Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. A couple of articles appeared online today that seem to add up to a fairly complete picture of what Pixar and Disney are up to for the next few years. Great stuff, looks like. I’m pretty much up for whatever they do. I have that much faith in the team that’s managing the studios now. I think we’re about to see a rebirth of Disney as an industry leader in animation, and the idea that another TOY STORY is going to be part of that pleases me enormously now that it’s being done by the right people. Robogeek was one of the first to send us a heads-up on this one:
"Toy Story 3" is coming in 2009, but John Lasseter won't be the director. In addition to confirming for the first time that a third "Toy Story" is in the works, most likely for 2009 release, Lasseter said Lee Unkrich will helm it. Unkrich co-directed "Toy Story 2," "Monsters, Inc." and "Finding Nemo" but has never before been sole helmer on a Pixar pic… Michael Arndt, Oscar-nominated scribe of "Little Miss Sunshine," is penning the script. Lasseter also revealed a behind-the-scenes shift at Walt Disney Feature Animation -- which is separate from Pixar but also under the control of Lasseter and Catmull -- by announcing that Chris Williams, a vet story artist at the Mouse, is now directing 2008 release "American Dog." Pic was developed and previously under the control of "Lilo & Stitch" helmer Chris Sanders, who recently left Disney. Catmull denied speculation that Walt Disney Feature Animation may become a 2-D-only studio, with Pixar handling CGI, though he did confirm the Mouse will bring back hand-drawn pics. "We're really excited about that and have brought back some great directors to work on that," he said, presumably referring to "The Frog Princess," a 2-D pic being developed by "Aladdin" and "Treasure Planet" helmers Ron Clements and John Musker, whom Lasseter brought back to Disney last year. That pic is believed to be on the fast track and may be the division's next release after "American Dog."
