The much loved characters of the Toy Story saga learn to cope with abandonment issues in Toy Story 3, the third film in the popular animated film series. Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang will be back next June with a new story that follows the hapless heroes as they realise they have reached their shelf life when Andy, the young boy who owns them, grows up and goes off to college.

“Toys are put on this Earth to be played with by a child,” said John Lasseter, director of the first two “Toy Story” movies and chief creative officer for Pixar and Disney animation. “The thing they worry about the most is all the things in life that prevent them from being played with, and probably the thing they fear the most is being outgrown.”

John Lasseter and his Pixar colleagues spoke to the press about Toy Story 3 during Cannes Film Festival, where the latest Pixar animation adventure, “Up,” was the opening-night entry this year.

Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney’s animation studios, stated that Pixar only embarked on creating sequels if there was fresh ground to cover. Catmull intimated that along with a great new adventure storyline, the Toy Story characters would encounter a big emotional finish in the new film.

“It feels like the summation of a trilogy,” he said, but would not be drawn on further plot details “I’m going to wait on that one. That’s got to be the surprise of the film.”

A new character is revealed in Toy Story 3 in the shape of Lotso a pink teddy bear, played by Ned Beatty. Lotso made his film debut in a trailer for ?‚àö√ë‚àö‚â§Up’s where he appears sitting beside a bed when Carl Fredricksen house floats past outside the window of a little girl bedroom.

“Toy Story” was the first computer-animated feature-length movie, launching Hollywood into an era of digital cartoons that have superseded hand-drawn animation. Pixar movies, including “Finding Nemo,” “Ratatouille” and “WALL-E,” have won four of the eight Academy Awards for feature animation since the category was added in 2001.

The current teaser trailer deviates from previewing any clips from the film but instead plays out a humorous scene where many of the original characters, build Toy Story 3 signs. A longer trailer is expected to be attached to the Toy Story / Toy Story 2 3D double feature limited edition available in October. Toy Story 3 is due for release in June 2010.

Credits
Director: Lee Unkrich
Producer: John Lasseter, Darla K. Anderson
Music: Randy Newman
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios

Screenplay: Michael Arndt
Treatment: Andrew Stanton
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures

Cast
Woody: Tom Hanks
Buzz Lightyear: Tim Allen
Jessie: Joan Cusack
Mr. Potato Head: Don Rickles
Rex: Wallace Shawn
Hamm: John Ratzenberger
Mrs. Potato Head: Estelle Harris
Lotso: Ned Beatty
Ken: Michael Keaton
Barbie: Jodi Benson

Related Links
www.pixar.com
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/