Tim Allen has offered the first information we’ve had about Toy Story 5 since shortly after it was announced earlier this year!
In an interview with Daily Mail this week, Allen – who had tweeted his enthusiasm to return as Buzz Lightyear back when the Toy Story 5 news first broke in February – provided us with a few more details on the film’s development. I’m not really a fan of the sensationalized click-baity nature of the article, but since news is so scarce these days, I guess we have to take it where we can get it. Here’s what Allen had to say about the upcoming sequel:
Toy Story 5 had been kind of laid down quite a while ago, but we just couldn’t get into it. Then Disney announced it about two months ago.
So I’ve made friends with all of the people in Toy Story, especially Tom Hanks. So for that, I’m blessed to have these friends in my life. I love that character. I love that story. So I always wait to see the script.
He mentions that it’s been secretly in the works for a while, even while Lightyear was in production:
They came up with that. I think it’s getting close and I said unless it could have been done really well I know that the crew didn’t want to do it.
So none of us could mention any of this. Even when all the ancillary Buzz or Lightyear movie was coming out, this was all in play. So it was kind of peculiar. That’s all.
And when asked a (rather tactless) question about how much money he’d be making on the movie, Allen simply replied:
Man. It’s just going to be more fun for the project.
I always appreciate how much he cares about being a part of the Toy Story series. Of course, everything is very vague – as is to be expected, when so much about Toy Story 5 is still under wraps – but it does make me wonder whether there was something in Allen’s (seemingly) joking at the Toy Story 4 premiere that they should just keep on making more Toy Story movies now that there were four of them. Had he already been informed it was coming?
The rest of the interview touches on a variety of other topics, including Allen’s critical views of Lightyear, which I’m not going to get into here. I’m looking ahead to the next thing, not looking back to rehash last year’s controversies.
And on Toy Story 5 news in general…
So, I know that it’s been going around that the producer of Toy Story 5 has posted on her LinkedIn profile that she joined the film’s crew in August 2022. Yes, I have been aware of this for quite some time, even though I haven’t ever written a blog post about it.
Here’s the thing. I search for Toy Story 5 updates on a nearly daily basis. I have a whole file of notes on clues I’ve compiled. I found the aforementioned LinkedIn profile ages ago, but never mentioned it besides to a few close friends who I thought would be interested in those sorts of filmmaking details.
Why? Because until something is officially announced by Pixar, I don’t want to share any information prematurely. What if those working on the movie weren’t supposed to say so yet, and someone did anyway, not realizing that it wasn’t allowed? I would never want to be the one to put that out there and end up getting them in trouble – or be the cause of that person getting bombarded by nonsense on social media. I wouldn’t want Pixar to be mad at me for revealing something, either.
Also, I’m not comfortable voicing any of my own theories online, because the fandom gets so competitive and contentious anymore. It’s just not worth having to deal with the gatekeepers and trolls. I’m not interested in getting unsolicited messages from people who feel the need to “prove” that they’re a “better” fan and know more than I do, and who would love to gloat about a wrong guess I had made at some point in time. I’m done with all that.
I know about the directors who are attached to unnamed films, and who have been working on those films for several years already. I know the upcoming Pixar release dates that remain unfilled (to our public knowledge, at least). I know the typical timeline/pipeline these movies follow in production. I’m not saying I know everything, but I have been through this all before, and have a good idea of where and what I should be searching. And if I have questions, I have friends who studied this sort of thing in college and can help point me in the right direction.
Basically, don’t assume that I’m totally clueless if I don’t mention every little fandom rumor or theory. Chances are I’m just biding my time.
Buzz image © Disney-Pixar, edited by me.
Toy Story Fangirl 