Even though the last two Toy Story projects have been completely unnecessary on paper, Pixar keeps knocking it out of the park to continue justifying the animation powerhouse’s decision to keep on returning to the well.
The third entry in the franchise wrapped thing up beautifully, with barely a dry eye in the house by the time the credits rolled, but Woody, Buzz and the gang returned nine years later for a fourth adventure. Despite being the worst-reviewed entry in the series, Toy Story 4 took that unwanted distinction with a 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
There was plenty of skepticism when spinoff Lightyear was first announced, too, but the first wave of reactions appear to have assuaged any doubts over milking the cash cow a little too much. Does that mean more similar continuations are forthcoming? We’ve no idea, but star Chris Evans did name his preferred candidates while speaking to Variety, by revealing himself to be “a big Woody fan, so maybe he’s next”.
People love Tom Hanks, and they love Toy Story, so that would be the next logical step if this is the route Disney and Pixar want to head down. While Evans has largely overcome any backlash directed towards the lack of Tim Allen in Lightyear, we’re not sure if the same courtesy would be extended to Woody were Hanks to be unceremoniously shown the door.
The future likely hinges on Lightyear‘s box office success, and at this stage we’re expecting big things.
