Toy Story 3 - Production

Production

According to the terms of Pixar's revised deal with Disney, all characters created by Pixar for their films were owned by Disney. Furthermore, Disney retains the rights to make sequels to any Pixar film, though Pixar retained the right of first refusal to work on these sequels. But in 2004, when the contentious negotiations between the two companies made a split appear likely, Disney Chairman at the time Michael Eisner put in motion plans to produce Toy Story 3 at a new Disney studio, Circle 7 Animation. Tim Allen, the voice of Buzz Lightyear, indicated a willingness to return even if Pixar was not on board.

Jim Herzfeld wrote a script for Circle 7's version of the film. It focused on the other toys shipping a malfunctioning Buzz to Taiwan, where he was built, believing that he will be fixed there. While searching on the Internet, they find out that many more Buzz Lightyear toys are malfunctioning around the world and the company has issued a massive recall. Fearing Buzz's destruction, a group of Andy's toys (Woody, Rex, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, Jessie, and Bullseye) venture to rescue Buzz. At the same time, Buzz meets other toys from around the world that were once loved, but have now been recalled.

In January 2006, Disney bought Pixar in a deal that put Pixar chiefs Edwin Catmull and John Lasseter in charge of all Disney Animation. Shortly thereafter, Circle 7 Animation was shut down and its version of Toy Story 3 was cancelled. The character designs went into the Disney archives. The following month, Disney CEO Robert Iger confirmed that Disney was in the process of transferring the production to Pixar. John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Lee Unkrich visited the house where they first pitched Toy Story and came up with the story for the film over a weekend. Stanton then wrote a treatment. On February 8, 2007, Catmull announced Toy Story 2's co-director, Lee Unkrich, as the sole director of the film instead of John Lasseter (who was busy directing Cars 2), and Michael Arndt as screenwriter. The release date was moved to 2010. Unkrich said that he felt pressure to avoid creating "the first dud" for Pixar, since as of 2010 all of Pixar's films had been critical and commercial successes.

During the initial development stages of the film, Pixar revisited their work from the original Toy Story and found that although they could open the old computer files for the animated 3D models, error messages prevented them from editing the files. This necessitated recreating the models from scratch. To create the chaotic and complex junkyard scene near the film's end, more than a year and a half was invested on research and development to create the simulation systems required for the sequence.

Instead of sending Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and John Ratzenberger scripts for their consideration in reprising their roles, a complete story reel of the film was shown to the actors in a theater. The reel was made up of moving storyboards with pre-recorded voices, sound effects, and music. At the conclusion of the preview, the actors signed on to the film.

Dolby Laboratories announced that Toy Story 3 would be the first film that will feature theatrical 7.1 surround audio. Thus, even the Blu-ray version will feature original 7.1 audio, unlike other movies which were remixed into 7.1 for Blu-ray.