Tom Hanks Promises Toy Story 4 Lives Up to the Trilogy

Toy Story 4 lives up to its three predecessors, promises star Tom Hanks.

"Pixar, everybody who's ever worked on any Toy Story movie, does not take their responsibility lightly," Hanks told Rotten Tomatoes. "In order to test this, to shape it, and not put it out until there's a reason to. And it's because it's done and it will live up to the imprimatur of all the other Toy Story movies."

First-time feature director Josh Cooley turned to the trilogy to shape the fourth film, which had additional continuity in the form of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 co-writer Andrew Stanton.

"We would watch 1, 2 and 3 back-to-back a lot, just to make sure that everything felt like the flow was correct continuing through 4," Cooley said.

Added producer Mark Nielsen, "We knew we had to throw the ball pretty far to make Toy Story 4 worthy of being made. We did not want to make just another adventure in the lives of these toys."

Toy Story 4 has since debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a rare 100% at 90 reviews counted. It shares its score with the first two John Lasseter-directed films and tops the franchise's last installment, Lee Unkrich's Best Picture-nominated Toy Story 3, which earned a 98% in 2010.

ComicBook.com also gave Toy Story 4 a glowing review, calling it a worthy successor and an instant classic.

"It's a great movie, it's a marvelous movie," Hanks said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

"We don't know what they look like — we start going into a recording studio, I think three-and-a-half years ago, and we record for like five hours sessions about every six or eight months, so we don't know what it's gonna come out like. It sounds ridiculous because I'm in it, but it's one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. I don't know how to put it any other way, it truly is."

Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Christina Hendricks, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, and Keanu Reeves, Toy Story 4 opens June 21.