The mega-blockbuster summer sequel Toy Story 3 became the first animated film to pass the billion dollar mark at the box office.

Lee Unkrich Talks Cars 2, Monsters, Inc. 2, and Brave!
September 6th, 2010




The director of Toy Story 3 takes us through Pixar's upcoming production slate while reflecting on his summer success story

This past weekend, the mega-blockbuster summer sequel Toy Story 3 became the first animated film to pass the billion dollar mark at the box office. This milestone came right before Pixar announced they were putting their latest original project Newt on indefinite hold to make way for two more sequels, Cars 2 and Monsters, Inc. 2, as well as the original animated movie Brave. To help celebrate Toy Story 3's success, and to find out more about what Pixar has planned for the near future, we caught up with Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich for a quick update.

Here is our conversation:
Congradulations on this milestone for Disney/Pixar and the Toy Story franchise. Does crossing the billion-dollar mark at the box office change how you feel about the movie? Or do you feel art is not affected by commerce?

Lee Unkrich: For me, the box office is just a reflection of how much people like the movie. The only way you can get these kinds of numbers these days is if people want to see a movie multiple times. The only way people are going to want to see a movie multiple times is if they have a really good time at it. I look at this really big number, and I think, "Wow! We managed to make a movie that people really enjoy. And they want to see it again and again." That is ultimately the reward for me.

When you look at that big of a number, you must realize how many people this movie has truly touched on an emotional level, and how beloved these characters are.

Lee Unkrich: Absolutely. And this is true the world over. I spent most of the summer traveling around Europe and Asia, promoting the movie. From country to country, there was such an outpouring of enthusiasm. And love for the film. It was very, very cool to see this little movie we made in Emeryville, California be embraced by so many different cultures around the world.

When the film came out earlier this summer, you all said that this was the final one. Don't talk about a sequel. This is it. We're done. Now that you've crossed the billion-dollar mark, are we going to see a Toy Story 4

Lee Unkrich: We will definitely see these characters return. But we are in no way thinking about doing another movie. We are planning on a series of short films that will use the Toy Story characters. The first of these shorts you will see at the beginning of Cars 2 next year. We know the world loves Woody and Buzz, and all of the new characters as well. We don't want them to just vanish. No. We love working with them as well. In terms of another full-length movie? We tried to end the story of the toys and Andy in a really nice way.

Are you envisioning a lot of these Toy Story shorts? Where we might see one every other year? And are they each going to focus on individual characters?

Lee Unkrich: We don't have specific plans to center any of these shorts around a specific character, per say. The great thing about the short form is that you can tell these little stories that are very funny, and completely entertaining. But they don't have to sit within the confines of a feature. While we were coming up with the story for Toy Story 3, we had a lot of funny scenes. We had gags and moments that made us laugh, and they were completely entertaining. But they didn't fit in the movie. We file a lot of these ideas away. A lot of them rear their heads, and they become fodder for these short film ideas. We have been having a lot of fun on this first Toy Story short. It is going to be very funny.

Toy Story 3 is still in theaters. Its had such a great run throughout the summer, and even at this late date, if you go in and watch the movie, you can still feel the emotional weight in the air when the end of the film comes. Do you still find yourself compelled to go in and experience the film with an audience that may have seen it two or three times? And are you still able to get swept up in the emotional arc of the story?

Lee Unkrich: Yeah, its fun. I think my kids enjoy it more than I do. They are always most proud of me at that moment. When the Jack in the Box pops open. What it comes down to is that when we are making the movies, before we cast the real actors to come in, we do all the voices for all the characters ourselves, as we are writing the movie and figuring it all out. Slowly we replace them with Tom Hanks, and Tim Allen, and everyone else. But there are some characters like Jack...We wouldn't want to hire Ashton Kutcher to come in and do that one line in the movie. A lot of times, we end up getting ourselves for those one-off lines. Or sometimes we really fall in love with someone's voice. Like Teddy Newton, who directed the short Day & Night. I had him doing a temporary voice for that chatter telephone that Woody talks to. That little Fisher Price telephone. We ended up falling in love with Teddy's voice, so he ended up doing the movie. It's kind of nice for us. Not only do we have these A list movie stars in the film, but we have our own friends and colleagues be a part of the film as well.

Toy Story 3 was released June 18th, 2010 and stars Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger. The film is directed by Lee Unkrich.
Cars 2 comes to theaters June 25th, 2011. The film is directed by John Lasseter.
Monsters, Inc. 2 comes to theaters November 2nd, 2012 and stars John Goodman, Billy Crystal.
Brave comes to theaters June 15th, 2012 and stars Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters. The film is directed by Brenda Chapman.