Claim: Toy Story 3 was produced by a studio.

Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama film , the third installment in the Toy Story series , and the sequel to Toy Story 2 -LRB- 1999 -RRB- . It was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures . It was directed by Lee Unkrich , the editor of the first two films and co-director of Toy Story 2 , written by Michael Arndt , while Unkrich wrote the story along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton , respectively director and co-writer of the first two films . The film was released in theaters June 18 , 2010 , and played worldwide from June through October in the Disney Digital 3-D , RealD , and IMAX 3D formats . Toy Story 3 was the first film to be released theatrically with Dolby Surround 7.1 sound .   The plot focuses on the toys Woody , Buzz Lightyear , and their friends dealing with an uncertain future as their owner , Andy , prepares to leave for college . The film features an ensemble voice cast with Tom Hanks , Tim Allen , Joan Cusack , Don Rickles , Wallace Shawn , John Ratzenberger , Estelle Harris , Jodi Benson , and John Morris reprising their roles from the previous films , along with Blake Clark as the voice of Slinky Dog -LRB- because Jim Varney died ten years before the release of the film -RRB- and Ned Beatty , Michael Keaton , Whoopi Goldberg , Timothy Dalton , Kristen Schaal , Bonnie Hunt , and Jeff Garlin voicing the new characters introduced in this film .   Like its predecessors , Toy Story 3 received critical acclaim upon release . It became the second Pixar film -LRB- after Up -RRB- and third animated film overall -LRB- after Beauty and the Beast and Up -RRB- to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture . The film received four more Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Sound Editing , Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song , winning the latter two . Toy Story 3 grossed over $ 1 billion worldwide , becoming the highest-grossing film of 2010 -- both in North America and worldwide -- and the fourth highest-grossing film at the time of its release , as well as the third highest-grossing animated film of all time and the first animated film to generate $ 1 billion in ticket sales . A sequel , Toy Story 4 , directed by Lasseter , is scheduled to be released on June 21 , 2019 .