Toy Story 4 Hoping to Avoid Feeling Like a "Regurgitation" of Past Movies

Disney announced last week that Toy Story 4 had been delayed for a second time, with the highly anticipated animated movie now slated for summer 2019. Now, Pixar veteran Pete Docter, who is assisting on the movie's story, has spoken about why it's taking so long to get the movie out.

He told Entertainment Weekly that it's been difficult to find the right story to tell because Pixar wants to make sure Toy Story 4 doesn't feel like "another regurgitation of something we've seen."

The first three Toy Story movies have already "plumbed the depths" of main characters Woody and Buzz, so it's been a challenge to "find something new that hasn't been done." Docter is optimistic about where things stand now.

"I feel like we're onto it now. But it's taken some real deep investigative work," he explained.

What we do know about Toy Story 4's plot is that it will be something of a love story about Woody and Bo Peep. Pixar boss John Lasseter said this would be the case in a 2015 interview and Docter confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the love story angle was still in play.

"The last I saw, those were still elements that they're playing with," he said. "It brings it to something that you haven't seen before, which I think is what people want. On the one hand, you like the familiarity, you like these characters, you want to see them again--but if it was the same movie or it felt like, 'Eh, it was a little bit like Toy Story 2,' then we’re kind of sunk."

Toy Story 4's screenplay is being written by actors Rashida Jones (The Office, Parks and Rec) and Will McCormack (Celeste & Jesse Forever). Lasseter and Josh Cooley (Inside Out) are attached to direct.

Also in the interview, Docter talked about the possibility of a Monsters, Inc. sequel. He directed the 2001 original and said he has a "never say never" attitude about a sequel. 2013's Monsters University was purposefully a prequel because Pixar didn't want to address what might have happened to Monsters, Inc. character Boo and how she grew up after the events of the first film.

For a sequel to happen, it would "have to be really compelling," Docter said.

After its latest delay Toy Story 4 is now slated to come out in June 2019. It was previously scheduled for a June 2018 release, but that date has now been taken by The Incredibles 2.

The next Pixar movie is 2017's Cars 3. After Toy Story 4 comes out in 2019, Pixar does not have any further sequels planned for any of its franchises.