‘Toy Story 4’ will feature John Lasseter and a new co-director

Toy Story 4 just got a major addition: Josh Cooley, the head of story on Inside Out, who has been hired as John Lasseter‘s co-director on the film. After the Twitter announcement, Cooley spoke with Variety about the gig.

Lasseter has several key roles as Disney, so it was no surprise to see the news via Twitter:

Rootin’, tootin’ news from the playset: Josh Cooley (@CooleyUrFaceOff) will co-direct #ToyStory4, debuting in 2017. – @DisneyPixar

Talking about TS4, he reveals that he’s a massive fan of the original.

“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. When I first saw Toy Story I was amazed by the groundbreaking computer-generated animation. But it was the strong storytelling that kept me coming back. Toy Story 4 will continue that tradition and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it!”

Cooley started Pixar as an intern working on Cars and directed the short on Inside Out.

Variety notes that Cooley “was chosen for that spot by the late Joe Ranft, probably the finest animation storyman of his generation.”

“Joe singled out Josh Cooley as a guy with potential, and Joe knew how to pick ‘em,” says Inside Out director Pete Docter. “Josh is funny, unique and collaboratie. And funny.”

Toy Story 4 will open in theaters on June 16, 2017

Studio head Jim Morris recently said the following of Toy Story 4:

The third movie ended in a beautiful way and completed a trilogy. I think this movie is not part of this trilogy. It is a separate story, which in turn I do not know if will be continued. Never begin a project with that in mind.

It is not a continuation of the end of the story of Toy Story 3.Temporarily it is, but it will be a love story. It will be a romantic comedy. It will not put much focus on the interaction between the characters and children. I think it will be a very good movie.