If you’re hanging out for your next fix of Buzz Lightyear and Woody, the rootin’-est, tootin’-est cowboy in the wild, Wild West – prepare to wait even longer.
Pixar Studios has postponed the already delayed release for yet another year and we’ll have to wait until 2019 for the fourth movie in the series.
Riding the rollercoaster of the slogan “To infinity and beyond”, Pixar’s Toy Story series has had kids engrossed since it began in 1995, and spawned some of the world’s coolest toys.
I was hooked from the beginning, obsessed. I had a Woody doll and my brother had a Buzz doll. We would travel to America with our parents to Disneyland just to see Woody and Buzz and to get more merchandise. I even went as far as painting my shoes with the word Andy … weird, I know.
I wasn’t the only one. When the movie was released, Disney sold 250,000 units of each character. The most popular were Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Mr Potato Head and the barrel of Monkeys. It was estimated that Toy Story 3 alone brought in more than $2 billion in merchandise sales and that Disney stores sold more than 35 million Buzz Lightyear toys around the world. Buzz was a cool toy – he had wings, had a laser, had numerous button functions and could talk.
The movies were wildly popular. Toy Story 1 grossed a total of $191,796,233. Toy Story 2 sold $245,852,719. In 2010, popularity grew even higher as Toy Story 3 arrived. It gained a whopping $415,004,880 at the box office. The animated film hit an emotional chord with viewers, no matter how old. The franchise was so big, toys were introduced in McDonald’s happy meals, and you could win stuffed toys in any Galaxy World or TimeZone amusement centre worldwide. Disneyland in Paris has its very own Toy Story play land where you can meet the gang, go on rides and play games. In California, Toy Story has its own Midway Mania attraction where you can play games related to the movies. You can also visit Andy’s room!
Children loved it because their favourite toys came to life while adults appreciated the clever and witty script that appealed to them too. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are a match made in heaven, a legendary combination that just works.
Throughout the films, Buzz and Woody have always tried to impress and love their owner, Andy. Andy started off as a child in Toy Story 1, and as the movies kept coming, Andy began to grow up. In the closing scenes of Toy Story 3, Andy gave his toys to a young little girl called Bonnie as he left home to go to college.
So here’s the question, what role Andy will play in Toy Story 4? Will he be a snotty teenager? Or will he come to realise just how much joy his toys gave him when he was a kid?
Online news outlets are already speculating about the plot, with most claiming it will be a romantic comedy where Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and his friends will try and find Woody’s crush Bo-Peep.
Mixed reactions on Twitter about the release of the movie have raised questions.
Toy Story 4?! Come on lads, give it a rest, that's enough now.
— El Ligero (@Ligero1) October 27, 2016
Future me watching incredibles 2 and toy story 4 pic.twitter.com/qpItAXJkL7
— lanzo (@babyhaim) October 26, 2016
Did I just really read "INCREDIBLES 2 in 2018"
&
"TOY STORY 4 IN 2019"
I'm going to throw up this is beautiful— Romell Henry (@RomellHenryTgf) October 26, 2016
Toy Story is so fucking good! Bring on Toy Story 4 😁
— Ben Bruce (@benjaminbruce) October 17, 2016
The biggest conspiracy theory is where is Bo-Peep? She wasn’t in Toy Story 3, so fans thought Andy had sold her during the garage sale scene in Toy Story 2. We will have to wait to find out in 2019.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen will remain the classic voices of Woody and Buzz but there will be new characters. Actress Patricia Arquette has been confirmed to voice an unknown character on the back of her Oscar-winning performance in Boyhood. Movie Web reported that she wants to play a hippie mother.
The film was originally planned for release in 2017, but last year it was put back to 2018. Now the planned release of Pixar’s Cars and The Incredibles 2 has pushed it back another year.
Given you’ll have a three-year wait, why not fill in the time by hiring out the Toy Story Trilogy to remember these classics? Then you’ll know, you’ve got a friend in me. – Jesse Mullens
Photo of Woody and Bo-Peep from the Toy Story 4 Twitter feed.
About the author
I am the sports editor for the Macleay Newsroom. I enjoy cooking and watching sport intently.
