There are certain movie franchises where “good” almost feels like an insult. Toy Story is one of them.
The original Toy Story changed animation forever. Toy Story 2 somehow took everything that worked about the first movie and made it bigger without losing what made it special. Toy Story 3 absolutely destroyed grown adults in theaters and gave us what felt like the perfect ending to the story.
Then Toy Story 4 came along. And now we have Toy Story 5 (2026).
At some point you have to ask the obvious question: Do we really need more Toy Story movies?
After seeing Toy Story 5, my answer is… probably not.
But I’m still glad we got this one.
Toy Meets Tech
The hook this time around is pretty straightforward. Bonnie is getting older and, like pretty much every kid on Earth, she’s becoming increasingly interested in screens.
Enter Lilypad, a frog-shaped tablet voiced by Greta Lee.
Suddenly Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the toys aren’t competing with other toys for Bonnie’s attention. They’re competing with technology.
As a parent, this premise hits pretty close to home.
There’s something inherently funny – and slightly depressing – about watching a bunch of toys we’ve known for 30 years stare at a tablet and realize, essentially, “Well… we’re screwed.”
It’s also a surprisingly logical direction for the franchise.
The Toy Story movies have always been about obsolescence.
Buzz thinks he’s a real Space Ranger until he realizes he’s a toy. Woody is terrified of being replaced by Buzz. Jessie was abandoned by Emily. Andy grows up. Bonnie grows up. Again and again, these movies come back to the same uncomfortable truth:
Kids move on. The toys don’t. Technology is simply the newest version of that problem.
And Toy Story 5 gets quite a bit of mileage out of it.
Jessie Gets Her Turn
One of the smartest decisions the movie makes is giving Jessie a larger role.
Woody and Buzz are obviously the faces of this franchise, and they’re both here, but this isn’t simply another Woody movie with Buzz standing around waiting to yell something about Star Command.
Jessie gets some genuinely emotional material this time around, and Joan Cusack is terrific as always.
That’s important because one of the dangers of making a fifth Toy Story movie is simply replaying the hits.
Woody worries about his kid.
Buzz misunderstands something.
Rex freaks out.
Hamm makes a joke.
Someone gets separated.
Everyone has to get back home.
You’ve seen this movie before.
Several times.
Toy Story 5 definitely contains some of that familiar DNA, but shifting more of the emotional weight toward Jessie helps keep it from feeling completely recycled.
Woody and Buzz Are Woody and Buzz
And then there are these two.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have been voicing Woody and Buzz since 1995.
1995.
That’s absolutely insane.
Hearing those voices together again instantly transports me back to when I saw that first flick. There’s a comfort level with these characters that Pixar doesn’t even have to manufacture anymore.
Woody shows up and he’s Woody. Buzz shows up and he’s Buzz. I’m happy. I’m comfortable. And keep in mind… I wouldn’t even call myself a huge fan of this franchise.
Maybe that’s cheap nostalgia. I’m used to it these days. And I don’t care.
One of my biggest issues with endless Hollywood sequels is when studios bring back beloved characters only to completely deconstruct them, kill them, embarrass them or fundamentally change what people loved about them in the first place. Check out my I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) review on Scaretissue for more on that.
Sometimes I just want Woody and Buzz to be Woody and Buzz.
Toy Story 5 understands that.
Their reunion doesn’t magically make this as good as the first three movies, but I’m not going to pretend I didn’t smile seeing them together again. Because I absolutely did.
Let’s Talk About the Elephant in the Toy Box
Here’s the problem.
The first three Toy Story movies are REALLY freaking good.
Like, historically good.
That makes judging this movie kind of weird.
If Toy Story 5 existed in a vacuum, we’d probably be talking about it as one of the better animated family movies in recent memory.
But it doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
It has Woody and Buzz Lightyear on the poster.
So inevitably I’m comparing it to Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.
And it isn’t as good as any of them. Not even close.
The emotional beats don’t land quite as hard. The adventure isn’t as memorable. The new characters aren’t as instantly iconic. And there’s a certain feeling throughout the movie that we’ve reached the point where Pixar is searching for reasons to keep these characters around rather than telling a story that absolutely demanded to be told.
That doesn’t make it bad. It just makes it Toy Story 5. And there’s a difference.
About That Screen-Time Message
The toys-versus-technology angle could have gotten really preachy really quickly.
Thankfully, the movie mostly avoids turning into a 100-minute lecture about how TABLETS ARE DESTROYING OUR CHILDREN.
Mostly.
There are definitely moments where the message is about as subtle as Buzz Lightyear flying directly into your forehead.
But the underlying idea works because it isn’t really about tablets. It’s about play. Imagination. Growing up.
And the realization that the things we once couldn’t imagine living without eventually get put into a box.
That’s Toy Story. It always has been. The technology just gives Pixar a modern way to revisit it.
And yes, there’s something hilariously ironic about Disney making a movie warning us that kids spend too much time staring at screens when I’m sure they’ll happily sell you Toy Story 5 on every screen you own. But that’s a conversation for another day.
It Still Looks Incredible
At this point saying a Pixar movie looks amazing is almost pointless. Of course it does.
We’ve reached a level of computer animation where you occasionally have to remind yourself how far this franchise has come.
Go back and watch the original Toy Story. It still looks great because the art direction is so strong, but technically speaking, the difference between that movie and this one is staggering.
Textures. Lighting. Environments. Facial expressions. Everything looks fantastic.
But what I’ve always appreciated about Pixar is that the technology isn’t supposed to be the star.
The characters are.
That’s especially important with Toy Story. Woody doesn’t need to look photorealistic. He needs to look like Woody. Thirty years later, he still does… now he just has a bald spot.
So… Did We Need Toy Story 5?
No. Probably not. But did we need Toy Story 2? Did we need Toy Story 3?
Movies don’t NEED to exist. They need to give us a reason to be happy that they do.
And while Toy Story 5 never reaches the emotional or storytelling heights of the franchise at its best, I walked out of it smiling.
I laughed. I got nostalgic. There were a couple moments that hit me harder than I expected. And I got to spend another couple of hours with characters I’ve known for most of my life. That’s enough.
Final Thoughts
Toy Story 5 isn’t the best Toy Story movie.
It isn’t the second-best. Or the third-best.
And depending on how you feel about Toy Story 4, it may very well be sitting at the bottom of the franchise rankings.
But here’s the important part:
Being the fifth-best Toy Story movie still means you’re a pretty damn good movie.
Pixar doesn’t reinvent the franchise here. It doesn’t deliver another Toy Story 3-level emotional knockout, and anyone expecting that is probably going to leave disappointed.
Instead, it gives us a funny, beautiful, occasionally touching adventure with characters we love and a story that actually makes sense for the world kids are growing up in today.
Could Pixar have left Woody, Buzz and the gang alone?
Absolutely.
Am I mad they didn’t? Not even a little.
After five movies and more than 30 years, Toy Story may not have quite as much magic in the toy box as it once did.
But it’s still got a friend in me.
