Background In February 2019,
Tim Allen, who voiced
Buzz Lightyear in the first four films of the
Toy Story franchise, expressed interest in doing a fifth main film by stating, "Once you've gotten to four, you're passed that trilogy [point], so I don't see any reason why they wouldn't do it, certainly. If you ask me, I'd say do five." In May 2019, producer Mark Nielsen announced that
Pixar would return its focus to making original films instead of
sequels after
Toy Story 4 for a while. On the May 22, 2019, episode of
The Ellen DeGeneres Show,
Tom Hanks, the voice of
Woody, stated that the fourth main film would be the final film in the series. He said to
Ellen DeGeneres that Allen had "warned him about the emotional final goodbye between their characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear in
Toy Story 4." However, Nielsen did not rule out the possibility of a fifth main film, stating, "Every film we make, we treat it like it's the first and the last film we're ever going to make, so you force yourself to make it hold up. You don't get in over your skis. Whether there's another one? I don't know. If there is, it's tomorrow's problem." Shortly after the fourth film's release,
Annie Potts, who voiced
Bo Peep, said that despite her not knowing if another main film would be made, she believes a lot of fans would be interested to see what the toys do next.
Development In February 2023, during the Q1 earnings call,
Disney CEO
Bob Iger confirmed that a fifth main film in the
Toy Story franchise was in active development. This marked it the first main film in the series without any involvement from co-creator
John Lasseter, who left Pixar during the development of
Toy Story 4 in late 2018. Later that month, Pixar's chief creative officer and franchise alumnus
Pete Docter stated that the film would be "surprising" and would have "cool things you've never seen before." In June 2023, Docter confirmed that Woody would return in the film. The following year, Docter announced that
Andrew Stanton, who co-wrote the first four
Toy Story films, voiced Emperor Zurg in
Toy Story 2 (1999), co-directed ''
A Bug's Life (1998) and directed Finding Nemo (2003), WALL-E (2008), and Finding Dory (2016), would direct Toy Story 5
, while Kenna Harris, who directed the short Ciao Alberto'' (2021), would serve as the co-director. At the
D23 event in August 2024, Docter announced that Stanton would write the film in addition to his directorial effort.
Casting and recording Shortly after the film's official announcement in February 2023, Allen confirmed that he would return to voice Buzz Lightyear. In January 2025, it was reported that
Anna Faris was cast in an undisclosed role. In April, it was announced that
Ernie Hudson would voice
Combat Carl, taking over the role from the late
Carl Weathers. In May,
Conan O'Brien, joined the cast as a new character named Smarty Pants, with
Joan Cusack expected to return as
Jessie. On November 21, 2025, Allen finished recording his lines for the film.
Themes Toy Story 5 deals with children increasingly eschewing traditional toys in favor of
touchscreen devices like
tablets. Jessie admits that she is "losing Bonnie to this device". Director Andrew Stanton explained that the film is a "realisation of an existential problem: that nobody's really playing with toys anymore" and asks what increasing
screen time means for children. The toys must confront what it means to stay relevant when technology reshapes playtime. == Music ==