Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer -animated comedy - drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in Pixar 's Toy Story series, and the sequel to 1999's Toy Story 2. It was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor of the first two films and the co-director of Toy Story 2, written by Michael Arndt, while Unkrich wrote the story along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, respectively director and co- writer of the first two films. The plot focuses on the toys Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and their friends dealing with an uncertain future as their owner, Andy, prepares to leave for college. The film features an ensemble voice cast with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Jodi Benson, and John Morris reprising their roles from the previous films, along with Blake Clark as the voice of Slinky Dog (because Jim Varney died ten years before the release of the film ) and Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg, Timothy Dalton, Kristen Schaal, Bonnie Hunt, and Jeff Garlin voicing the new characters introduced in this film.
The film was released in theaters June 18, 2010, and played worldwide from June through October in the Disney Digital 3-D, RealD, and IMAX 3D formats. Toy Story 3 was the first film to be released theatrically with Dolby Surround 7.1 sound. Like its predecessors, Toy Story 3 received critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising the vocal performances, screenplay, emotional depth, animation, and Randy Newman's musical score. It became the second Pixar film (after Up) and third animated film overall (after Beauty and the Beast and Up) to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. The film received four more Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, winning the latter two.
