Disney predicts big Pixar sales for retailers in 2015

With two Pixar movies hitting theaters this year — Inside Out (June 19) and The Good Dinosaur (November 25) — Disney Consumer Products has a slate of innovative new toys in the works for retailers.

Both movies will have robust toy lines from Japaneses licensee TOMY, whose innovative approach, strength in international markets and ability to reflect Pixar’s unique storytelling in its product lines made them the ideal choice for Pixar Animation Studios’ most exciting year yet, the company said.

"We put our hearts into these films, so it's incredibly important to us that our toy-making partners care about and do justice to these characters we know so well," said John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. "When I visited TOMY's headquarters in Japan, I was impressed by their commitment to quality and craftsmanship. The toys they've created for Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur are fantastic—they've truly brought our characters to life.”

Pixar films have a strong track record of success at the box office and in retail.

About 20 years after the theatrical release of Toy Story in 1995, a film that transformed the animation industry and jump-started a billion dollar toy franchise, Pixar stories and characters hold a unique place in audiences’ hearts and kids’ toy boxes.

Toy Story 3 holds the title of thesecond biggest animated film of all time reaching more than $1 billion in global box office sales. The iconic 12-inch Buzz Lightyear action figures have sold in excess of 10 million units globally over the past decade.

This summer Disney Consumer Products will roll out a special toy line to celebrate Toy Story’s 20th anniversary that will include a broad assortment of characters in a collectible figure range, favorite characters in action figure form and true-to-film talking versions of Buzz, Woody and Jessie.