Woody and Buzz looking terrified in Toy Story 5Image via Pixar
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Shawn Van Horn
Published 6 minutes ago
Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies.
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When Toy Story came out in 1995, it completely changed the game for animated films. Suddenly, hand-drawn movies were out, and the age of computer animation was in. Still, technological advancements can only go so far, and what made not only the first Toy Story successful, but the entire original trilogy, was just how good the characters and stories were. Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) became instant icons, and Toy Story and its sequels were box office and critical juggernauts with plots that made us laugh and cry (just try to make it through the end of Toy Story 3 in one piece!). However, many fans didn't want a Toy Story 4 because the story felt complete. We got it anyway, and although it was a good movie, can you remember much of it? There could have been a lesson learned to stop there, but we're getting a Toy Story 5, and it's actually a good thing, because the revealed plot from the teaser trailer and in an interview with director Andrew Stanton show that this new sequel is going to be the most needed one yet.
The Franchise Could Have Ended After 'Toy Story 3'
As good as Toy Story was, what was even more impressive is that each sequel somehow got even better. With 171 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, 1999's Toy Story 2 has an incredible 100% Tomatometer. Eleven years later, in 2010, Toy Story 3 came out, again to incredible praise (98% of 307 critics approved), and no matter which in the trilogy is your favorite, what can't be debated is that Toy Story 3 had a perfect ending. Not only was there the rip-your-heart-out scene of the toys nearly dying as they joined hands in what they thought were their final moments, but the beautiful last minutes, with Andy passing on his toys to another child, was a fitting ending. The story was complete, and it would go on without us.
Of course, money talks, so it was no surprise that Toy Story 4 eventually happened in 2019. Once more, rave reviews came in, and it had the biggest gross in the franchise with $434 million, but the addition of Forky wasn't as exciting as the rest of the characters, and the story didn't hit quite as hard. Toy Story 4 was a fine film, but an unnecessary one.
'Toy Story' 5's Trailer Reveals a New Direction
It was probably tempting to roll your eyes at the news of Toy Story 5. How many of these can they make? And can you imagine if one of them ends up being bad and ruins the legacy? Thankfully, it looks like we're in good hands, as shown by the recently released teaser trailer with the beloved toys still living with Bonnie when she gets a new present. Rather than this being some sort of action figure, what she gets is the scariest thing imaginable: a tablet! It's a perfect premise for the state of society in 2025.
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Posts By Michael John Petty Jan 31, 2025In an interview with Empire, director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E), who also wrote Toy Story 5, said he was trying to reflect where our world is right now.
“Honestly, it’s not even really about a battle so much as the realisation of an existential problem: that nobody’s really playing with toys anymore. Technology has changed everybody’s lives, but we’re asking what that means for us — and to our kids. We can’t just get away with making tech the villain.”
The Challenging Plot of 'Toy Story 5' Is Needed Now More Than Ever
The toys watch a child play with a tablet in 'Toy Story 5'Image via Pixar
And if you're upset that more Toy Story sequels keep getting made, Stanton hears you and says you don't have to watch if you prefer to hold onto the original trilogy. "But I’ve always loved how this world allows us to embrace time and change. There’s no promise that it stays in amber.”
That's exactly why we need Toy Story 5. The first three films are preserved as heartwarming, nostalgic greatness. Those movies don't complicate life, but instead make us feel good and take us back to our childhoods. Toy Story 5 is going to smash that preserving amber and take us into the modern era to show us how scary it can be. Let's face it, toys, as most of us know them, are becoming a thing of the past, ending institutions like Toys 'R Us. Today, kids would rather live on their tablets in a pretend world. How scary it must be for Woody, Buzz, and company to see little Bonnie, who they love so much, cast them and her imagination aside, not because she's hit adolescence, but because she's been sucked in by the mind-numbing glow of the screen.
It's also a wake-up call for all of us. The best Pixar films have a deeper message beyond the laughs and bright colors. They hold a mirror up to where we're at and ask us to look deeply into and think about where we're headed. Toy Story 5 is no different. It sees where we're at, in a scary era, not just for toys, but where humans have given up that which we can hold and touch for a small screen that will do everything for us. Hopefully, Toy Story 5 will remind us about the simplicity of life and how true happiness is found when we put the phone or tablet down and interact with the real world. Imagine a kid leaving the theater and going home not to pick up their tablet and zone out again, but to pick up that toy they forgot about and enter a world created by their own mind.
Toy Story 5 comes to theaters on June 19, 2026
Toy Story 5
Like Follow Followed Not Yet Rated Animation Adventure Family Comedy Release Date June 19, 2026 Director Andrew Stanton Writers Andrew Stanton Producers Pete DocterCast
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Tom Hanks
Woody (Voice)
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Tim Allen
Buzz Lightyear (voice)
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Joan Cusack
Jessie (voice)
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Ernie Hudson
Combat Carl (voice)
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Toy Story 5
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Tom Hanks
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