Toy Story 5 is a beautiful return to form for the franchise with one key that made it work: the focus has shifted away Woody and Buzz, and onto Jessie, for an emotional, nuanced, and funny journey.
Joan Cusack returns as Jessie, the head of Bonnie’s group of toys, who really just wants the best for their little girl. Bonnie is growing up, after all, and she’s struggling to make friends. When Jessie tries to help, their home is thrown into disarray with the arrival of a new kind of toy: Lilypad, the tablet, voiced by Greta Lee.
Toy Story 5 sets Jessie up on an adventure that’s looks back on her own story, and opens up what it means to play and make friends in the age of tech that often takes the focus away from imagination.
Woody and Buzz rightfully take a backseat in this story, and while I don’t think those characters needed to be in this film at all–not really–they add some fun without taking the story from Jessie.
Kids and parents are going to love the story, and how it opens up the world in new ways, and embraces modern toys and tech more, too. Parents though, in particular, are going to laugh and cry, especially for those parents watching as their kids grow up and move away from toys.
While the film could easily have taken a completely anti-tech approach, what I love is that Toy Story has embraced that there’s room for all kinds of play. It does remind us all how important creative play is for kids though. And it reminded me that I probably need to spend less time on a device, too, as much as I say that to my daughter.
I definitely had to fight back the tears a few times. The story gets emotional looking at Jessie’s past, and the impact she’s had on her kids. While Toy Story 4 felt like it dropped the ball, to some degree in this franchise, the sequel proves how much life is left, and how much more story there is to tell.
This is very easily one of the best films in the Toy Story franchise, second only to Toy Story 3. Director Andrew Stanton handles the needs of the story, and the characters, beautifully. The animation looks fantastic, and it’s a fun adventure.
At the same time, this film makes a great point about the franchise’s future. The age of Woody and Buzz–as great as Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are in the films–needs to come to a close to create new stories and drive the storytelling forward.
If we’re going to have more films–and I am looking forward still, to more sequels–the focus has to be on developing new characters and giving them the space to tell their stories with as much heart, humour, and range as possible. All great franchises have to learn at some point that the future lives beyond a couple of great characters.
Toy Story 5 opens in theatres on June 19, 2026.
Synopsis: The toys are back in Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5, and this time it’s Toy meets Tech. Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest of the gang’s jobs are challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad (Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie. Will playtime ever be the same?
Toy Story 5 is directed by Academy Award winner Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Kenna Harris, produced by Lindsey Collins, p.g.a., and written by Stanton and Harris from a story by Stanton. The film features the original song “I Knew It, I Knew You”–performed by Taylor Swift and written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff–along with an original score by Oscar winner Randy Newman, who returns to score his fifth Toy Story feature.
