To the top of the box office and beyond! The toys are truly back in town as Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 4 opens as Ireland’s number one film taking almost €1.6M in its opening weekend (over £13.3M in Ireland and UK combined). The result means the highly anticipated film takes the record for the biggest ever 3-day opening weekend for an animation. Toy Story 4 opened to critical acclaim with a mighty 98% certification on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and became the number one film globally with $238M taken worldwide this weekend.
Walt Disney Studios’ holds both the number one and two spot at the Irish box office this weekend with Aladdin still flying high after five weeks of release with a total to date of almost €3M.
In celebration of Toy Story 4’s global number one Disney today launched a set of images shot by world renowned toy photographer Mitchell Wu who used practical effects to achieve some standout shots of the beloved characters from the film.
The images feature Toy Story favourites Woody and Buzz Lightyear, along with new characters introduced in Disney and Pixar’sToy Story 4; Forky, Duke Caboom, Ducky and Bunny; and the returning new look Bo Peep who is joined by new sidekick Officer Giggle McDimples.
Wu, a Los Angeles based professional photographer who crafts engaging stories and images through toy photography, brings ‘toys to life’ by capturing the illusion of motion and emotion. All images are shot in real time with minimal use of Photoshop; liquid splashes and positioning of figures is achieved during production and not through computer trickery. Some of Wu’s more complex images can take up to six hours or more to complete.
“I’m a huge fan of the Toy Story movies and was delighted when I was asked to work on this project” said Wu. My aim was to create images that capture both the inherently fun and emotive core of the movie whilst showing off the personality of the key characters from Toy Story 4. My daughter has grown up with the movies and my Toy Story images are what I’ve become best known for. I hope my images bring a smile to people’s faces, just like the film has!”
Images Created by © Mitchel Wu Toy Photography
In Toy Story 4, Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) has always been confident about his place in the world, and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. So, when Bonnie’s beloved new craft-project-turned-toy, Forky (voice of Tony Hale), declares himself as “trash” and not a toy, Woody with his long-lost friend Bo Peep (voice of Annie Potts). After years of being on her own, Bo’s adventurous spirit and life on the road belie her delicate porcelain exterior. As Woody and Bo realize they’re worlds apart when it comes to life as a toy, they soon come to find that’s the least of their worries. Directed by Josh Cooley (“Riley’s First Date?”), and produced by Mark Nielsen (associate producer “Inside Out”) and Jonas Rivera (“Inside Out,” “Up”), Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 4 is in cinemas now.
TOY STORY 4 is playing in cinemas across the country now.