Joss Whedon

The first two Toy Story movies are to be remade in 3D ahead of the release of Toy Story 3 in June 2010, film studio Disney-Pixar has announced.

Original director John Lasseter is to oversee the conversion, and promised audiences would be "blown away".

Toy Story was released in 1995 and features the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as toys that come to life.

The new version of the first film will be released in October 2009, followed by Toy Story 2 in February 2010.

’Dazzling’

The chairman of Walt Disney studios, Dick Cook, said the trilogy of films promised movie-goers an exciting 3D experience:

"We think they’re going to love seeing all the wonderful Toy Story cast of characters in an eye popping and dazzling way," he said.

John Lasseter, who won a special achievement Oscar for the first instalment, said he was "excited" to be revisiting the characters.

"With Toy Story 3 shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought it would be great to let audiences experience the first two films all over again and in a brand new way," Lasseter said.

"3D offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation and we will continue to use this new technology to tell our stories in the best possible way."

The third film in the Toy Story trilogy will also be released in 3D.

But while new technology promises a fresh take on the classic cartoon, there are currently only 48 cinemas capable of showing 3D movies in the UK, according to the Film Council.