Before "Frozen" blew in like an interstellar blizzard and swept to the top spot earlier this year, 2010's "Toy Story 3" was the highest grossing animated-film of all time. Now, it appears the fabled franchise will become a tetralogy.

BBC reports that during a meeting for investors on Nov. 6, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the gang of anthropomorphic plastic playthings will return to the big screen for a fourth animated installment of the iconic Pixar and Disney "Toy Story" franchise, slated to open in theaters June 16, 2017.

"John [Lasseter] created 'Toy Story' and directed the first two films, and it's great to have him back directing one of our most valuable properties," Iger said.

Being released two decades after Pixar Animation created the world's first computer-animated feature length motion picture with "Toy Story," the new film will continue where it left off, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Following the adventures of Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll, and Buzz Lightyear, an cosmonaut space ranger action figure (voiced by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, respectively), Lasseter told the publication that "Toy Story 4" will be a love story and begin where "Toy Story 3" ended, after Andy bestowed his childhood toys to a little girl named Bonnie and drove off into the sunset to attend university.

"We love these characters so much; they are like family to us," Lasseter said in a press release. "We don't want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what's gone before. 'Toy Story 3' ended Woody and Buzz's story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another 'Toy Story' movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie -- and I wanted to direct it myself."

According to Lasseter, "Toy Story 4" is not about business, but for "pure passion."

"We only make sequels when we have a story that's as good as or better than the original," he explained. "... We don't want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what's gone before."

USA Today confirmed that Lasseter, Unkrich, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter -- the original writing team and creative force backing the franchise since 1995 -- devised a blueprint for the new chapter in the toys' journeys with a script by Rashida Jones ("A to Z," "Parks and Recreation") and Will McCormack ("A to Z").

While official casting info for "Toy Story 4" is yet to be announced, it is assumed that Hanks and Allen will return, according to Collider. The actors reprised their roles for the 21-minute Halloween TV special "Toy Story of Terror" on ABC in 2013 and will again for "Toy Story That Time Forgot," which airs Dec. 2.

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