'Toy Story 4': Annie Potts Says Pixar Trashed Most Of The Script Causing Major Delays

Pixar, a studio primarily known for an unimpeachable status in the world of animated movies (“Cars” and a few blips aside), has experienced a rough few months. In the era of #MeToo, its beloved chief John Lasseter stood accused of sexual harassment improprieties, and the CEO took a leave of absence. In the wake of the drama, news reports revealed that Lasseter allegedly made unwanted advances toward actress Rashida Jones who was a writer on “Toy Story 4,” but walked away after the incident. She responded later, downplaying any harassment, but did say that Pixar had a problem with valuing its women creators and people of color. Of course, if recent reports are correct, Disney may be reinstating Lasseter over at Pixar soon.

Much of this may explain, to some degree, the many delays in “Toy Story 4,” once set for a 2017 release with Lasseter in the director’s animation chair. But that announcement was made all the way back in 2014. In 2016, falling behind schedule, Pixar switched the now 2018-set release “Toy Story 4” date with the 2019 bow of “The Incredibles 2,” which comes out later this summer.

Now, in an interview with Annie Potts, who voices Bo Peep in the movies, the actress has revealed much of the “Toy Story 4” script was scrapped. “[Toy Story 4] was supposed to come out this year and then they threw out three-quarters of it and rewrote,” she told RadioTimes.com this week. “Usually, it takes – from start to finish – two years. But because they threw most of it in the bin and started over [my time on the project has] been extended a little bit. I’ve done a lot of work on it.”

Pixar is notorious about getting their scripts right, and Potts echoed the sentiment. “They’re funny those Pixar people. They just take their time. It’s very painstaking work. If they don’t like whole sections, then they just chuck it and start over again. They have that great creative liberty to do that.” The actress also believed she had been cut from the film and wondered if the project had been canceled. “I didn’t hear from them in a year and a half,” she said.

Honestly, given the timeline, I don’t think this has much to do with Lasseter’s issues or the problems Rashida Jones faced (she recently called the whole situation “complicated”). In fact, while it’s strange to praise Pixar within the context of everything that’s going on with the company, creatively, their ideas are incredibly sound. In fact, they should be the model for all brands, franchises and I.P. While even something like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is forced to hit theaters on time—after screenwriter Michael Arndt left the movie, new writers J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan asked for a year extension on their release date and were told no—Pixar just doesn’t make a movie until the whole creative team is satisfied with the story they’ve crafted.

“Incredibles 2” and “Toy Story 4” movies were discussed years before they came out, years before they were given release dates; Pixar developed the films at their own pace, but no other studio, not even the mighty Marvel or Lucasfilm is afforded such a luxury. But imagine a world where beloved properties were driven by their screenplay first and their release date last and not the other way around. While it would likely make the suits and shareholders nervous, fans would be so much more pleased (and reward studios at the box office) and beleaguered companies like Warner Bros. and the DCEU would probably be in so much better shape.