Back in October last year, ABC aired the first ever television special from Pixar, Toy Story OF TERROR!, which allowed us the most time with the great toy characters than we’ve been afforded since the release of Toy Story 3. The animation studio had delivered several humorous Toy Story shorts, but after spending just a few minutes with Woody, Buzz, Rex, and the rest of the gang, you were left wanting more. The special provided that without infringing on the toes of the feature film trilogy. ABC has now announced that a Toy Story Christmas special is coming later this year. Find more details after the break!
New ‘Toy Story of Terror’ Poster Released
With movie theaters proving to be a consistently strong venue for Pixar, the studio is set to reach its audience through another means next month: television. The animation studio has released Cars shorts on the Disney Channel in recent years, but an upcoming half-hour special, Toy Story of Terror, will be the first true measure of whether the airwaves can be as viable for Pixar as movie theaters have historically been. Given the sheer popularity of the cast of toys, the special could just pave the way for the studio to develop other television specials in the future. After the break, take a look at a promo poster which was just unveiled earlier today.
D23 Expo: ‘Toy Story of Terror’ Is Pixar’s First Horror Film
Toy Story, Pixar’s first feature film, was initially imagined as a television special. After the film’s path led it into theaters, the studio’s focus turned to releasing films theatrically. After the success of the Cars Toons shorts, Pixar has decided to revisit the idea of a TV-special. Toy Story OF TERROR!, a half-hour special scheduled to air in tandem with the Halloween season, is the studio’s first attempt at a project fully inspired by the genre of horror. At the D23 Expo this past weekend, the first 10 minutes was shown and an air date was announced. Read my thoughts after the break!
‘Toy Story of Terror’ TV Special To Be Scored By Michael Giacchino
Pixar has worked with a select few composers on its feature films, all of who are incredibly talented. Randy Newman’s Toy Story score is instantly recognizable, Thomas Newman’s WALL-E score soars, and Michael Giacchino‘s work on Up is simply breathtaking. Giacchino, who has also gone on to become a huge talent in the world of live-action films, has also contributed music to Pixar shorts, including La Luna (2011) and Day & Night (2010). We have now learned that he was tapped by the animation studio to pen the score for its first TV special, Toy Story of Terror!
First Look: ‘Toy Story of Terror’ TV Special
Following the conclusion of the Toy Story feature film trilogy, there was a question as to how Disney/Pixar would manage the huge property. The cast of toys is too memorable and popular to simply allow to disappear forever, so a smart decision was made to create shorts that continued the story of these characters without treading on the trilogy’s foot. In addition to shorts that were released theatrically, we learned that there would a TV special called Toy Story of Terror featuring Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang. Today, this has been confirmed, as the short has been announced to premiere on ABC in October.