'Toy Story 4' release date, news, rumors: Premiere date moved back by a year; Sequel to introduce Andy's father?

The "Toy Story" series has become a huge part of the '90s youth generation. The recent installment to the highly successful Disney Pixar animated film series was "Toy Story 3" that premiered on June 18, 2010. It received many nominations in the 2011 Academy Awards, not to mention that it grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, becoming the third highest grossing animated film of all time. It will no longer be a surprise if Disney Pixar decided to greenlit a new sequel for the franchise, and they eventually did as "Toy Story 4" is confirmed to be hitting the theaters in the near future.

However, from the June 17, 2017 release date that was originally planned, the date was moved back to June 15, 2018. The long wait may be all worth it as the latest rumors point to a possible big revelation in the upcoming Pixar movie that involves Andy's real father.

Walt Disney Co. chairperson Bob Iger confirmed "Toy Story 4" for the first time during an investor's call on Nov. 6, 2014, and gave it an initial target release date of June 17, 2017. Pixar's chief creative officer John Lasseter was given the opportunity to direct the fourth "Toy Story" installment, Crossmap reported. Lasseter's appointment as the director seems to be a very good choice since he had directed a number of successful animated films in the past that include the first two "Toy Story" movies, "A Bug's Life" and "Cars." Iger himself is excited that Lasseter will be taking over the film series once again.

"John created Toy Story and directed the first two films, and it's great to have him back directing one of our most valuable properties," Iger stated.

One of the most interesting rumors about "Toy Story 4" is the introduction of Andy's father. Quora reported Pixar director Lee Unkrich giving a few insights about this possible scenario, which he saw a possible correlation with Andy's preference to Woody as his most precious toy.

"We don't mean to be mysterious about it; it's just never been relevant to the story," Unkrich said.

"Maybe Woody is so special to Andy because he was given to him by his dad. I don't know if that is the case or not, but there is that kind of unspoken question, 'Why would Woody be especially special to him?'"