For nearly two decades, Pixar has impressed moviegoers with their short films that typically play ahead of the animated feature. From
Partly Cloudy (
Up) to
Lava (
Inside Out) to
Piper (
Finding Dory) to the most recent
Bao (
Incredibles 2), Pixar has evoked all sorts of emotion from the audience over the years. But in an unexpectated breakaway from tradition,
Toy Story 4 will not feature an animated short ahead of it. Disney confirmed the disappointing news, but offered no explanation as to why Pixar did not include an accompanying short with the film.
Interestingly, the first
Toy Story - which was Pixar's first feature film, released in November 1995 - also did not feature a short film as an opening; although, John Lasseter's
Tin Story (created in 1988) was lated attached to the film's home video release. But from
A Bug's Life (1997) onward, each new Pixar film had an accompanying short film. Why break with tradition now?
The good news is that Pixar doesn't appear to be getting out of the short film business entirely. In fact, the studio recently
launched its SparkShorts program earlier this year, giving the creative voices at Pixar Animation Studios a chance to share their unique stories. The
first few releases from this experimental storytelling initiative have been met with positive response and Pixar will continue its diverse storytelling on Disney+, Walt Disney Company's upcoming streaming service which will serve as a home to past and future SparkShorts (and presumably any previously released Pixar animated shorts that were created separately from this program).
While
Toy Story 4 will not feature a short film ahead of it, Pixar is sort of making up for it by
including mid-credits and end-credits scenes. Additionally, the film itself will prove to be quite a treat as it has received glowing reviews.
Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy.
Toy Story 4 arrives in theaters on June 21, 2019.