Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 7:03AM What Could've Happened: Original 'Toy Story 3' Concepts
It's no secret, I absolutely loved Toy Story 3. It was the #1 film I was most "thankful" for in 2010, and should most definitely be in the discussion for the year's best film. So to think that in 2005, when Disney and Pixar were set to part ways, the plan was to release Toy Story 3 as a direct to DVD sequel is just absurd. Almost as absurd as what the plot of the sequel would have been.
A few concept images and plot of the (thankfully) scrapped DVD sequel were released and let's just say it wouldn't have only been The Hangover boys making their way to the orient in their follow-up.
So, briefly, here's the history leading up to what could have been. Like I mentioned before, in 2005 Disney and Pixar were headed toward splitsville. And after the divorce, Disney would have held the rights to all of Pixar's characters but none of Pixar's animators. So Disney's plan was to create a company called Circle 7 and use that company to make lesser quality direct to DVD sequels of all Pixar's films. Leading the direct to DVD charge was plans for Toy Story 3, which would have seen Buzz Lightyear being recalled and shipped back to Taiwan, with Woody and the gang traveling across the world to save him.
Thankfully, in 2006 Disney and Pixar settled for $7.4 billion in chump change, dissolving Circle 7, scrapping the half-assed sequels, and the rest is history.
Granted, the toy recall is an interesting storyline that could have been, but I couldn't have been happier with the conclusion to the franchise we got with the film that was. Check out some of the concept art of the aborted Toy Story below that include a few new characters Buzz would have run into after being recalled and a Michael Bay-esque chase sequence with One-Eyed Bart.
Reader Comments (4)
Actually, if you read the Bob & Rob article, you’ll find the Circle 7 sequels were were never meant for Direct to DVD. TS3 and the other films were full feature productions. This was pretty common knowledge, but has been mis-reported many times. SlashFilm got it wrong and others have picked up on their story. Read the actual blog post it's very interesting! And you'll be able to decide whether Pixar did or did not cherry pick sequences from the C7 script. The opening of the films are identical, except for the time period of the "inside Andy's imagination" scene. Fun stuff!
Bobbydafan,
Don't suppose you have a link to the original article?
Sure! http://bobrob.blogspot.com/2010/11/toy-story-3-disneys-circle-seven-style.html
Thanks for posting that article Bobbydafan, but after reading it a few times I don't see anywhere saying Circle 7's films were planned for a theatrical release. In fact, everything I'm reading online says Circle 7 was solely meant for DVD releases.