Toy Story 5 enters the cinematic landscape in an interesting spot. Few films are connected to so many brands and IPs at once. It’s the latest film from Pixar, it bears the Disney logo, and is the fifth installment in the beloved Toy Story saga. The film is almost a franchise within a franchise within a franchise. Its presence is felt across Disney parks, and the characters are almost as iconic as Mickey Mouse himself. While Toy Story 4 was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, it also represented a departure from the emotional finality of the original trilogy. Yet Toy Story 5 seeks to rekindle the emotional magic of Pixar’s early days as the toys face the daunting new reality of technology, with kids and adults engrossed in screens. As kids grow up faster than ever before, how will our toys adapt and evolve to a world that says, “Toys are for play. Tech is for everything”?
A shipping crate of Buzz Lightyears washes up on the shores of a deserted island. That is how Toy Story 5 opens. Weaving in a tale of stranded Buzzes and a return of Woody (Tom Hanks), Toy Story 5 is predominantly Jessie’s story. Director Andrew Stanton (of Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and virtually every Pixar film) wastes no time in introducing the looming threat of the tech invasion via “Lilypad” (Greta Lee), a talking tablet eager to help find friends. But are they even real friends? They don’t even play with toys. Jessie (Joan Cusack), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and the full gang of toys from the original trilogy reunite as they face more than just technology and time—they face their own relevance in the lives of their kids.
Voice performances have always been powerful across the Toy Story films. And Joan Cusack gives her best performance as Jessie since her debut in Toy Story 2 as the yodeling cowgirl. Cusack’s vocal inflections range from the brave, daring shouts of “come on Bullseye” to the true sadness as she remembers her first kid, “Emily,” displaying the full range of one of Toy Story‘s richest characters. It’s that emotional resonance that turned “When She Loved Me” into one of Pixar’s most devastating moments. More than any character or performance, Jessie is the reminder of the whole saga’s central thesis: time. That time slips by, and childhood flees faster than we feel it. Jessie’s journey across the films has led to the catharsis found in Toy Story 5, and it’s through Cusack and the entire cast that the film remains timeless, even on a premise grounded in 2026.
Despite the 2026 device invasion serving as the stage for Toy Story 5, the retro vibe is alive beyond the Buzz Lightyear army, evoking Small Soldiers. Conan O’Brien gives a hilarious, bombastic performance as a Y2K-era device named Smarty Pants meant to help kids potty train. Performances from the returning cast all ground the film in the original trilogy, with Tim Allen and Tom Hanks trading snarky, loving jabs as Buzz and Woody. Hanks can always bring both parental wisdom and over-the-top anxiety to Woody, just as Allen can give Buzz a perfect blend of pure charisma and slight delusion.
The entire cast, under Stanton’s direction, places the film firmly in the 21st century with quick, meme-able moments like Woody’s bald spot or Smarty Pants’ low-battery complaints. Yet the film never loses the handmade chaos that defined Pixar’s earliest ensemble casts. More than remembering the 90s or trying to push the 2020s, Stanton grounds the film in the imagination that draws audiences to Toy Story and keeps them returning to Pixar.
Stanton helming Toy Story 5 is a conscious choice from Disney and Pixar. The franchise is more than 30 years in the making, and the series is a part of our collective mythology. Toy Story 4 saw Woody living as a lost toy, free in the wild. But Stanton brings Toy Story 5 back to the core, back to kids playing and making friends, back to the milestones in life that the audience can recall or await in their own lives. Stanton feels less like a director here than a steward of the franchise’s future. By featuring Jessie at the center, Stanton pays off emotional beats dating back to Toy Story 2 and creates some of the most beautiful and tearful moments in all of Pixar with Toy Story 5. Stanton proves the ideal shepherd for these characters as the saga continues. His emphasis on character and creativity will remind audiences of a Pixar that cut its teeth making shorts to accompany each feature.
The irony of devices being the central antagonist in a Pixar film is obvious, especially given the cutting-edge tech Pixar develops in every film. However, this was the studio that brought audiences WALL-E. The message has always been that tech cannot replace human connection and compassion. While a few moments of screens as a villain are a bit clunky, it occasionally overstates its point through repetitive imagery of screen dependency. But the message of balancing tech with connection resonates deeply within the Toy Story ethos, even dating back to Buzz being the space toy thought to replace Woody in the original film. Pixar might still be a giant in tech for animation, but, like Toy Story 5, they use technology to find family.
But where does Toy Story 5 fit in the pantheon of Pixar or the Disney vaults? The question is never just whether the movie was good, but how it compares with the rest of the franchise. Is it worthy of that bouncing lamp at the opening? Through the power of nostalgia and the energy of the present, Jessie captures the emotional core of Toy Story 5, making it not just a compelling addition to any Pixar tier list but something that will stay with future generations. Stanton shows audiences the sheer fun of watching Jessie, Buzz, and Woody go on another rescue mission. Little touches like Bonnie and Blaze’s different animations during playtime compared to Andy’s in Toy Story 3 make the film instantly rewatchable. But perhaps most importantly, Stanton and the entire team will have audiences asking “what adventure will our toys take on next?” for the first time since Toy Story 2. The film is less concerned with ending a story than ensuring another generation gets to begin one. Just as Andy passed his toys to Bonnie, Toy Story 5 passes the franchise to a new generation of children, encouraging them to imagine, play, and create adventures of their own.
