In Pixar, even interns can go from the bottom of the totem pole to the director's chair. Josh Cooley proved just that. Once an intern on Cars, he found himself as the head of story on Pixar's latest Inside Out and now the co-director of Toy Story 4.
Cooley's promotion was revealed by the company in a tweet. They announced the news when they said, "Rootin', tootin' news from the playset: Josh Cooley will co-direct Toy Story 4, debuting in 2017." Cooley joins Toy Story 1 filmmaker John Lassester in the position, who was announced to make the animated sequel when it was announced this November.
As Cooley told Variety, “To be co-director on Toy Story 4 with John, who brought the Toy Story characters to the screen 20 years ago, is a dream come true. When I first saw Toy Story I was amazed by the groundbreaking computer-generated animation. But it was the strong storytelling that kept me coming back. Toy Story 4 will continue that tradition and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it!”
While Toy Story 4 is Cooley's first feature film as a director, it's not his first time in that chair. He recently directed short film set in the Inside Out universe, to be found on the Blu-Ray, and also wrote and directed the Up short film George & A.J. back in 2009.
“Joe singled out Josh Cooley as a guy with potential, and Joe knew how to pick ‘em,” Pete Docter, the director of Inside Out, also said. “Josh is funny, unique and collaborative. And funny.”
Co-written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormick, little is known about Toy Story 4 at the moment other than its not a direct sequel and it's apparently a love story. It slated to come to theaters on June 16, 2017. Inside Out, meanwhile, comes to the big screen on June 19.
Image courtesy of Twitter from DisneyPixar
Image courtesy of INFevents