Disney/Pixar Animations Studios director Lee Unkrich confirmed on Twitter this week that Andy's toys from Toy Story are not immortal beings.The question of their mortality comes into play during the climax of Toy Story 3. Woody, Buzz and the gang face death by fire after being ditched by villain Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear. They're stuck on a conveyor belt hurtling toward a junkyard incinerator. The toys are rescued at the last minute by the alien toys operating a claw machine crane, but the matter of their potential to die has remained a mystery...until now.
On Twitter this week, a fan brought up this possible plot hole in the film quadrilogy and was schooled by Unkrich on the mechanics of the world that the toys inhabit. Unkrich replied with his own tweet, "They live as long as they exist." While his answer may seem a bit esoteric at first, he went on to verify that the incinerator would have destroyed the toys for good, and clinched it with, "Game over."
Unkrich has been a part of the Pixar family since 1994. He began as film editor on Toy Story and supervising film editor on A Bug's Life. The Academy Award winning director then went on to co-direct Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 2 and to eventually solo direct Coco and Toy Story 3.