Toy Story 3 was released on Friday and is already a hit, but people know little on the long story behind this film. According to the terms of Pixar's revised deal with Disney, all characters created by Pixar for their films were owned by Disney. Furthermore, Disney retains the rights to make sequels to any Pixar film, though Pixar retained the right of first refusal to work on these sequels. But in 2004, when the contentious negotiations between the two companies made a split appear likely, Disney Chairman at the time Michael Eisner put in motion plans to produce Toy Story 3 at a new Disney Studio, Circle 7 Animation. Tim Allen, the voice of Buzz Lightyear, indicated a willingness to return even if Pixar was not on board.
Promotional art for Circle 7's Toy Story 3, displaying the storyline of the Buzz Lightyears being recalled; this story was later shelved. Jim Herzfeld wrote a script for Circle 7's version of the film. It focused on the other toys shipping a malfunctioning Buzz to Taiwan, where he was built, believing that he will be fixed there. While searching on the Internet, they find out that many more Buzz Lightyear toys are malfunctioning around the world and the company has issued a massive recall. Fearing Buzz's destruction, a group of Andy's toys (Woody, Rex, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, Jessie, and Bullseye) venture to rescue Buzz. At the same time Buzz meets other toys from around the world that were once loved but have now been recalled.
In January 2006, Disney bought Pixar in a deal that put Pixar chiefs Edwin Catmull and John Lasseter in charge of all Disney Animation. Shortly thereafter, Circle 7 Animation was shut down and its version of Toy Story 3 was shelved. The following month, Disney CEO Robert Iger confirmed that Disney was in the process of transferring the production to Pixar. John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Lee Unkrich visited the house where they first pitched Toy Story and came up with the story for the film over a weekend. Stanton then wrote a treatment. On February 8, 2007, Catmull announced Toy Story 2's co-director, Lee Unkrich, as the sole director of the film instead of John Lasseter, and Michael Arndt as Screenwriter. The release date was moved to 2010.
When the people behind the movie sat down to look at their work from the original Toy Story during the early development stages, they found they could not open the original computer files, and had to recreate everything from scratch. Instead of sending Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and John Ratzenberger scripts for their consideration in reprising their roles, a complete story reel of the film was shown to the actors in a theater. The reel was made up of moving storyboards with pre-recorded voices, sound effects, and music. At the conclusion of the preview, the actors signed on to the film.
