‘Toy Story 4′ Will Be a Romantic Comedy; Won’t Be a Direct Continuation

The animation community was no doubt shaken to its core when Toy Story 4 was officially announced last November. Whether or not another installment in a franchise that forever changed the course of the animation industry is needed is a subject that will undoubtedly be argued and debated until the day of its release. But until then, we can rely only on snippets of information about the film to help us draw our own conclusion. Such is the nature of this new report.

Courtesy of sources like Collider and Screen Rant (both stemming from an interview on the Disney Latinowebsite), Pixar president Jim Morris gave some solid new details concerning the film’s connection (or lack-thereof) to the original trilogy and the general direction of its story.

First off, he began by dropping this interesting revelation: Toy Story 4 will not be a direct continuation of the original trilogy. As Morris explains:

The third movie ended in a beautiful way and completed a trilogy. 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. Never begin a project with that in mind.

But that’s just only one way that Toy Story 4 will differentiate itself from the original trilogy. Morris also revealed that the film will be tackling a completely different genre than its previous installments:

It is not a continuation of the end of the story of Toy Story 3. 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. I think it will be a very good movie.

Yes, you heard that right. Toy Story 4 will be a love story. It will also downplay the human characters and their relationship with the toy characters, opting instead to put the spotlight completely on the toys themselves.

Make of all that what you will.

Also, do make note of how he said that the film will “temporarily” be a continuation of the third film. The official press release did say that the film will open a new chapter in the lives of Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang, but other reports also noted that the film may focus on certain toys. Either way, we’ll definitely have to wait a bit longer to figure out how much of a role the original cast will have in this installment.

Say what you will about the new info above, but the film does appear to be making a concerted effort to not simply rehash what came before it.

The film will be directed by John Lasseter from a screenplay by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack (based on a story conceived by Lasseter and members of his brain trust).

Toy Story 4 will arrive in theaters on June 16, 2017.