Subscribe
Follow Us
According to Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter, the upcoming Toy Story 5 movie will surprise fans.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Docter revealed how Toy Story 5 subverts expectations. He credits director Andrew Stanton for bringing something new to the franchise. He thinks fans will watch it and be taken by surprise.
“If you go back and look at Bambi — I’m picking an extreme that’s kind of intentionally slow because it is about nature and watching the changes seasons and things — I think films have definitely sped up,” he explained. “Even Toy Story one to Toy Story 4, the level of visual sophistication, including the pacing, we’re just trying to keep in touch with the rhythms of the world and it’s definitely faster.
“So I will say Toy Story 5, I think [writer and director] Andrew’s done a really great job of letting moments breathe in unexpected ways. Things that [make you think], Wait, is this a Toy Story movie?, with some of his choices, which I think we need at this point. We’ve had four of ’em already. We got to keep people surprised, so it’s going to be fun,” he continued.
It sounds like Stanton and Docter want Toy Story 5 to make something for kids and adults. That has been the goal of the franchise since it started in 1995.
“That was important to us at the time when Toy Story came out, there [weren't] a lot of films that did that,” Docter said. “There were a lot of ’em that were like four kids and nothing really other than maybe from Japan or something for adults. And so our goal was to, in the same way [Steven] Spielberg did with Indiana Jones and Star Wars with George Lucas, we’d love to bring animation into something that we as 20-, 30-year olds can enjoy.”
Will Toy Story 5 exceed expectations?
If Pixar wants Toy Story 5 to be a hit, they will need to subvert expectations. The third installment in the series was acclaimed, and a fourth movie was never expected.
Now, they are running the risk of ruining the franchise's ending in the last entry. Toy Story 5 will need to quickly justify its existence.
Luckily, it sounds like Stanton will do so. If Docter, who is well-known for his work with Pixar, trusts him, it must be coming together nicely.
Stanton's work with Pixar goes back years. He co-wrote and co-directed A Bug's Life. A few years later, he directed Finding Nemo (and its 2016 sequel Finding Dory).
He has been a mainstay at Pixar since the '90s. However, he has not directed a movie since Finding Dory nearly a decade ago. Toy Story 5 will be a return to the job.
Of course, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen will return in the movie as well. They are the voices of Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Recently, Chris Evans starred in a Buzz Lightyear spin-off as the iconic character. Now, Allen gets to reclaim him.
