There's absolutely no getting around the fact that in Toy Story 3 it all started getting pretty dusty out there when it looked like our heroes were done for.

No matter how much post-rationalising went on – surely they couldn't actually kill them off?! - in that moment, it looked terribly bleak for Woody, Buzz, Jessie and their toy pals, as they neared the flaming maw of the garbage incinerator.

But whether the toys of the movie series could actually 'die' or not has been something of a contested topic among fans, seeing as they're not technically 'alive' in the first place.

Now director Lee Unkrich, who worked as an editor on Toy Story, co-directed Toy Story 2 and solo directed the peerless Toy Story 3, has weighed in.

Remarked one Pixar fan on Twitter: “My girlfriend and i are having a big fight bc i think the toys from Toy Story are immortal and she thinks they can die.”

Unkrich himself then replied: “They live as long as they exist. But if they were to be utterly destroyed? Say, in an incinerator? Game over.”