Toy Story 5 is doing well with critics and making a lot of money at the box office. It’s also part of a larger franchise owned by Disney, a company that’s currently on a spree of turning animated hits into live-action remakes. So someone asked the people behind Toy Story 5 what they thought about the prospect of that happening to the beloved Pixar series. The answer was a mix of pleading to God that it doesn’t happen and yelling, “No!”
In a recent interview with BAFTA, as spotted by IGN, Toy Story 5 director Andrew Stanton and producer Lindsey Collins talked about the new movie, the franchise’s future, and more. At the very end of the interview, the duo was asked about the possibility of getting a live-action Toy Story movie down the line. Their reactions are about as negative as you can get without saying something during the press junket for a movie made for young kids and families that might upset Disney.
“I hope not, please God, no,” said Collins as she closed her eyes and shook her head in disgust. “Don’t say that loudly. You know that Disney is going to be like… [does a strange smile]. No. The answer is hard no.”
“That’s like a hat on top of a hat,” added Stanton.
So I’m getting, let’s say…mixed signals from the duo about a live-action Toy Story flick. But really, it is nice to see the creative forces behind Toy Story 5, and two powerful people at Pixar no less, be so publicly against a live-action remake of the long-standing CG-animated series.
Disney’s spree of live-action movies has been a rollercoaster of breakout hits, like Lilo & Stitch or The Lion King, so-so attempts like Dumbo and Aladdin, and some genuine misfires and flops, like Snow White. And while more are coming, including a Moana live-action remake that looks like a sketch from a bad episode of Saturday Night Live, I’m hopeful Pixar is able to hold the line and keep Mickey Mouse’s grubby hands off the studio’s incredible library of animated movies, and also Cars.