Golden Globes: ‘Toy Story 3’ wins, but is the franchise older than Justin Bieber?
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When ‘Toy Story 3’ director Lee Unkrich accepted the Golden Globe for animated feature film, he asked if youthful presenters Hailee Steinfeld and Justin Bieber were even born when the first ‘Toy Story’ was released.
The answer? Yes and no. The Biebster was 1 and Steinfeld a year away from joining the world when the first ‘Toy Story’ film opened in November 1995. Since then, the characters in the franchise have grown up and so have many of its fans.
‘We have been in sync with a lot of families that grew up with the movies and now are sending their kids off to college,’ Unkrich said backstage. ‘I always apologize to them because we kind of socked them in the gut with that last one.’
The fact ‘Toy Story 3’ won its category was not a surprise to awards watchers -- Pixar films nearly take home the prize. But Unkrich said he never felt the film’s success was a foregone conclusion.
‘I knew from the first moment I talked to [Pixar chief creative officer John] Lasseter that I had a huge responsibility on my shoulders to not dissapoint anybody,’ Unkrich said. ‘The first two films were so dear to so many people I didn’t want to go down in history as the guy who made the cruddy ‘Toy Story’ movie.’
Update: Unkrich, who has taken to Twitter with enthusiasm this awards season, followed up his acceptance speech by tweeting a picture of the film’s character, Big Baby, back at his table with his Golden Globe.
-- Rebecca Keegan
