Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the rest of the gang of the beloved Disney/Pixar "Toy Story" franchise are coming back to town for a fourth installment.

Walt Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced the exciting news during the company's quarterly earnings call on Thursday afternoon, Entertainment Weekly reported. "Toy Story 3," the last installment of the popular animated film, was wrapped up in an emotional ending in 2010, which showed teenager Andy leaving his much-loved toys behind to a new child.

According to Entertainment Weekly, "Toy Story 4" is slated to be released in theaters on June 16, 2017 and will be directed by original creator John Lasseter. Lasseter wrote and directed the first three "Toy Story" films, which came out in 1995, 1999, and 2010, respectively. The story for the fourth installment was conceived by Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Lee Unkrich.

Former "Parks and Recreation" star Rashida Jones, however, will write the screenplay of the fourth movie, alongside her screenwriting partner Will McCormack. The latter wrote the 2012 romantic comedy movie "Celeste and Jesse Forever," which starred Jones and comedy actor Andy Samberg, Entertainment Weekly noted.

Iger didn't confirm if the franchise's actors -- Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and Wallace Shawn, who voiced the toy characters of the movie -- will return. Hanks, the voice behind Andy's favorite cowboy toy Woody, stated in a BBC interview back in 2011 that Pixar plans to return "Toy Story" to the big screen for a sequel.

"I think there will be," the actor said at that time, as quoted by Us Weekly. "They are working on it now."

Fans of the movie franchise, however, expressed their discomfort with the sequel. According to Entertainment Weekly, "most people, including many within Pixar, felt 'Toy Story 3' was a perfect close to a beloved trilogy, and are hesitant about anything that might sully that legacy."

In a statement, Lasseter was quick to appease fans' worry. "We love these characters so much, they are like family to us. We don't want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what's gone before," he said, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.

'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'," he continued.

"But when Andrew [Stanton], Pete [Docter], Lee [Unkrich] 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," Lasseter concluded, as cited by Entertainment Weekly.

"Toy Story" gained a huge following ever since it came out in 1995. According to a report from CNN, the third movie earned more than $1 billion worldwide when it was released in theaters. Yahoo! reported that "Toy Story 3" won the best animated film award in the 2011 Oscars.

Fans will have to wait for a long time for a sneak peak of "Toy Story 4." In the meantime, relive the adventures of the characters in "Toy Story 3" by watching the trailer below.