The Walt Disney Studios announced today that it is employing the latest advances in digital 3-D technology the Toy Story films, including the upcoming Toy Story 3. The new Disney Digital 3-D version of the first movie in the series will debut on Oct. 2, 2009, with Toy Story 2 in 3-D following on Feb. 12, 2010. While these two are being converted for stereoscopic presentation after the fact, Toy Story 3 is being produced as a 3-D motion picture event. Veteran Pixar filmmaker Lee Unkrich, co-director of Toy Story 2, is helming the production, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 18, 2010.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker and top Disney/Pixar principal John Lasseter will personally oversee the creative side of the 3-D conversions for Toy Story and its sequel. He remarks, ‘I am sure that this is going to be nothing short of fantastic and people are going to be blown away by the experience. With Toy Story 3 shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought it would be great to let audiences experience the first two films all over again and in a brand new way. 3-D offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation, and we will continue to use this new technology to tell our stories in the best possible way.’
Originally released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, Toy Story was the first feature film from Pixar Animation Studios and director John Lasseter. The film went on to receive Oscar nominations for Original Score, Original Song, and Original Screenplay, and earned Lasseter a Special Achievement Award for the development and application of techniques that made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film. Toy Story 2 was originally slated to go straight to home video but was instead released in theaters, where it grossed nearly $500 million worldwide. In converting both films for stereoscopic projection, the technical team is retrieving all of the original digital elements and rebuilding them in 3-D.
