Pixar planning Toy Story 4?

With Pixar's Toy Story 3 hitting theaters today and bound to be considered one of the biggest films of the year, the question now turns to the future of the series. Is this the last we'll see of Woody and Buzz? Personally I thought the film had some finality to it, but I never expect popular animated characters to go away for good. Looks like I'm right, because in an interview with MSN Movies, Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich let it be known that we'll be seeing the toys again soon...

“Well, I really tried my best to end the story of Andy and his toys and bring that story to a close in a really nice way at the end of this film. That being said, we know that people love the characters, love Woody and Buzz, and would hate to say good-bye to them completely. I don’t know that there would ever be a ‘[Toy Story] 4.’ We don’t have any plans for one — but we are trying to find ways to keep the characters alive. We have announced we’re going to do a short film in front of ‘Cars 2′ that uses the ‘Toy Story’ characters. We’re going to keep them alive; they’re not going away forever.”

Another reason to make me see Cars 2, I guess. Looks like we probably won't be getting any more full length Toy Story films for awhile, but the characters aren't going away either. That makes me happy. I'm smiling right now. Big cheesy grin.