John Lasseter will co-direct Toy Story 4 with Pixar veteran Josh Cooley

We already know that John Lasseter will helm TOY STORY 4, and now it's been announced long-time Pixar employee Josh Cooley will co-direct the film with Lasseter. Cooley first got his start with the company as an intern on CARS, and has worked on several other Pixar projects, including RATATOUILLE and UP. He was also the head of story on the upcoming Pixar film INSIDE OUT, and directed a short that will be on the Blu-ray for the animated movie.

Josh Cooley on being tapped to co-direct TOY STORY 4:

To be co-director on ‘Toy Story 4’ with John, who brought the ‘Toy Story’ characters to the screen 20 years ago, is a dream come true. When I first saw ‘Toy Story’ I was amazed by the groundbreaking computer-generated animation. But it was the strong storytelling that kept me coming back. ‘Toy Story 4’ will continue that tradition and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it!

The fourth movie reportedly won't be a continuation of TOY STORY 3, but a standalone romantic comedy with the toys being the focus. Those recently released details rubbed some fans the wrong way, however I have a lot of faith in the peeps at Pixar. Although I'm not expecting TOY STORY 4 to receive the same level of critical acclaim as the first three films, I'm still very happy that the toys are heading back to the big screen in a new adventure.

TOY STORY 4 will be in theaters sometime in 2017.