Toy Story 5

2026

I am very wary of any movie on its fifth installment. In my day <wry smile to make it seem ironic when it’s just true that I’m middle-aged>, we had trilogies At The Most. Now, every animated film has to outdo Rocky in the numbers department. That wry smile loses some of its irony when I reflect that this franchise has already seen three main actors die and be replaced (Estelle Harris, Jim Varney, and Don Rickles). Hearing their characters’ not-right voices makes me sad (as does the lack of any lines for my beloved Aliens). Oh well, things get old, new people replace familiar ones, and we are all protestors at time’s march. These are the very themes of the Toy Story franchise. And they are renewed for another generation of kids and used-to-be-kids with this fifth film. (If you count Lightyear, which is referenced here, it’s the sixth!)

But there is something about this story and these characters that allows them to always step up to the plate and take on the new iterations of those old themes. And it’s possible that Toy Story 5—to my shock—may be my favorite in the series yet.

I have not been too impressed with the recent Pixar films. The last three (Inside Out 2, Elio, and Hoppers) have been disappointments for me. But the old Pixar formula is back! (And, let’s face it, the Pixar formula is really the Toy Story formula.) This new film artfully balances the tricky trifecta of humor, sentiment, and action. All three are pushed to their zeniths. The one-liners haven’t been this good since the 1995 original, and a lot of work has clearly gone into the story to maximize the emotional heft (hang on to your hankies) and multiply exciting set pieces.

This time around, Jessie is the main character—finally. And my girl, Joan Cusack, is up to the challenge. Of course, Woody and Buzz are along for the ride with their odd couple banter, along with all the principles. Even the gang from Toy Story 4 all get solid cameos. (Barbie is absent. Perhaps Warner Brothers has taken all its Mattel marbles and gone home.) New characters mostly include “devices”—technological playthings that may be bringing about the End of the Toys. The antagonist is a kid-marketed tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee), and some early digital advancements (a camera, a GPS unit, and…a potty-training aide) are voiced by Shelby Rabara, Craig Robinson, and Conan O’Brien.

Along with all the things it is juggling so well, the movie adds a canny range of anxieties, observations, and debates about our relationship to screens. In a refreshing change of focus, the toys’ goal this time around is to point their kid, Bonnie, outside to make friends with other humans. It’s no spoiler to say that it doesn’t go well, because they spend an hour and forty-two minutes in the attempt. The solutions that arise are built of compromise, empathy, forgiveness, adjustment, and a let’s-try attitude…like all good Pixar endings.

After a slow start, the first half of 2026 has served up some great films: Project Hail Mary, Disclosure Day, and Mother Mary all join Toy Story 5 to make a respectable early crop. I do have a strange feeling that the year’s second half will underwhelm, but as this film just reminded me, I have been wrong before.

And, Pixar executives, I have a pitch for Toy Story 6: Andy returns as a college freshman—with his roommate Rob, aka “The Master,” and his retro toaster, little and brave—for a reunion with his old toys! Blanky, meet Forky.