand-new story within the universe (with all of the same characters).
“I think this movie is not part of this trilogy. It is a separate story, which in turn I do not know if it will be continued […] It is not a continuation of the end of the story of ‘Toy Story 3,” Morris said.
He added that the focus of the story will shift from the relationship between the toys and their owner and will instead be a love story amongst the toy characters. This is a change from the primary focus of the first three movies, which was primarily about the relationship between Woody and Andy.
“Temporarily it is, but it 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.”
Judging from these quotes, it seems like this film will be more aligned with the short films that have debuted following the release of Toy Story 3. Those stories focused more on adventures that the toys had together and didn’t usually deal with any of the human characters like the films did. If this is the change, it could help to separate the new film from the original trilogy that many people cherish.
Toy Story 4 will be directed by John Lasseter from a script by Will McCormick and Rashida Jones. The film is expected out on June 16, 2017.