Last November, Disney made the announcement Toy Story fans had been eagerly awaiting, that Toy Story 4 is finally happening. The studio initially had set a June 16, 2017 release date for the animated sequel, but now those plans have changed, with Disney shifting the release by almost exactly one year, to June 15, 2018. As of now, there are no other movies slated for release on that date, but it will be situated directly between two highly-anticipated sequels, Warner Bros.' Godzilla 2 (June 8, 2018) and Universal's Jurassic World 2 (June 22, 2018).

John Lasseter, director of the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2, will direct Toy Story 4, which opens a new chapter in the lives of Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the Toy Story gang. The story was dreamt up by Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, the storytellers who have been the driving force behind all three Toy Story films. Rashida Jones and Will McCormack (Celeste and Jesse Forever) will write the screenplay based on this new story idea.

Back in August, just before the D23 Expo got under way, John Lasseter confirmed that Toy Story 4 will be a love story, where Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts) fall for one another. The story centers on Bo Peep, who goes missing, after she was either lost or sold at a garage sale. This leads Woody and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) on a mission to go find her, where they run into a slew of new characters.

The director also confirmed that this will not follow Toy Story 3, since that closed out the first Toy Story trilogy. Toy Story 4 will be a completely new story that may be expanded with other sequels to follow, depending on how fans react to this new movie. Don Rickles has been confirmed to return as Mr. Potato Head, alongside Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Annie Potts, but no other cast members have been announced yet.

Josh Cooley will serve as co-director alongside John Lasseter on Toy Story 4, which will be produced by Galyn Susman. The Toy Story gang was last seen in the animated short film Toy Story That Time Forgot, which debuted back in December. Are you upset that you'll have to wait one more year before Toy Story 4 hits theaters? Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for more on this upcoming sequel.