The Disney empire is expanding. Next month, the House of Mouse will launch its highly-anticipated streaming service, copy Wreck-It Ralph and probably break the internet. Disney+ will be home to classic Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars films, as well as original content made especially for subscribers. Among them are shiny new knick knacks for Toy Story fans to watch.
Pixar producer Mark Nielson has explained how Disney+ has allowed the animation studio to continue the 24-year-old beloved franchise further. In his words:
I was fortunate enough to produce the Forky Asks a Question series, these 10 films that we made for Disney+, and there's another production unit within Pixar that made Lamp Life, the backstory of Bo Peep, before Toy Story 4, and that's coming out on Disney+. This is a new kind of way to tell stories and release them that we didn't really have before. We've always done short films, and the DVDs often had a short film, but this does give us a greater chance. And while we don't have anything in mind or any production related to Toy Story right now, beyond Lamp Life and Forky Asks a Question, the door is certainly open to that. And you're right, these characters have such a great implied history and implied future. You can take any of these characters down a lot of really interesting roads.
In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Mark Nielson talked about how Disney+ is giving the creatives at Pixar more opportunities to deliver stories in ways never before available. While the studio swears the Toy Story 4 was the last of the film franchise (after 3 was the apparent conclusion back in 2010), Disney+ will be a place where a couple of favorite toys will get play on screens longer.
At the Disney+ launch on November 12, two Toy Story-related projects will be available: the aforementioned Forky Asks a Question and Lamp Life. Forky is a ten episode series that has the Toy Story 4 breakout spork toy (voiced by Tony Hale) asking questions to his fellow toys Trixie, Mr. Potato Head and so forth about concepts such as money, friends, love and the internet.
Lamp Life will be a short film exploring Bo Peep’s backstory. The sheep herder has been known as Woody’s love interest who famously disappeared in Toy Story 3 before making a sweet return to the franchise for the fourth installment. Toy Story 4 explored her adventurous life beyond Andy’s house and found a happy ending with her favorite cowboy.
Pixar has always had a knack for making engaging shorts throughout its history. Disney+ opens a new door for the short format to be expanded into shows of its own or for the animation studio to make more exclusively for the streaming service. Pixar fans will have no shortage of pick-me-ups of creative animated projects to check out in their homes soon!
Another Pixar project in the works at Disney+ is a television series based on the world introduced in Monsters Inc. The show is called Monsters At Work and it will serve as a direct sequel to the 2001 animated film.
Following its highly successful box office run, surpassing $1 billion globally,Toy Story 4 is now available to own on Digital and will be released on Blu-ray on October 8.
