Lee Unkrich Director of Toy Story 3 [Interview]

The director of Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich, was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions about his life, film, etc. Unlike a good bit of the staff at Pixar, Lee actually got his start in live action films and television as an editor/director in the early 90′s on such TV series as Renegade and Silk Stalkings. Remember those?

Lee joined Pixar in 1995 and he was first tasked with being an editor on Toy Story and after that, next time Woody and Buzz hit the silver screen he was co-directing on Toy Story 2.

It was working on Toy Story 2 that John Lasseter himself picked Lee to direct the next installment of a what has become one of the most beloved and successful film franchises in animation history.

So check out my Q&A where I ask the hard questions, like will this REALLY be the last Toy Story (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen both are contracted for one more film) and where is Andy’s dad anyway? Warning, there are some spoilers.

What lead you into directing?

I’ve always loved movies, and grew up watching lots of films. My mother is also a film fan, and she exposed me to many different kinds of films when I was growing up. When I was twelve, I saw Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining, and it ignited a passion for filmmaking that has never abated. I went to the USC School of Cinema to study film, and although I wanted to direct, I ended up specializing in film editing. It was my work in editing that brought me to Pixar, which ultimately gave me the opportunity to start directing again.

You were co-directing for a long time before having the chance to direct a film.  Can you tell us how new talent is trained at Pixar, so that they have the possibility one day to direct a feature film?

Pixar is an amazing place, filled with people from many different backgrounds. I originally came to Pixar from a live-action background, and was one of the few in the company who had worked in that field. I ended up bringing a vital live-action sensibility to the films we were creating and thus, became an indispensable part of the core team. John Lasseter made it clear to me that he wanted me to eventually direct at Pixar. After being given the opportunity to co-direct many films, he finally asked me to direct Toy Story 3 solo. That was my personal path, but the directors at the studio have each had their own individual path. I wouldn’t say folks are groomed to direct, but rather, their singular voices as filmmakers are recognized and nurtured.

Making a second sequel to Toy Story after all these years must have been a rather big decision. You must have felt some pressure, right? What convinced you to commit to directing Toy Story 3 in the end?

It was a HUGE amount of pressure, not only to be making a new Pixar film after an unbroken string of ten hits, but also to make a sequel to two of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed films of all time. However, we love Woody and Buzz and the rest of the gang, and we felt that there was more story to tell. We would never have made another sequel if we didn’t feel like we had a story worth telling. Once we came up with the idea of Andy being grown up, and the toys having to face, head-on, their own obsolescence, we knew we had to make the film. It just had too much rich, emotional potential to pass up.

Directing a sequel while the original director is looking over your shoulder can be daunting. How involved was John Lasseter during Toy Story 3‘s development?

It’s true, when John first asked me to direct Toy Story 3 I was simultaneously flattered and intimidated. Luckily though I’ve worked closely with John since the very first Toy Story. We very much made Toy Story and Toy Story 2 together. John trusted me to take the reins of Toy Story 3, and made it clear from the very beginning that he wanted this to be my film. That being said, John was involved in the film and contributed creatively throughout the four years of production.

More after the jump! Spoiler alerts… you’ve been warned!

How did you decide on which of Andy’s toys got broken or lost?

We decided that any of the toys that were not part of the core gang of toys (Woody, Buzz, Potato Heads, etc.) would be unfortunately left behind. Andy is now 17, and it just didn’t seem realistic that all the toys would still be around. It was hard for us to say goodbye to many of the characters, but we felt it was the right thing to do for the story that we were telling.

I noticed that Bo Beep was one that didn’t make it. Why?

That was a very difficult decision to make. We wanted to show that time had passed in Andy’s room, and that things had necessarily changed. We also wanted to create an environment of danger — that time was short for the remaining toys, and that any of them might be next to go. We also thought it would be powerful to have one of the central, beloved toys be gone, and to be emblematic of the fact that as we live our lives, change happens and we sometimes lose people in our lives that we love.

Bo Peep as a toy was actually part of a nursery lamp. We figured that lamp wouldn’t be around anymore, so we decided to make Bo Peep the main toy that was no longer around. We also felt her absence would give Woody a deep feeling of loss, since she was the love of his life.

Pixar films have added progressively darker elements over the past several years. Has this been a planned thing to push the boundaries of what you can get away with in an animated film?

I wouldn’t say that our films are getting darker, but I would say that we have been exploring more mature ideas. That’s not because of any grand plan. I think it’s because we are all growing up and living life and raising families and we have started to become interested in different things. We do strive, however to balance the heavier emotion with great comedy and entertainment. I think the best films are the films that allow us to feel a lot of different feelings, whether they be laughter or sadness or tension. We like the films to be very well rounded.

I have always wondered where is Andy’s dad? While his absence is never addressed in the Toy Story films?

You know, we never really explicitly answer that question. We think it’s better to leave it more vague. I know that each of us at Pixar has our own idea of why Andy’s Dad isn’t around, but we don’t think it’s important for there to be a concrete reason. I think it makes it more interesting to leave that answer to the audience’s imagination.

Tom Hanks has said, “Bring it on” when asked about a possible Toy Story 4, and Tim Allen is under contract for another sequel. Are you planning on making Toy Story 4?

We don’t currently have any plans to make a Toy Story 4. We tried really hard to bring the story of Andy and his toys to a really nice close. We take it as a great compliment that people are interested in another film, but for now, we’re going to focus on other stories.