Big John'still Buzzin' Films.

Byline: GrahamYoung

THE best things in life are often said to happen in threes.

But Disney / Pixar is set to join cinema's latest revolution by offering FOUR new movies in the spectacular 3D format.

And it's all thanks to the visionary insight of the joint company's chief creative officer, John Lasseter.

The man who is the Walt Disney of the 21st century is such a huge fan of 3D that he used the format to film his own wedding 21 years ago.

Now he's blazing ahead with the appliance of science in cinemas.

Lasseter is re-releasing his own Toy Story movie on 3D screens from October 2. Toy Story 2 will follow in 3D on January 22, before a brand new movie, Toy Story 3 will be released in 3D on July 23 next year, a month after launching in the US.

"Children aged under 15 will never have seen Toy Story in cinemas so we can reconnect these characters to a whole new generation," says Lasseter with the unrestrained excitement of a man who's rarely seen without a flamboyant Hawaiian shirt on his back.

"I am so excited to be able to bring Woody and Buzz back to the big screen.

"Following on next summer is Toy Story 3 in 3D which is being directed by Lee Unkrich, co-director of Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc and Finding Nemo.

"This is a movie I've wanted to make for a decade.

"We took the original team out to a remote cottage two hours away from Pixar and came up with ideas for two days. In the story, Andy is now about to go to college and wonders what to do with his old toys.

"The only one he thinks he'll be taking is Woody... and the rest are put in a bag ready for the attic!" New characters for Toy Story 3 will include Ken (from Barbie fame) voiced by Michael Keaton, with former James Bond star Timothy Dalton as Mr Pricklepants.

Pixar's first purpose-made 3D film is called Up (U) and it will be screening in the UK from October 9. Up was first released in the US on May 29. Having grossed almost $300 million across the pond, it has become Pixar's second biggest grossing domestic hit, just behind Finding Nemo's $340 million.

Now 52, Hollywood-born Lasseter began his own working life as a youth operating the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland - rather like the leading male character in current release Adventureland.

After falling out with Disney during the early stages of his animation career, he moved on to Pixar where writing and directing Toy Story I & II, A Bug's Life and Cars cemented his place in Hollywood folklore.

When legendary Apple boss Steve Jobs sold Pixar to Disney in 2006, Lasseter became the 'chief creative officer' of both companies charged with moving Pixar forwards while at the same time trying to reinvigorate Disney.

Now aiming to be both a computer pioneer as well as a defender of traditional hand-drawn arts, Lasseter is sensible enough to try to maintain the Disney stamp of quality in all directions.

Inspired by the look of The Lady and The Tramp and the exuberance of The Jungle Book, this winter's Disney release of The Princess and the Frog is a return to hand-drawn animation for the first time since the art form almost withered on the vine with Home on the Range (2004).

The Princess... is much more ambitious, set in vibrant New Orleans against a backdrop of music from jazz to gospel.

Showing me the first half an hour of it last week in London, where it looked like a glorious return to Disney's hand-drawn ethos, Lasster enthuses: "Handdrawn animation is so special and this is truly the return of Disney animation.

"It's a classic in every way and one of the most important films we've ever made."

Other projects include a fourpart straight-to-DVD seasonal series of Tinker Bell adventures - the first of which, Tinker Bell and The Lost Treasure (U) can be seen on the silver screen at Solihull's Touchwood Cineworld from 10am tomorrow morning.

Next summer's Rapunzel will feature a girl using her 70ft of hair "in memorable ways like Indiana Jones with his whip".

Due in 2011, Winnie-the-Pooh will feature the talents of Burny Mattinson, the last surviving artist to have worked alongside Walt Disney himself.

Cars 2 will be 'a pan-European adventure taking in many of the continent's cultural highlights, from the Eiffel Tower to Buckingham Palace'.

And Smethwick-born Julie Walters has been signed up to voice a witch in Bear and the Bow, an animation to be set in the beautiful wilds of tenth century Scotland.

"As well as also having the voices of Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly, this will be rich and dazzling and unlike anything we've ever done," says Lasseter.

"It will have magic, action and emotion - a real tour de force with a strong female story for the holiday season in 2011."

Every time he arrives at work, Lasseter's ambition is to honour the Disney legacy and to keep things simple.

"The first thing you have to do is to take a compelling story that keeps people on the edge of their seats," he tells me.

"Then you need memorable and appealing characters. Thirdly, you have to create a believable world... not necessarily a realistic one. If you do that, you entertain an audience so that they will want to see these characters again and again and again."

CAPTION(S):

Larger than life: John Lasseter with Toy Story characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear who will shortly be returnin n ng to the big screen to win over a new generation of fans