When it comes to the world of Toy Story, John Lasseter has always been an intrinsic part of making the three films in the series happen.
Lasseter is the current chief creative officer of Pixar as a whole, but he also directed the first two in the trilogy, and was one of the main writers on the third.
Taking the reins on the upcoming fourth instalment of the franchise is Josh Cooley, after originally being slated to be the co-director alongside Lasseter, who in turn will act as a mentor to Cooley.
Cooley started as a story intern at Pixar in 2003, and speaking at Disney's D23 Expo he called the directing promotion "one of the greatest honours of [his] life".
Related: Toy Story 4 – Everything you need to know
This news comes up against comments that Lasseter previously made when talking about the film, in which he expressed his desire to head up the creation of Toy Story 4.
"Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz's story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it.
"It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie – and I wanted to direct it myself."
Toy Story 4 is currently scheduled for a June 21 release date in the UK and the US.
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