Toy Story 3 gets an added '-D.'

As cute and funny as they are to watch, a part of me has always found both Toy Story movies to be rather sad. Living in the mountains with no neighbors, my toys were my only friends on many a summer's day. So when I see these beautifully computer-animated films that personify children's playthings, and show them expressing sadness and regret for being abandoned or discarded, it makes me feel regret for all the action figures I lost to carelessness, apathy, and yes, firecracker experimentation. I loved many of my old toys, and my ability to just up and betray them one day makes me wonder if I am capable of doing the same thing to people.

I'm not too sure if that's what Pixar's John Lasseter in mind.

But anyway, it looks like Lasseter & Co. have big plans for their most popular franchise. They want to re-release the two original Toy Story films as well as the planned sequel in Disney Digital 3-D. Here's a quote from the press release:

Lasseter added, “The ‘Toy Story’ films and characters will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we’re so excited to be bringing this landmark film back for audiences to enjoy in a whole new way thanks to the latest in 3-D technology. I am sure that this is going to be nothing short of fantastic and people are going to be blown away by the experience. With ‘Toy Story 3’ shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought it would be great to let audiences experience the first two films all over again and in a brand new way. 3-D offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation and we will continue to use this new technology to tell our stories in the best possible way.”

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We've reported before on the show that the only reason Pixar agreed to make Toy Story 3 was to put something on the table as part of their deal with Disney that gave them total control over the studio's animation department. The deal also gave the computer animation company the power to destroy the lame Toy Story sequel Disney had planned to make without Pixar's involvement. Unfortunately, this now means that Pixar actually has to make Toy Story 3 to fulfill their end of the agreement, and I'm not sure there's really anywhere for the franchise to go that wouldn't take Woody the cowboy and Buzz Lightyear into Shrek 3 territory. It would break my heart to see Pixar make a pointless Toy Story film, especially since they've come down on Disney's 2-D animation department hard for doing the same with their own classic films to cash in with straight-to-video releases.