Toy Story 3



Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in Pixar's Toy Story series, and the sequel to 1999's Toy Story 2. It was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor of the first two films and the co-director of Toy Story 2, written by Michael Arndt, while Unkrich wrote the story along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, respectively director and co-writer of the first two films.

The plot focuses on Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Andy's other remaining toys accidentally being donated to a day care center, while Andy, now 17 years old, is preparing to leave for college, and their ensuing race to get home before Andy leaves. In the film's ensemble voice cast, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Jodi Benson, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf and R. Lee Ermey, reprise their roles from previous films. Jim Varney, who voiced Slinky Dog in the first two films, died on February 10, 2000, 10 years before the release of the third film, so the role of Slinky was passed down to Blake Clark. The returning cast is joined by Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg, Timothy Dalton, Kristen Schaal, Bonnie Hunt, and Jeff Garlin who voice the new characters introduced in this film.

The film was released in theaters June 18, 2010, and played worldwide from June through October in the Disney Digital 3-D, RealD, and IMAX 3D formats. Toy Story 3 was the first film to be released theatrically with Dolby Surround 7.1 sound. Like its predecessors, Toy Story 3 received critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising the vocal performances, screenplay, emotional depth, animation, and Randy Newman's musical score.

It became the second Pixar film (after Up) and third animated film overall (after Beauty and the Beast and Up) to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. The film received four more Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, winning the latter two. Toy Story 3 was the first animated film to gross over $1 billion worldwide in ticket sales, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2010—both in North America and worldwide—and the fourth-highest-grossing film at the time of its release, as well as the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and Pixar's highest-grossing film, all records held at the time of its release. A sequel, Toy Story 4, directed by Josh Cooley, was released on June 21, 2019.

Plot
Andy is preparing to leave for college. He has not played with his toys for years, and most have gone, except for Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Bullseye, Rex, Slinky, Hamm, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, the Aliens, and three toy soldiers. The despondent toys reflect on their future, and the soldiers parachute out the window and leave.

Andy intends to take Woody to college and puts the others into a trash bag to put them in the attic; however, Andy's mother mistakes the bag for trash and puts it on the curb. The toys narrowly escape and, believing Andy threw them away, get into a donation box in his mother's car with Molly's old Barbie doll, bound for Sunnyside Daycare. Woody follows, but is unable to convince them of Andy's real intentions, and goes along when Andy's mother drives to Sunnyside.

At Sunnyside, Andy's toys are welcomed by the other toys, led by Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear ("Lotso"). The toys (except Woody) are delighted to learn that Sunnyside never runs out of children, and Barbie is enamored with a Ken doll.

Woody attempts to return home, but is instead found by Sunnyside student Bonnie, who brings him home and plays with him and her other toys. Bonnie's toys are shocked that Woody came from Sunnyside, and Chuckles, a toy clown, explains that he, Lotso, and Big Baby were owned by a girl named Daisy, but were lost during a family trip. When they made it home, Lotso found out that he had been replaced. His personality changed; he lied to Big Baby, saying Daisy had replaced all of them. They went to Sunnyside, where Lotso took over, turning it into a toy prison. Chuckles was eventually broken and later found by Bonnie.

After Andy's toys are subjected to a very rough playtime with the toddlers, Buzz asks Lotso to move the toys to the older children's room, but Lotso switches Buzz to his original factory setting, erasing his memory. Mrs. Potato Head, through an eye she lost in Andy's room, sees Andy searching for them. They realize that Woody was telling the truth about Andy's intentions and try to leave. Andy's toys are imprisoned by Lotso's henchmen, who rely on "new recruits" to keep them from being mishandled by the toddlers, with the assistance of the now brainwashed Buzz.

Woody returns to Sunnyside, where a Chatter Telephone tells him that there is now only one way out – the trash. Andy's toys subdue Buzz, but accidentally reset him to his Spanish mode. Buzz allies himself with Woody and falls in love with Jessie. The toys reach a dumpster, but are cornered by Lotso's gang. As a garbage truck approaches, Woody reveals Lotso's deception to Big Baby, who throws Lotso into the dumpster. As the toys try to leave, Lotso pulls Woody into the dumpster right before the truck arrives. The rest of Andy's toys fall into the truck while trying to rescue him. Buzz returns to normal after a television falls onto him inside the truck.

The truck takes the toys to a landfill, where the Aliens are swept away after spotting an industrial claw, and the other toys are swept onto a conveyor belt that leads to an incinerator. After narrowly avoiding a shredder, Woody and Buzz help Lotso reach an emergency stop button, only for Lotso to abandon them. The toys fall into the incinerator and resign themselves to their fate, but are rescued by the Aliens operating the claw crane. Lotso is later found by a garbage truck driver, who ties him to his truck's radiator grille. Woody and the other toys ride another garbage truck back to Andy's house.

Woody leaves a note for Andy, who, thinking the note is from his mother, donates the toys to Bonnie. Andy introduces the toys individually to Bonnie, and to Andy's surprise, Woody is at the bottom of the donation box, and Bonnie recognizes him. Though initially hesitant, Andy passes Woody on to Bonnie, and they play together before he leaves. Woody and the other toys witness Andy's departure as they begin their new lives with Bonnie.

In the film's epilogue, Barbie, Ken, and Big Baby have made vast improvements to Sunnyside and maintain contact with Bonnie's toys through letters. The toy soldiers parachute in and are welcomed to Sunnyside.

Voice cast
This is the list of the voice cast for the film:


 * Tom Hanks as Woody
 * Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear
 * Joan Cusack as Jessie
 * Ned Beatty as Lotso
 * John Morris as Andy
 * Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head
 * Blake Clark as Slinky Dog
 * Wallace Shawn as Rex
 * John Ratzenberger as Hamm
 * Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head
 * Michael Keaton as Ken
 * Jodi Benson as Barbie
 * Emily Hahn as Bonnie
 * Jeff Pidgeon as Aliens
 * Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants
 * Kristen Schaal as Trixie
 * Jeff Garlin as Buttercup
 * Bonnie Hunt as Dolly
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Stretch
 * Jack Angel as Chunk
 * Jan Rabson as Sparks
 * John Cygan as Twitch
 * Laurie Metcalf as Andy's mother
 * Lori Alan as Bonnie's mother
 * Beatrice Miller as Molly
 * R. Lee Ermey as Sarge
 * Teddy Newton as Chatter Telephone
 * Richard Kind as Bookworm
 * Bud Luckey as Chuckles
 * Javier Fernández Peña as Spanish Buzz
 * Charlie Bright as Young Andy / Pea-in-a-Pod
 * Amber Kroner as Pea-in-a-Pod
 * Brianna Maiwand as Pea-in-a-Pod
 * Erik von Detten as Sid
 * Jack Willis as Frog
 * Woody Smith as Big Baby

Several other characters (such as Bo Peep, RC, Etch, and Wheezy) are only seen in flashbacks or briefly mentioned. The character of Slinky Dog appeared to be in limbo after the death of his original voice actor Jim Varney on February 10, 2000, three months after Toy Story 2 was released. Varney was replaced by Blake Clark. After Clark was cast to play Slinky Dog, the producers realized that Clark and Varney had coincidentally been close friends since they appeared in the 1989 film Fast Food, making the transition a lot easier.

Production
According to the terms of Pixar's initial seven-film deal with Disney, all characters created by Pixar for their films were owned by Disney. Furthermore, Disney retained the rights to make sequels to any Pixar film, though Pixar retained the right of first refusal to work on these sequels. In 2004, when the contentious negotiations between the two companies made a split appear likely, Michael Eisner, Disney chairman at the time, put plans in motion 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. It was originally going to start production in 2006 and was set for a theatrical release in 2008.



Among the scripts Circle 7 had under consideration was one from Teacher's Pet screenwriters Bill and Cheri Steinkellner. Their idea for the film involved Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang being sent to Andy's grandmother's house for the night, because Andy's room is getting remodeled. Woody, Buzz, and new characters Hee-Hee, and Gladiola try to find out who stole the other toys in a whodunit-style mystery. Though it was rejected, Disney was so impressed with the script that this version would have been considered for a possible fourth installment. This version of the script was eventually uploaded in September 2019. The final version of the Circle 7 script was written by Meet the Parents screenwriter Jim Herzfeld. It focused on Andy's Mom shipping a malfunctioning Buzz to Taiwan where he was built, with the other toys believing he will be fixed there. While searching on the Internet, they then discovered 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) all ship themselves to Taiwan and venture out to rescue Buzz. At the same time, Buzz meets other toys from around the world that were once loved, but have 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 canceled. 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.

This story had no traces of the Circle 7 version of the film, since the filmmakers did not read its script: "Not out of spite, but we wanted to start fresh, and not be influenced by what they'd done," said Unkrich. "We didn't look at any of the work they'd done. We really didn't want to know anything about it." In February 2007, Lasseter announced Toy Story 2's co-director, Unkrich, as the sole director of the film instead of himself (Lasseter had directed the first two films and was busy directing Cars 2), and Michael Arndt as screenwriter. 2010 was also announced as the tentative release date.

Unkrich, who had been working with Arndt and story development artists on the film since the middle of 2006, 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. In February 2008, the film's plotline was reported: "Woody the cowboy and his toy box friends are dumped in a daycare centre after their owner, Andy, leaves for college."

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 to feature theatrical 7.1 surround sound. Thus, even the Blu-ray version would feature original 7.1 audio, unlike other films which were remixed into 7.1 for Blu-ray.

Release
Toy Story 3 had its worldwide premiere on June 12, 2010, opening at Taormina Film Fest in Italy. In the United States, it premiered on June 13, 2010, at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. El Capitan also hosted on June 17, 2010, a Toy Story marathon, showing for the first time all three Toy Story films together. The film went into its wide release on June 18, 2010, along with a release to IMAX 3D theaters.

The film was theatrically accompanied with the Pixar short film Day & Night, which focuses on what happens when an animated personification of Day meets his opposite, Night, and the resulting growth for both.

Marketing
The film's first teaser trailer was released with Up in Disney Digital 3-D on May 29, 2009. On October 2, 2009, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were re-released as a double feature in Disney Digital 3-D. The first full-length trailer was attached as an exclusive sneak peek and a first footage to the Toy Story double feature on October 12, 2009. A second teaser was released on February 10, 2010, followed by a second full-length trailer on February 11, and appeared in 3D showings of Alice in Wonderland and How to Train Your Dragon. On March 23, 2010, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were released separately on Blu-ray/DVD combo packs; Toy Story included a small feature of "The Story of Toy Story 3" and Toy Story 2 included one on the "Characters of Toy Story 3."

Mattel, Thinkway Toys, and Lego are among companies that produced toys to promote the film. Fisher Price, a Mattel Company, released Toy Story 3 with 21 3D images for viewing with the View-Master viewer. Disney Interactive Studios also produced a video game based on the film Toy Story 3: The Video Game, which was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, and PSP on June 15, 2010. A PlayStation 2 version was released on October 30, 2010 as part of a PS2 bundle and separately on November 2, 2010 (the same day Toy Story 3 was released on DVD and Blu-ray). It was also the last Disney/Pixar game to be released for PlayStation 2.

Toy Story 3 was featured in Apple's iPhone OS 4 Event on April 8, 2010, with Steve Jobs demonstrating a Toy Story 3-themed iAd written in HTML5. Pixar designed a commercial for the toy Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear and formatted it to appear as if it came from an old VCR recording. The recording was altered with distorted sound, noise along the bottom of the screen, and flickering video, all designed to make it look like a converted recording from around 1983. A Japanese version of the commercial was also released online, with the name "Lots-O'-Huggin Bear" replaced with "Little Hug-Hug Bear" (Japanese:ハグハグベアちゃん/Hagu Hagu Beya-Chan).

On Dancing with the Stars' May 11, 2010 episode, the Gipsy Kings performed a Spanish-language version of the song "You've Got a Friend in Me," which featured a paso doble dance choreographed by Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani. Both the song and dance are featured in the film. Toy Story 3 was promoted with airings of the first and second film on several channels in the weeks preceding the film's release, including Disney Channel, Disney XD, and ABC Family. Sneak peeks of Toy Story 3 were also revealed, primarily on Disney Channel.

Oscar campaign
Toy Story 3's "Not since..." Oscar campaign drew a lot of attention, emphasizing the film's uniqueness and critical acclaim. The campaign consisted of posters featuring characters from the film, comparing Toy Story 3 to previous winners such as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Shakespeare in Love, Titanic, and more. Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross explained they were going for the Best Picture win, not just Best Animated film. The Hollywood Reporter gave the campaign a bronze award in Key Art Awards Winners 2011.

Home media
Toy Story 3 was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in North America on November 2, 2010, in a standard DVD edition, a two-disc Blu-ray Disc, and in a four-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack. Features included behind-the-scenes, including a sneak peek teaser for the then-upcoming Cars 2 (the sequel to the 2006 film Cars). A 10-disc Toy Story trilogy Blu-ray box set arrived on store shelves that same day. A 3D version of the Blu-ray was released in North America on November 1, 2011.

On its first week of release (November 2–7, 2010), it sold 3,859,736 units (equal to $73,096,452), ranking No.1 for the week and immediately becoming the bestselling animated film of 2010 in units sold (surpassing How to Train Your Dragon). As of July 18, 2012, it had sold 10,911,701 units ($185,924,247). It became the bestselling DVD of 2010 in units sold, but it lacked in sales revenue and therefore ranked second behind Avatar on that list. It also sold about 4 million Blu-ray units, ranking as the fourth bestselling film of 2010.

In the United Kingdom, it broke the record for the largest first day ever for an animated feature in sales revenue, on both DVD and Blu-ray. Additionally, on the first day of its iTunes release, it immediately became the most downloaded Disney film ever. Toy Story 3 was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on June 4, 2019.

Box office
Toy Story 3 earned $415 million in North America and $652 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.067 billion, earning more revenue than the previous two films of the series combined. It became the highest-grossing animated film, surpassing the six-year-old record held by 2004's Shrek 2 ($919 million), until Walt Disney Animation Studios' computer-animated musical Frozen surpassed it in 2014, followed by Minions in 2015, Incredibles 2 in 2018, and then computer-animated remake version of The Lion King in 2019. It is the 30th-highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing film of 2010, the fifth-highest-grossing animated film (behind Frozen, Incredibles 2, 2019 CGI version of The Lion King, and Minions), the highest-grossing film in the Toy Story series, the second-highest-grossing Pixar film (behind Incredibles 2), and the 15th-highest-grossing film distributed by Disney. In estimated attendance, though, it still ranks fourth on the list of modern animated films, behind Shrek 2, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King. On its first weekend, Toy Story 3 topped the worldwide box office with $145.3 million ($153.7 million with weekday previews), the ninth-largest opening weekend worldwide for an animated feature. On August 27, 2010 – its seventy-first day of release, it surpassed the $1 billion mark, becoming the third Disney film, the second Disney-distributed film in 2010 (after Alice in Wonderland), the first animated film, and the seventh film in cinematic history to do so.

United States and Canada
In North America, Toy Story 3 is the 19th-highest-grossing film, unadjusted for inflation. Adjusted for ticket price inflation, though, it ranks 96th on the all-time chart. It is also the highest-grossing film of 2010, the second-highest-grossing Pixar film (behind Finding Dory), the second-highest-grossing G-rated film (behind The Lion King), the fourth-highest-grossing animated film, and the seventh-highest-grossing film distributed by Disney. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 52 million tickets in the U.S. The film earned $41.1 million on its opening day (June 18, 2010) from 4,028 theaters, including $4 million at midnight shows from about 1,500 theaters, setting an opening day record for an animated film (surpassed by Minions and later Finding Dory).

During its opening weekend, the film topped the box office with $110.3 million, setting an opening weekend record among Pixar films (surpassed by Finding Dory), films released in June (surpassed by Man of Steel and later Jurassic World), and G-rated films. The film also achieved the second-largest opening weekend among animated films and the fourth-largest opening weekend among 2010 films. Its average of $27,385 per venue is the second-highest for a G-rated film and the third-highest for an animated feature. Its opening week gross (Friday through Thursday) of $167.6 million is the second-largest among animated films, the second-largest among 2010 films, and the 23rd-largest of all time. It also achieved the largest 10-day gross among 2010 films. It topped the box office for two consecutive weekends.

Other territories
Outside of North America, Toy Story 3 is the 29th-highest-grossing film, the sixth-highest-grossing animated film, the third-highest-grossing film of 2010, the highest-grossing Pixar film, and the 11th-highest-grossing Disney film. It topped the box office outside North America three times, in its first ($35 million), second, and sixth weekend (which was its largest).

Its highest-grossing market after North America is Japan ($126.7 million), where it is the second-highest-grossing U.S. animated feature (behind Finding Nemo), followed by the UK and Ireland, and Malta (£73.8 million – $116.6 million), where it is the sixth-highest-grossing film, and Mexico ($59.4 million), where it is the second-highest-grossing film. It set opening weekend records for animated films in Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, China, Argentina, Hong Kong, Spain, and the UK. It is the highest-grossing animated film of all time in the UK, Ireland and Malta, Mexico, Hong Kong,  and Egypt. It is the highest-grossing film of 2010 in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, Mexico, Spain, the UK, Ireland, and Malta.

Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 303 reviews, with an average rating of 8.87/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Deftly blending comedy, adventure, and honest emotion, Toy Story 3 is a rare second sequel that really works." Toy Story 3 was the best-reviewed film of 2010 on Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic, another review aggregator which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, gave the film a score of 92 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". TIME named Toy Story 3 the "best film of 2010," as did Quentin Tarantino. In 2011, TIME named it one of "The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the first film, but down from the "A+" earned by the second film.



A. O. Scott of The New York Times stated "This film—this whole three-part, 15-year epic—about the adventures of a bunch of silly plastic junk turns out also to be a long, melancholy meditation on loss, impermanence and that noble, stubborn, foolish thing called love." Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" saying "Even with the bar raised high, Toy Story 3 enchanted and moved me so deeply I was flabbergasted that a digitally animated comedy about plastic playthings could have this effect." Gleiberman also wrote in the next issue that he, along with many other grown men, cried at the end of the film. Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, saying "Woody, Buzz and playmates make a thoroughly engaging, emotionally satisfying return."

Mark Kermode of the BBC gave the film, and the series, a glowing review, calling it "the best movie trilogy of all time." In USA Today, Claudia Puig gave the film a complete 4-star rating, writing "This installment, the best of the three, is everything a movie should be: hilarious, touching, exciting, and clever." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post wrote "Toy Story 3 (which is pointlessly being shown in 3-D at most locations) may not be a masterpiece, but it still had me in tears at the end." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing that "Compared with the riches of all kinds in recent Pixar masterworks such as Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up, Toy Story 3 looks and plays like an exceptionally slick and confident product, as opposed to a magical blend of commerce and popular art." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel, who gave the film 3½ out of 4 stars, wrote "Dazzling, scary, and sentimental, Toy Story 3 is a dark and emotional conclusion to the film series that made Pixar famous."

Accolades
On January 25, 2011, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Toy Story 3 was not only nominated for Best Animated Feature, but also for Best Picture. This makes Toy Story 3 not only the first animated sequel in history to be nominated for Best Picture, but also just the third animated film to ever be so nominated (following Beauty and the Beast and Up), with Toy Story 3 becoming the second Pixar film to be nominated for both awards. Toy Story 3 also became the first ever Pixar film—and the first animated feature film since Shrek—to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, though six of Pixar's previous films were nominated for the Best Original Screenplay: Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up. In 2011, it was nominated for a Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie, but lost to Despicable Me.

Music
The film score for Toy Story 3 was composed and conducted by Randy Newman, his sixth for Pixar after Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and Cars. Initially, Disney released the soundtrack only as digital download. This was the second instance where Disney did not release the award-winning soundtrack of a Pixar film on CD, the first being Up. In January 2012, Intrada released the Toy Story 3 soundtrack on Compact Disc.

In addition to the tracks included in the soundtrack album, the film also uses several other tracks such as "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright, "Le Freak" by Chic, and Randy Newman's original version of "You've Got a Friend in Me." Furthermore, tracks "Cowboy!" and "Come to Papa" included material from Newman's rejected score to Air Force One. The song "Losing You" from Newman's own album Harps and Angels was also used in the first trailer for the film. The Judas Priest song "Electric Eye" was also used in the film in the temp score for the opening scene of Toy Story 3. The aliens are playing the tune in their sports car. The song was ultimately replaced by Newman's score.


 * Chart positions

Music awards

Sequel
A sequel, titled Toy Story 4, was released on June 21, 2019, with most of the main cast returning for the film. The film was originally to be directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Josh Cooley, but in July 2017 Cooley was confirmed as the sole director. Don Rickles had signed on to return to voice Mr. Potato Head, but died before any lines could be recorded. Cooley later confirmed that archived recordings of Rickles would be used instead.