'Toy Story 3' Character Lots-O-Huggin' Bear Gets Love From Pixar's John Lasseter, Plus More From NYC Event

John Lasseter is very excited about the new “Toy Story 3” toys. As he should be, given that he’s chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney. But it’s more than that. Lasseter is a lifelong toy enthusiast who has exhibited his interest in playthings since the beginnings of Pixar, with short films like “Luxo Jr.” and “Tin Toy.”

The animator-turned-exec was in New York City to unveil the new line of “Toy Story 3” toys and be inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, an honor he shares with no less than Walt Disney. “Toys have been such a big part of my life,” he told MTV News during the event. “And of course it's my love for toys that was the original idea for ‘Toy Story,’ so it's fun. It’s like we’ve come full circle.”

It’s no surprise then to learn that he is involved with every step in the process of designing the toys based on his movies or that he acts like a kid on Christmas when he finally gets to see these toys introduced to the world.

“He plays with all the toys,” Disney's Chris Heatherly exclaimed. “He touches each toy probably two or three times before it comes out. He’s very involved. His knowledge of toys is so vast that it’s so easy to do toys for his movies, because they’re always in the back of his mind.”

It would seem Lasseter is almost like a real-life version of Tom Hanks’ character from “Big,” a little boy trapped in a man’s body. “He really is that character,” Heatherly agreed. “I wanted to get him on that piano over at F.A.O. for this event.”

Instead, the event was held at Gotham Hall, where Lasseter was joined onstage by “Toy Story 3” director Lee Unkrich, producer Darla Anderson, actor John Ratzenberger and a small troop of Army men, who descended from the rafters to sound off on the new toys.

“There's one in particular that's fantastic,” Lasseter excitedly told MTV News of new addition Lots-O’-Huggin’-Bear. “We actually came up with him as we were developing the very first ‘Toy Story.’ And this character didn't make it in, but at Pixar good ideas sometimes just stay dormant and then rise to the surface again as you're developing the sequels and so on. So to finally see the real toy of him is fantastic. He actually smells of strawberries.”

Other new toys that made Lasseter giddy include the Definitive Collection of “Toy Story” toys, which for the first time are authentic replicas of the toys from the film as their owner, Andy, would have experienced them. This includes an programmable Buzz Lightyear toy that speaks both English and Spanish.

Lasseter also said it’s fantastic to see the characters in LEGO, a new merchandising partner for the company. To celebrate their relationship together, LEGO presented the toy chief with a life-size bust of himself built out of the interlocking blocks. “I’m a LEGO!” he exclaimed upon seeing the sculpture.

It is probably fitting for Lasseter to view himself as a toy, considering how close he feels to the toys he has invented for his films.

“When we finish a movie at Pixar,” he told MTV regarding the future for these toys, “we don't look at the characters as creations. They become like friends of ours, or family members. Because there's so much of us in each. So it's really fun to revisit these characters again and again, so we'll see if there'll be more after ‘Toy Story 3.’”

Tags John Lasseter, Photo, toy story 3, Video