If you have an old broom that over time you've changed the head and handle of, is it still same broom? And more importantly, what do those changes do to the resellability of the broom? That's the sort of question that no doubt Pixar have asked at one point or another in reference to Toy Story, which has over time morphed into something with a more marketable ideology. Toy Story 3 wrote out Wheezy, Bo Peep and many superfluous characters. Now it's no coincidence that these are the least unique toys (squeak toys and china dolls are a dime a dozen), leaving the one's that have a more marketable slant. They've been replaced by a bunch of brighter, more recognisable characters with a clearly set personality engineered to steal children's hearts and easily fit in the barrage of short spin-offs. OK, so that last paragraph was sickeningly cynical, but there's a distinct sense that the direction the franchise is going in has been commercially influenced; there's an awareness Toy Story doesn't end when the credits roll. This doesn't mean you can't get a quality film from it (see Toy Story 3), but it kinda betrays the creativity of the whole thing.
