"Toy Story" films headed back to theaters in 3-D

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Buzz and Woody are about to go 3-D.

The Walt Disney Studios plans to debut digital 3-D versions of Disney-Pixar's "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2."

"Toy Story" is slated to open October 2, 2009, followed by "Toy Story 2" on February 12, 2010. Both films would be released in advance of Disney-Pixar's "Toy Story 3," which is being produced as a 3-D motion picture and is slated to open June 18, 2010. Veteran Pixar filmmaker Lee Unkrich (co-director of "Toy Story 2") is directing the third installment.

John Lasseter -- director of the first two "Toy Story" films and chief creative officer for Disney and Pixar Animation Studios -- will oversee the creative side of the 3-D conversions for "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2."

In converting "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" to state-of-the-art 3-D films, the technical team is retrieving all of the original digital elements and rebuilding them in 3-D.

Originally released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, "Toy Story" was the first feature-length computer-animated film. The film received Oscar nominations for original score, original song and screenplay, and earned Lasseter a special achievement award. "Toy Story 2" was released in 1999 and received an Academy Award nomination for original song.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter