Four years ago, audiences young and old thought they had said farewell to Woody, Buzz Lightyear and co. during the emotional climax of Toy Story 3 (2010).

But although the gang have popped up in a couple of short spin-offs and television adverts, Disney have decided to take the toy’s adventures to infinity and beyond by making a fourth outing with a release date scheduled for June 2017.

Disney chairman Bob Iger announced the news last night and also confirmed that John Lasseter, director of the first two films, would be returning to helm the new sequel.

On the story, Lasseter said:

“We love these characters so much; they are like family to us. We don’t want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what’s gone before.

“Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz’s story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie.

But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it.

“It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie – and I wanted to direct it myself.”

It is not yet known about the plot or whether original voice actors like Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, etc will return.

Personally, the news is a rather frustrating one given how perfect the Toy Story trilogy ended. Disney are getting just a bit too greedy in my opinion!