John Lasseter, director of the first two "Toy Story" films, has announced that he is stepping down as director of the forthcoming "Toy Story 4" and is handing directing duties to Josh Cooley.
Lasseter, who is Pixar's Chief Creative Officer, made the announcement during Disney's D23 fan exposition. He will continue to be involved in the project, while Cooley, will be promoted to director. He cited his busy schedule as reason for stepping down from the project.
This will be the first feature film to be directed by Cooley, after directing the short film "Riley's First Date." Cooley, who started working at Pixar as an intern has worked as storyboard artist for several projects including "The Incredibles," "Cars," "Ratatouille," "Up," and "Cars 2." He was also head of story for the hit movie "Inside Out."
Lasseter and Cooley were previously announced to be co-directors in the next installment of Pixar's biggest selling franchise. "To be co-director on 'Toy Story 4' with John, who brought the 'Toy Story' characters to the screen 20 years ago, is a dream come true," Cooley told Variety in 2015. He said that while the groundbreaking animation of the film was amazing, it was the story that kept him coming back. "'Toy Story 4' will continue that tradition and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of it," he added.
Even though the film is in its early stages and there no trailers or plot details were presented during the D23 presentation, the team did play some behind-the-scenes footage as teaser for the film. The video said that the staff were recording the first line of the film and showed Pixar's Jeff Pidgeon inhaling helium and going "oooohh," which is the signature line of the little green aliens from the movies.
The new installment will bring back the franchise' original stars Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear. "Toy Story 4" will hit theaters on June 21, 2019.
