Toy Story 3 News

Toy Story 3 in 2009

Toy Story 3 Announced for 2009
Posted on Thursday, February 8th, 2007 at 5:52 pm by: Peter Sciretta
Good news and bad news.
The Good News: Disney has announced that Pixar will release Toy Story 3 in 2009. And the Oscar nominated screenwriter behind Little Miss Sunshine is hard at work on the story.
The Bad News: Toy Story and Pixar mastermind and all-around animation god John Lasseter won’t be directing.Lasseter and Disney Animation president Ed Catmull revealed the news at Thursday’s investor conference.
Lee Unkrich, who has been co-director on Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, and Finding Nemo, will step up to helm the third film in the series. Lasseter is probably too busy in his new post as chief creative officer of Disney Animation to work on the latest effort.
Michael Arndt, the Academy Award nominated scribe of Little Miss Sunshine, is working on the screenplay.
“The greatest thing about the merger of the two companies is that the creators of ‘Toy Story’ 1 and 2 can make 3 with the story that we wanted,” said Lasseter.
The comment was a stab at Disney, who before the Pixar merger were hard at work on a third Toy Story film without Pixar’s involvement. Disney’s plot idea involved a recall of Buzz Lightyear toys, which includes Andy’s doll, which results in the Toys going on an adventure to Taiwan to rescue Buzz, who has been malfunctioning. John Lasseter and company were very unhappy with the idea, and didn’t approve. (Note: The picture above is production art from this failed sequel attempt)
It was also announced that longtime Disney story artist Chris Williams is now directing the 2008 release American Dog, after Lilo & Stitch helmer Chris Sanders left the project.
Another Toy Story flick? I can’t wait to see what Pixar has up their sleeves, because even the Disney story-line didn’t sound half bad. They certainly have a huge legacy to follow (Toy Story 2 is still the best film ever reviewed according to Rotten Tomatoes).

Toy Story in 3D?

Toy Story 3-D?
Posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 2:22 am by: Peter Sciretta
3D movies seem to be all the rage now-a-days. Rumor has it that Toy Story 3 might be in 3-D. That’s right, a Pixar movie in Disney Digital 3D. Pixar previously ran a 3D test on the original Toy Story, but were unhappy with the results they saw on the big IMAX screen.
“The problem with that is, I think John Lasseter believes there has to be a reason for that. Especially with IMAX, composition and cuts that would be good for a normal screen can be jarring on a giant screen. You really have to recompose a movie for IMAX,” Ratatouille director Brad Bird told us at WonderCon. “We’ve looked at it, and we’re just hoping and waiting for the technology to get a little better. I’ve seen some 3D that is really amazing. I wouldn’t rule it out, but I don’t feel the time is right to go 3D. So someday, probably.”
And that probably could be Toy Story 3, which will hit theaters in 2010. We’ll update the story if and when we get any official confirmation.

Pixar's upcoming film is Ratatouille. Looks fun!

Toy Story 3 Back in Production!

Source: BloombergDate: 10th May, 2006Posted by: Paul Heath

Well, it seemed that a TOY STORY 3 was dead in the water, but it seems that a recently merged Disney/Pixar are indeed planning a new adventure for Woody and friends. Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger recently confirmed at a press conference (May 10) in the US that there may even be sequels to a couple of the other popular Pixar flicks, though nothing is certain as yet.
The third movie is said to be based a round Buzz Lightyear, whose makers apparently recall all of the toys back to where they were made... Taiwan.
No release date has been set for the third movie.

By Lexi Feinberg: 2006-05-10 @Cinema Blend

So, for those of you who were crying in your hankies when a third installment of Toy Story was called off, hold the faucets. It looks like Buzz Lightyear and Woody aren’t quite ready to say farewell just yet.Now that Disney and Pixar are back together after a little breakup, Toy Story 3 is back in production. According to Hollywood News, Disney CEO Robert Iger recently confirmed at a US press conference that a new adventure for the toys is being planned. The third movie is rumored to be about Buzz Lightyear, whose makers’ recall all of the toys and send them back to where they were made: good ole’ Taiwan.
The flick will once again feature the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, and a release date has not yet been set. On a side note, Disney is also still looking at making sequels to other hit Pixar classics. Since they recently severed their ties with McDonalds (the days of happy meals with Disney toys are soon kaput), it looks like there's (finally) a promising future ahead for Mickey and company.

Original Toy Story Script

I think I know this by heart from hearing it so many times, but it's good to know...

My favorite part is where Slinky says:
Hey, hey! Come on, Potato Head! If Woody says it's all right, then, well, darnit, it's good enough for me. Woody has never steered us wrong before.

While Slinky speaks, Potato Head takes off his mouth and mimes kissing his own butt.

The link is here

Toy Story 3 Scrapped

Pixar's Lasseter quickly axes Disney's 'Toy Story 3'
Monday, January 30, 2006 - 12:16 AM EST

"John Lasseter, the creative chief of Pixar Animation Studios, has wasted no time asserting who is boss after Pixar's takeover by Walt Disney - by stopping production of Toy Story 3, the controversial sequel to the two wildly successful animated films," Jason Nissé reports for The Independent."The original Toy Story, completed in 1995, was the first major collaboration between Pixar and Disney. The highly lucrative partnership went on to produce the hits Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and The Incredibles," Nissé reports. Disney's desired to keep the Toy Story franchise running with a third and forth movie, without Pixar's input, as the deal between Disney and Pixar allowed. "Mr Lasseter was deeply opposed to the idea but Disney went ahead, as it owns the intellectual property, putting 100 scriptwriters, animators and other creative staff to work on Toy Story 3 at its own Walt Disney Studios animation complex in Burbank, California... [the new] Disney-Pixar deal gives Mr Lasseter creative control over all of the two studios' animated film output, while still maintaining Pixar's independence.""On Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Mr Jobs and Disney's new chief executive, Bob Iger, unveiled the merger, Mr Lasseter went to Burbank with Pixar's president, Ed Catmull. He announced that Toy Story 3 would now be scrapped, without a word about the fate of the animation team," Nissé reports.

With the Disney/Pixar deal now in place, the question becomes what will happen to the various sequels based on Pixar's work that Disney had in development - most notably a third "Tory Story" feature.According to Coming Soon and a post at Animation Nation, Pixar heads turned Disney bigwigs Ed Catmull and John Lasseter "announced to Feature Animation employees [Tuesday] that the 'Toy Story 3' production will end effectively [Tuesday]. They said that sequels should only be made if there is a really great story that demands it, and should be the domain of those who created the original film."An Associated Press article confirmed said news - "One immediate sign of Lasseter's influence is that plans for Disney to make the long rumored sequel "Toy Story 3" on its own have been scrapped. If the film is made, it will be done by Lasseter and the other creators of the original film, the companies said".Bradley Raymond was announced as director of the film in which Buzz Lightyear would have been recalled to Taiwan after a series of malfunctions. Learning of a productwide recall, all the toys in Andy's room, under Woody's leadership, were to head to Taiwan to save Buzz from doom.

By Gina Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co. will scrap production of the latest "Toy Story" sequel and hand the project over to Pixar Animation Studios Inc. as part of its deal to acquire Pixar, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
It was not clear how the change would affect the production schedule at Pixar, which has not announced release dates for films beyond the June opening of "Cars."
Disney said on Tuesday it would acquire Pixar in a $7.4 billion stock deal expected to close by this summer.
Production had already started on "Toy Story 3" at Disney's new animation unit in Glendale, California. The unit, dubbed Circle 7, was set up while the two companies were haggling over the terms of a new distribution agreement for Pixar films.
Circle 7 will not immediately be shut down, but its future is yet to be determined, one of the sources said.
Disney's current agreement with Pixar allows it to make sequels to the animated films the two studios made together.
Sequels can be made in three to four years compared with four or five years of development for an original animated film because technical work on most of the characters has already been done.
Former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner ordered "Toy Story 3" into production after the two companies broke off talks over a new distribution deal nearly two years ago.
Current Disney CEO Robert Iger, who took over in October, returned all sequel-making to Pixar as part of the merger agreement.
"It was really important to me that the people who made the films originally ... get a shot at making any films that were derivative," Iger told analysts on a conference call earlier this week.

January 6 Disney/Pixar/Toy Story 3 News

Biz buzzing over Pixar
Company's share price gained nearly 10% in two days

By STEVEN ZEITCHIK


Increased heat over a possible Disney-Pixar deal has the bizbiz abuzz, sending PixarPixar's stock price -- and hopes for a reconciliation -- soaring higher than one of the Incredibles.
On Thursday evening, a deal indeed seemed imminent, but it was unclear whether it was simply a renewal of the Disney-Pixar distribution agreement or if Disney would be taking a stake in the toontoon firm, considered a less likely possibility.

Late Thursday, a Disney spokesperson said there was nothing new to report.

At one point in the day, the company's share price had gained nearly 10% in two days, largely on the strength of deal rumors. While it did fall nearly 4% Thursday afternoon after investors apparently reconsidered, it still closed at $56, more than $3 higher than it opened the week.

Disney and Pixar have been in an elaborate dance for several months over a renewal of the distribution deal, which expires after "Cars" is released later this year. On Tuesday alone, unconfirmed rumors of a deal or a Disney stake sent Pixar's stock climbing nearly 8%.

Also contributing to the spike is the fact that Disney prexyprexy Robert Iger has recently made overtures to Pixar chief Steve Jobs. Earlier this week, he committed to providing more ABC and ESPN content on the video iPod, owned by Jobs' Apple.

If the Disney-Pixar deal is not renewed, another distributor would likely come in to offer Pixar a highly favorable pactpact. But observers said many Pixar investors preferred a Disney arrangement because it would preserve the animation company's ability to produce and profit from sequels.

Disney controls the sequel rights to Pixar films -- "Toy Story 3," for instance, is already in production -- and could make its own go of it if a deal with Pixar fell through.

This week also saw an increase in short-term call options for Pixar -- effectively a signal that investors thought the stock would continue to rise in the next few weeks.

Despite the fact that Pixar is seen as holding significant negotiating leverage, it is Pixar that is being affected by Disney interest, not vice versa. Disney's stock has remained relatively stagnant since the rumors intensified, in the last three weeks hovering around $24-$25. It closed today up 42¢ to $24.41.

Reports of a possible deal began in earnest in November, coinciding roughly with the steady climb of Pixar's stock from approximately $50 to its close today of $56. The rumors, then, could be credited for an increase in market cap of more than $600 million for Pixar, a sum to rival the amount Pixar could receive if Disney took a small stake.

A Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Thursday did downgrade Pixar's stock to neutral and set a price of $55, a hair under its current price.

Wall Street branded Pixar one of the most successful entertainment companies in 2005, and it gained nearly one-third of value in the last three months, besting DreamWorks , whose stock dropped significantly in the second half of 2005.

Date in print: Fri., Jan. 6, 2006, Los Angeles

Find more Buzz Lightyear Stuff at: Buzz-Lightyear.com

Toy Story/Disney/Pixar Jan 10, 2006

Analysts: Disney Deal With Pixar Likely
By GARY GENTILE AP Business Writer Posted January 10 2006, 6:17 PM EST LOS ANGELES -- The more time that passes without a new distribution deal between The Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios, the greater the speculation, including a theory that Disney is angling to buy Pixar and install its chief executive, Steve Jobs, as Disney's chairman.
Analysts believe a new distribution deal is likely -- and soon. But they dismiss the notion that Disney would buy Pixar. An outright purchase would be too expensive, analysts say, and would not be wise for either company in the long term.
"I think it's absurd," said David Miller, an analyst with Sanders Morris Harris. "It would have to be an enormously compelling offer to even have Mr. Jobs stop and consider it for maybe more than five seconds."
Still, guessing the terms of a deal has become a bit of a sport on Wall Street, with speculation pushing Pixar shares higher in recent days.
Most analysts who cover both companies believe Pixar will soon announce a new deal that has Disney distributing its highly popular -- and profitable -- animated films. It's current agreement with Disney expires later this year when Pixar delivers its latest film, "Cars."
During an earnings conference call last November, Jobs said of Disney: "We will know if we are going to continue our relationship with them by the end of this year."
That target date has come and gone with no elaboration from either side on the status of the talks, thus fueling the current rumors.
Renewed speculation about a deal helped drive up shares of Pixar nearly 8 percent to $58.16 last Wednesday. Another possible trigger for the sudden jump was the expansion of an earlier deal between Disney and Jobs' other company, Apple Computer Inc., to provide more entertainment for download on Apple's iPod.
Shares dropped back to $56 the next day and have been trading around that price since. Shares fell 37 cents to $56.04 at the end of regular trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
"Something has to happen soon," Marla Backer, an analyst at Research Associates Llc, wrote in a recent report.
The current Disney-Pixar deal expires with the June 9 release of "Cars." Marketing plans for Pixar's 2007 release, tentatively titled "Ratatouille," must be made soon.
"We continue to believe that a deal gets done with Disney that offers Pixar better economics and greater control of its characters," Backer wrote.
The most likely reason for the delay is that a new deal with Disney is complex, despite the mutual respect that has developed between Jobs and Disney CEO Robert Iger. Animosity between Jobs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner led to the two sides breaking off talks in 2004.
"There are a lot of moving parts here," Miller said. "It's not as simple as slapping together an extension of the current agreement."
Under the existing deal, Disney co-finances each of Pixar's productions, and the two companies split the profits evenly after Disney takes a distribution fee. The two companies also share ownership of the films, and Disney has the right to make sequels on its own if Pixar refuses to participate.
That has led to some conflict, especially over Disney's announced plans to produce "Toy Story 3."
Pixar has said it wants to own 100 percent of its own films after "Cars" and wants to pay a straight distribution fee, without splitting any profits -- an arrangement similar to the one George Lucas had with Twentieth Century Fox for his "Star Wars" films.
Pixar has more than $1 billion in cash, enough to finance its own films.
Analysts believe Pixar also wants to regain control of its film library from Disney and might also be pushing to keep more of the profits from "Cars" than the current deal allows.
Perhaps the most intriguing bit of speculation is that Disney will buy Pixar and make Jobs its chairman.
Not likely, several analysts say.
"We reaffirm our view that a Pixar acquisition by Disney makes no sense," Doug Mitchelson, an analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. wrote last month.
Disney would have to pay a hefty premium for Pixar, anywhere from $70 per share, or $8.4 billion, to $100 per share, or $12 billion, analysts believe.
Such a large deal would depress Disney's stock, saddling it with enormous debt and lowering its earnings, some analysts have said.
Jobs owns 50 percent of Pixar stock and would stand to make a fortune if he sells.
But Miller believes something more than money drives Jobs.
"He looks at Pixar like you and I look at our children," Miller said. "Our children aren't for sale."

Buzz Lightyear Site

Find Buzz Lightyear products that are sometimes hard to find! Buzz Lightyear bedding, sheets, comforters, Buzz Lightyear clothes and shoes, a free Buzz Lightyear ebook and coloring book, Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story party ideas, wallpaper and stencils, clip art, pictures as well as Buzz Lightyear toys, books and games.

Toy Story 3 News

Toy Story 3 News
Check out Toy Story's role in Turning Points in Film History (book text online)

Toy Story 3 News

November 11, 2005

Recently, Disney released "Chicken Little," the company's first animated film since revamping its animation studio. Executives are hoping that the movie will return Disney to the glory of its animation past. With the film flying in at the top of the box office charts this week, those hopes seem promising. Long the distributor of hit animated films from Pixar such as "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo," Disney chose to use its own animators, writers and artists for "Chicken Little."

Pixar has a joint venture with Disney to make and market animated films through 2006. Pixar shareholders would like to see a pact that doubles Pixar's profits on future feature films. Under the current agreement, Pixar and Disney split production costs and profits evenly, with Pixar paying Disney a 12.5% distribution fee of its share of box-office receipts. Disney has extensive rights to any sequels made from these movies, which also include "Monsters Inc." and "A Bug's Life." Some analysts expect that a distribution deal could be finalized before the end of the year, which would allow Pixar to begin production on "Toy Story 3," a potentially lucrative sequel to its flagship franchise. McAlpine says Pixar could negotiate a lower distribution fee for new features, perhaps as low as 7% to 8% of the studio's share of box-office receipts. A 9% fee is typical.

Pixar's chairman, Steve Jobs, and Robert Iger, Disney's newly named chief executive, have been in talks since early summer on extending an agreement for Disney to continue distributing Pixar films. It appears that serious negotiations have not begun, as both sides wait to see how "Chicken Little" performs in movie theaters. If "Chicken Little" is a hit, Disney will get some of its pride back. A hit movie would show Wall Street and Jobs that Disney is not completely dependent on Pixar for the creation of new animated movie characters.If the movie is not well received by critics or moviegoers -- which is looking less and less likely -- Jobs gains leverage, since Disney would be seen as needing Pixar to help come up with new stories.Compared with recent Pixar-produced hits such as "Toy Story 2," which in 1999 had a $57.4 million opening weekend, and "Finding Nemo," whose $70 million opening weekend in 2003 set a record for an animated film, Disney's first computer-generated effort looks like a weak cluck. "

As far as Disney is concerned, it wants to continue to have a relationship with Pixar," says Hamilton Faber, an analyst at Atlantic Equities, an independent research firm in London. "Pixar is really seen as the creative force."

There's more reason to expect a deal. Last month, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger appeared onstage with Steve Jobs, CEO of both Apple Computer and Pixar, as the two announced that Disney would distribute content for Apple's new video iPod. Terms of the agreement are still unknown.

Neither Disney nor Pixar has commented publicly except to say that talks were continuing. Detailed negotiations between Disney and Pixar are likely to begin in mid-November and could be wrapped up by late December or early January.The studios have several issues to grapple with, including who would have creative oversight over new Pixar characters at Disney theme parks and how revenue from rides and other attractions would be divided. Both sides have time constraints that make a decision near the end of the year likely. If Pixar does not reach a deal with Disney, Jobs would need time to find a new distribution partner. Disney executives, meanwhile, are eager to begin production on "Toy Story 3," a sequel to Pixar's "Toy Story."

Pixar Tells the Story Behind Toy StoryAugust 2005
When Hollywood was churning out movies full of explosions and mindless violence a few years ago, Pixar Animation Studios swam against the stream with "Finding Nemo," a G-rated feature that received four Academy Award nominations and grossed more than $355 million.
Today, of course, Pixar's filmmaking wisdom is self-evident. Mention the animation studio and everyone nods wisely.
But as Pixar celebrated the 10th anniversary of "Toy Story,'' its debut film, the creative minds behind the studio for the first time told the real story of how they almost lost the picture. Not only did the big-money folks at Disney who bankrolled the film not understand the vision of "Toy Story,'' they hated it so much they shut down production. (read the rest here)

Toy Story 3: Expected in 2008
17th March 2005: Movie News: Toy Story 3:
News Item Posted by: Gary Gray

News reaches us that Disney have started work on Toy Story 3, without the particapation of Pixar! They have charged 40 people over at their new animation unit to start work and the story is thought to be centring on the toy's adventures after Buzz Lightyear gets recalled to the Taiwan factory where he was made! Read more here

Toy Story 3January 2005

No one wants to direct "Toy Story 3."That's the word in Hollywood's animation world, where the third installment of the incredibly successful Pixar series has no director, writer or, possibly, stars.My sources in the animation biz tell me that Disney, which will make "Toy Story 3" without Pixar, cannot find a director to guide the project.John Lasseter, who directed the first two movies, will stay with Pixar after he finishes its last Disney-distributed movie, "Cars," set for release in 2006.It's also undetermined whether stars Tom Hanks and Tim Allen will reprise their roles in the new film. The odds are that Hanks won't, but that Allen — who's made some successful family films at Disney — will.Hanks, it's noted, is very close to former Disney chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, who now runs Dreamworks. Hanks has already made two films for Dreamworks, thanks to his friendship with another of the company's three principal partners, Steven Spielberg. (Read the rest of the story here)

Read about the Disney War: Inside Disney

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