So, you thought "Toy Story 3" would be the swan song of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the contents of Andy's toy chest? A mountain of accolades, a Best Picture nomination and a billion dollars says you're wrong, friend, but in the rightest way possible!
Seems we won't have quite the decade-long wait like we had between installments 2 and 3 to get our next playdate, as The New York Times mentioned that the animated short “Hawaiian Vacation” will arrive in theaters this summer attached to Pixar's next sequel, "Cars 2," followed speedily by a second short with Thanksgiving's "The Muppets."
According to the piece, "Hawaiian Vacation" centers on a bummed Barbie and Ken who get left behind when Bonnie goes to Hawaii, leading the other toys to simulate the tropical island splendor for them, which "doesn’t go well." Although nothing is confirmed, we hope all the original voice talent will be back for these new Toy Story Toons, especially Michael Keaton as the wonderfully metrosexual Ken.
In a parallel announcement, Disney has delivered a press release revealing "Planes," a direct-to-DVD spin-off of "Cars" which, you guessed it, is a cloud-bound take on the "transportation devices come to life" concept. The feature will center around a small town boy/plane named Dusty, who has to overcome his fear of heights to enter an around-the-world air race.
Will there be a cast of wacky supporting planes that help Dusty through his adventure? Count on it.
Expect at least one scene of an embarrassed plane having to pass through an airport body scanner. If the DVD release proves successful there could be infinite spin-offs to come, including "Paddleboats" and "Elevators."
