Well, it’s been nearly nine months since I’ve posted on here, but after last night’s presentation at the D23 Ultimate Disney Fan Event (formerly known as the D23 Expo), I’m super excited to finally have some details about Toy Story 5!
Although I have been to D23 in the past, I’m not there this year, so I was following along with all the live reports on X (Twitter) last night, figuring that Toy Story 5 was bound to be mentioned at the huge Entertainment Showcase. There had been a panel earlier in the day, celebrating 30 years of Toy Story, that focused on the making of the first film; however when it concluded without any mention of the new movie, the night’s big presentation seemed like the best bet for news.
Pete Docter took the stage for the Pixar segment of the evening’s Entertainment Showcase, to present upcoming projects from the studio. (I’m not discussing all of that here; there’s plenty of info online about what’s new besides Toy Story 5.) And because I’d personally rather have a transcript of what someone said than a paraphrased synopsis, here’s how Docter introduced Toy Story 5:
Toy Story is what put Pixar on the map 30 years ago, and we are excited for what Jessie and Woody and all the gang are going to do in ‘Toy Story 5.’ I am excited to announce today, that writing and directing the film will be none other than Andrew Stanton. Andrew and I started at Pixar around the same time, working together making the first Toy Story, and those two dorky guys are still friends today. In fact, Andrew directed ‘Finding Nemo,’ ‘Finding Dory,’ ‘Wall-E,’ he wrote up all the Toy Story films, he’s a genius. Please give a D23 welcome to my pal, Andrew Stanton.
And here’s what Andrew Stanton had to say:
Hi D23, wow. As you can imagine, Toy Story holds a special place in my heart. Through the experiences of these toys, we’ve all learned about loyalty, and belonging, and friendship. These characters have given us a unique perspective about growing up and navigating life. And in all of the Toy Story films, above anything else the job of the toys has been to be there for their kids. And with ‘Toy Story 5′ the toys’ jobs get exponentially harder, when our toy crew goes head-to-head with what kids are obsessed with today, electronics. None of you are holding up toys, you’re all holding up phones. Let’s be real. Toys have some serious competition these days, with phones, tablets, and technology everywhere, and so this time around it’s toy meets tech. Oh, and there’s one other thing. There’s a little issue involving 50 rogue commemorative Buzz Lightyear action figures stuck in toy mode, that will make considerable problems for everyone. [Buzzes salute on screen.] At ease, gentlemen. It’s going to be so fun, and we can’t wait for you to all see it in the summer of 2026. So, thank you D23.
You can watch the D23 Toy Story 5 segment in full here.
Soon after the announcement was made, Pixar officially released the teaser video and concept art image that had been shared in the presentation.
Okay, so they totally re-used the Apple Watch animations for the teaser, but I don’t care, my toys are back and Jessie is there!
The concept art shown depicts Bonnie using an iPad while the toys look on in concern, which illustrates the movie’s main theme of toys vs. technology:
The first thing I noticed about this image is that Woody is with them! How?!? We all know he left to be with Bo at the end of Toy Story 4 (not even getting into all that again). Bo isn’t in the picture, but neither are any of Bonnie’s toys from Toy Story 3, so I’m not putting any speculation out there right now about where she is. I’m just happy to see the gang reunited, however that may happen.
Also, since I’m sure there will be debates going around whether it’s a sequel or takes place between Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4, I’d like to point out that Jessie is wearing the sheriff’s badge in the image, and Forky is present. Sure, Bonnie gave Jessie the badge sometimes during playtime, but Forky wasn’t even created until the events of the fourth movie. Judging from Bonnie’s silhouette, she seems to be slightly older (not much, though), which would work well with her starting to get into electronics. So to me, it looks much more like a sequel. That being said, I am not a sequel-hater and find very little validity in the redundant complaints about sequels. As far as I’m concerned, it takes a lot of creativity and effort to come up with any new story, whether the characters are new or not.
I think the electronics topic is a relevant one for them to tackle. I know Toy Story That Time Forgot touched on it a little, with video games, but at least gaming is still a form of play (and I have encountered so many people who don’t even know the specials and shorts exist, ugh). In the image, it doesn’t look like Bonnie is playing at all, just watching a screen. Things are so different now than they were nearly 30 years ago, when the first Toy Story film was released. Kids entertain themselves in an entirely different way now, so what that means for toys is a valid question to be explored. I’m really curious to see where they go with it.
Then there’s the army of “commemorative Buzz Lightyear action figures” that Stantion mentions as causing problems for everyone. Again, not getting into a bunch of public speculation about what all could happen with them, but that idea has tons of fun potential, even if it’s hard to imagine how on earth they’ll encounter them.
As far as Stanton directing, I think it’s fantastic to have someone at the helm who’s been so involved and invested in all of the Toy Story films. But that aspect of the presentation wasn’t a surprise to me, actually. Even though I’ve been quiet on here and on social media, I’m still constantly on the hunt for Toy Story updates, and in a Q & A session following a viewing of Inside Out 2 at the Museum of the Moving Image, Docter had revealed Stanton as the Toy Story 5 director a few months ago.
We have ‘Toy Story 5’ coming out in a little bit – yes, it’s true. The guy who’s directing it, Andrew Stanton, was a writer on all of the other Toy Stories, and so he’s doing a great job. Along with another director named Kenna Harris, they are doing a great job as well.
Toy Story 5‘s release date of June 19, 2026 was also confirmed in recent months. I was aware of this, and noted it, but chose not to post about it at the time. I’m a lot more intentional about being on social media than I used to be, and if I’m not feeling like putting myself out there, I don’t. We all need breaks from the constant noise sometimes, to focus on what really matters (like a new puppy, in my case).
I’m so excited to have a new Toy Story movie to follow, but as I’ve said many times before, posting stuff about Toy Story 4 on social media was majorly stressful for me. So I made a promise to myself back before Lightyear came out that I was going to take time to enjoy being a fan on my own terms, first and foremost, and I’m going to be holding to that with Toy Story 5 as well. Maybe even more so this time, because it’s not just a spinoff, it’s the toys. I do enjoy sharing discoveries, though, so I will try to keep up with posting as much as possible – after I’m done geeking out and overanalyzing things with my friends, of course.
Images and video © Disney and Pixar. Buzzes on stage posted by Stitch Kingdom on X.
Toy Story Fangirl 