Toy Story 3 delivered a perfect ending to the journey of Buzz, Woody, Andy and Co., so when Pixar announced that John Lasseter would direct Toy Story 4, the general consensus was, "But, why?" Turns out Disney is taking the franchise in a new direction. In an interview with Disney Latino (via /film) studio president Jim Morris revealed that the next Toy Story chapter will not be a direct continuation of the original trilogy.

The third movie ended in a beautiful way and completed a trilogy. I think this movie is not part of this trilogy. It is a separate story, which in turn I do not know if will be continued. Never begin a project with that in mind.

The separate story, it seems, is a love story. A romantic comedy, to be more specific.

It is not a continuation of the end of the story of Toy Story 3.Temporarily it is, but it will be a love story. It will be a romantic comedy. It will not put much focus on the interaction between the characters and children. I think it will be a very good movie.

It's reassuring that the fourth film will stand on its own and leave the legacy of the original trilogy intact. The question now becomes, whose love story will it be? Barbie and Ken seem a likely duo at first, but less so when you consider that Sony is currently developing their own Barbie franchise. With Tom Hanks and Tim Allen expected to return as Woody and Buzz Lightyear, it's likely that one of them will find the lady of their dreams, and perhaps find their friendship tested.

Morris also said that director John Lasseter found the idea "irresistible", pointing out that Pixar films are successful enough that that they don't have to exploit them with sequels just to make money. That is obviously the best approach to making a sequel, doing it for the love of story rather than the love of money (though I'm sure the later played a role in the decision as well). It sounds like the creative minds behind the project love the characters as much as the fans and have their hearts in the right places. The story is being credited to Lasseter, Unkrich, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter.  Rashida Jones and Will McCormack will pen the script. Toy Story 4 is set to hit theaters June 16th, 2017.

What do you think? Do you want to see a Toy Story romantic comedy? Whose love story do you want to see? How the potato heads met? Woody and Jessie? Jessie and Buzz? Sound off below.