I didn't get the chance to read the last 20 pages of posts since I was here yesterday, but I think I can safely say a couple things about JJP vs. Disney on this one:
With Disney in control of the art and assets used in this game, it's absolutely going to end up looking like it was designed by committee. --->Check!
Disney probably also demanded that it was TS4 instead of the previous three since they're essentially taking the series in a new direction, one with less Buzz and Woody. --->Check!
Disney probably also dictated that they don't use Buzz as much since he's being spun off into his own movie(and maybe his own franchise if it does well at the box office, as Disney LOVES to do), complete with a replaced voice actor. (Less Buzz also means less Woody. There are also a TON of politics involved here, but that's a completely non-pinball related topic we don't have to get into.) --->Check!
JJP most likely had grandiose ideas for the game but got a number of them shot down by Disney for various reasons. Honestly, I'm surprised they kept the pop-up troll bash toy as it could be easily be considered as anti-female and misogynistic by those that are super-easily offended by things. --->We'll probably find this out in the months/years to come.
Disney also probably demanded a very specific profit margin be made on every single game sold, which also probably coincides with my previous guess, as they have to make sure they get their very high cut of each game sold. --->Again, we probably won't know this until who knows when.
If this all sounds like I'm stacking the odds against Disney and that I'm quite biased against them, it's because I am. I worked for a label company for many years and did many fruit labels for Disney over the years. You would not believe the thickness of the style-guides they gave us for each IP and family of labels/products we printed. For those that don't know, a style-guide is basically a list of rules and do's and don'ts about the artwork elements you'll be using/printing. Disney is EXTREMELY strict with ALL their IP. While most of you will think that that is a good thing, and that they should be strict about the billion dollar IPs they own, Disney just takes things a bit too far. I've been given MANY style-guides over the years and Disney's always trumped everyone else's, needlessly. We did labels under just about all of it, too: Marvel, Princesses, Mickey, Goofy, Star Wars, The Muppets, you name it, we did it. They are the epitome of too many managers and not enough workers, and designed by committee.
I can see all of this massively affecting this game's development and how this game eventually turned out.
If it were me, I probably would've back-burnered the game to theme with TS5 as there's a better chance of it being a better movie after all the backlash over TS4. Then, I would've fast-tracked the Steve Ritchie game to later this year and called it good. Either way, I'll judge the game after I play it.