Just this afternoon, Pixar Animation Studios released a press release through Oh My Disney that Toy Story 4 and The Incredibles 2 are switching release dates. The new dates are as follows: The Incredibles 2 will be released on June 15, 2018 and Toy Story 4 will be released on June 21, 2019. Read the full press release and our thoughts after the break!

This past week, several very exciting Pixar-related developments have stuck out in a slow early-October news cycle. Possibly the most exciting is that just today Finding Dory officially crossed the $1 Billion Worldwide Box Office gross, becoming the second Pixar feature to claim the title (Toy Story 3 being the first)! In addition, Director Dave Mullins debuted a sneak peak at Pixar's next short film titled "LOU" and will debut with Cars 3 in Summer 2017! Finally, Disney-Pixar collaborated with Vans to create a Toy Story Vans Collection, complete with Woody and Buzz themed shoes and merchandise! More on all of these exciting developments after the break!

Following the recent string of hits that Walt Disney Animation Studios has celebrated (Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia), The Walt Disney Company has decided that to embrace the full potential of brilliant work from both Pixar and Disney Animation, a new animation studio will be created in a merger of the two beginning in 2017. The merger will include Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and the Disney subsidiary, Disneytoon Studios, and will be creatively lead by CCO John Lasseter and President Ed Catmull. Join me in welcoming Disney-Pixar Animation Studios to the world!

Oh My Disney, a Disney blog that runs entertaining fun articles on anything and everything Disney related, ran a post on 8 Pixarians to Follow on Twitter, announcing the official directors for Pixar's upcoming features, Cars 3 and The Incredibles 2. If you're like me and have thought through which directors seem to make the most sense for the upcoming films, you wouldn't be surprised to know that none other than Monsters University director Dan Scanlon (Cars 3) and The Incredibles and Ratatouille director Brad Bird (The Incredibles 2) have been officially announced as the shepherds of the upcoming sequels. Check out my thoughts on the directors announcement after the break!

"UPDATE: Disney has reached out to let us know that its blog has made an error, and that Scanlon is not directing Cars 3. No director has been announced for the Pixar sequel. Original story follows."- Slashfilm

In an interview with Pixar's newly appointed President Jim Morris, Timout.com has confirmed that 4 new original films are in development, not including Lee Unkrich's November 2017 film Coco! This development comes on the heals of some fans, including myself, worried that Pixar may have gone down the path of having too many sequels in the pipeline. With Finding Dory coming this Summer (2016), Cars 3 in 2017, Toy Story 4 in 2018, and The Incredibles 2 in 2019, the lineup looked rather dismal for original films, excluding again Coco in 2017. There were even some recent rumblings that Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera, who both just completed Inside Out, were working on a sequel to the wildly successful emotional adventure. So who are the director involved and when could we see films' release dates announcements? Speculation time! But first, read the segment from Jim Morris' interview with Timout.com after the break!