Toy Story 3 is the perfect conclusion to what has become the greatest trilogy of all time. No other movie series has ever had a better third act. Yet while Pixar isn’t planning another sequel (and let’s hope they stick to their guns on that), there may be other opportunities to see more of Buzz and Woody.

In an interview with MSN Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich revealed that when it comes to Woody and Buzz, “We're going to keep them alive; they're not going away forever.” He doesn’t think they’ll ever do a Toy Story 4, but he says they do plan to “find ways to keep the characters alive.” It sounds like they’ll do that mostly through a series of shorts. In particular, they’ve announced that they’re going to do a short film in front of Cars 2 in 2011 that will use the Toy Story characters.

Toy Story 3 closes the book on the story of the toys in Andy’s room, but that doesn’t mean we have to say goodbye to the characters. This seems like a perfect way to keep them alive and breathing, without ruining their legacy by making a series of now unnecessary sequels. Toy Story 3 is the end, but Buzz and Woody will be around for a long, long time.