Disney’s new streaming service, aptly dubbed Disney+, set to launch this November and will certainly shake up the streaming market with its attractive price of $6/month. However, it’s not just the price that’s so attractive about the platform, as the service will offer the entire Disney Vault of classic animated films, MCU, and ‘Star Wars‘ films as well. But perhaps the service’s biggest appeal is the copious amount of original content that’s already being promised. Jon Favreau’s live-action “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” is looking to be the Mouse’s flagship series. Not to be outdone, we can also expect content from Marvel (“Loki,” “WandaVision,” and “Falcon and Winter Soldier” series) and even Pixar with a “Monster’s Inc.” series, “Monsters at Work,” in development. As it turns out, ‘Monsters’ isn’t the only Pixar series in development as one of “Toy Story 4’s” most beloved new character’s is getting his own opportunity to shine.
During the “Toy Story 4” press conference at Walt Disney World Orlando, the company was asked about exploring the ‘Toy Story’ world on Disney+, to which producer Mark Nielsen said, “Yeah, I mean right now I’m producing some short films for Disney+, which star Forky.”
After a round of applause and an ecstatic Tom Hanks cheering, “Isn’t that the best news ever?!” Tony Hale, who voices the sentient spork, chimed in with, “He asks a lot of questions.” Nielsen elaborated a bit more explaining, “Yeah it’s a series called ‘Forky Asks A Question’ and there are 10 episodes that will be on Disney+ when it comes live in November.” To add to the excitement, “Toy Story 4” director Josh Cooley commented, “I’m not working on them, but they are hilarious.”
Though the fourth ‘Toy Story’ is a couple of weeks away from release, Forky has taken the internet by storm as many have already fallen in love with Hale’s hilariously manic and expressive arts and crafts project. With the character already being welcomed into the Disney family with such open arms, it’s no wonder the minds at Pixar fast-tracked a show centered around him.
“I love it” stated Hale, “it’s these questions that maybe people are embarrassed maybe to ask, but they really don’t know, and I learned so much just from all these simple questions that I probably should know, and I didn’t.” In a crowd-pleasing moment, Hanks cheekily followed up with, “This is the day it began to go to Tony’s head.”
While Nielsen’s overview and Hale’s comments during the press conference were somewhat vague, Hale was able to give a bit more insight into what we can expect from the series during my interview with him. “It’s like a web series,” the actor said, “Which I love, that he just unashamedly asked all these questions constantly. It’ll start with a question where he’ll say, ‘Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah.’ And then another character from ‘Toy Story,’ will kind of help him explore what this is. That’s what’s so great about him, Forky’s just full of wonder and curiosity and doesn’t get the rules of the universe and all that stuff.”
There are currently no plans for fifth ‘Toy Story’ film, but this new show appears primed to be the perfect opportunity for guest appearances by some of our favorite toys and subsequently the actors who voice them. The possibility of cameos is precisely the follow up I posed to Hale to which he assuredly responded, “Oh yeah, oh yeah. Tons, tons, tons.”
Toy Story 4 hits theaters June 21.