Toy Story 4 will be released without an animated short attached

June 17th 2019, 11:19am

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

For the last two decades, every Pixar movie to hit theaters has been proceeded by a little animated short – sort of like an animated appetizer to get audiences prepared for the flurry of laughs and sweetness. Audiences who will flock (or stampede, rather) to see TOY STORY 4 this weekend will not have that opening act, however, as this release will mark the first time in over twenty years that no animated short will precede the main feature.

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Slate reported that TOY STORY 4 will go without an animated short, which is the first time that’s been the case since, perhaps coincidentally, the very first TOY STORY in 1995. The 1988 Oscar-winning animated short “Tin Toy” from John Lasseter was paired with the home release of the first movie, but in theaters, it was released without it. Starting in 1998 with A BUG’S LIFE, a short has been released with each and every movie, in that movie’s case the short being GERI’S GAME, which centers on an old man playing chess against himself in the park.

Over the years the shorts have gone on to win critical acclaim and be nominated for a slew of Oscars. They have ranged from the ingenious (PRESTO, with WALL-E), to the forgettable (PARTLY CLOUDY, with UP), with recent Oscar winners PIPER (FINDING DORY) and BAO (INCREDIBLES 2) being among the best of the bunch. Tucked in there though was OLAF’S FROZEN ADVENTURE (COCO) which seemed less like a unique creative endeavor like the rest and rather like a bewildering 21-minute effort to get people ready for this year’s FROZEN 2. But the less we stay on that, the better.

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If you’re afraid this means Pixar is going to focus less on the shorts in the future, fret not, as they have kicked off their SparkShorts label, which is dedicated to more experimental shorts, like the devastatingly beautiful KITBULL released in February (above). But perhaps more than any Pixar movie before it audiences may be more keen to get straight to the movie. As of now, TS4 holds the record for the best first-day ticket sales on Fandango, and it's looking to trounce over INCREDIBLES 2 to have the largest opening weekend for an animated movie ever. Like the first three, the movie currently has a perfect streak of reviews, currently at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and with our own Alex Maidy giving it a glowing 9/10 review.

TOY STORY 4 is in theaters June 21.