I know I haven’t been around a lot lately, but the recent news about Toy Story 5 is too much for me to keep quiet about! In an interview yesterday with Buffalo, NY television station WIVB, promoting a stand-up comedy appearance, Tim Allen shared some new details on the upcoming sequel.
Here’s what he had to say:
“I can tell you that it’s a lot about Jessie. Tom and I do – Woody and I do realign. And there’s an unbelievable opening scene with Buzz Lightyears.”
You can watch the interview here – the discussion of Toy Story 5 begins at around the 9-minute mark.
This statement comes after another remark made by Allen back in January, during an appearance on Good Morning America, where he hinted that Buzz was going to be helping Jessie in Toy Story 5:
“Toy Story 5, I’ve already begun, I’m into the third act now. It’s remarkable what they’ve done… There’s a lot of real intrigue with Buzz. Jessie’s got a big trouble, and she needs help.”
You can watch that video here, with Toy Story 5 comments beginning around the 6-minute mark:
After Jessie’s very small role in Toy Story 4, this is really encouraging! I’ve also noticed her being included in a lot of the Toy Story 30th merch, more prominently than she has been since before Toy Story 4 days. I’m not going to speculate publicly on what the plot might be (besides what we already know about toys vs. tech and the Buzzes), or what Allen’s statements might mean. But for now it’s nice to know she’s going to have a role that seems more in keeping with her status in Toy Story 3 as one of the main characters.
There have also been recent remarks about Toy Story 5 by Pixar CCO Pete Docter, which he shared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in March:
“So I will say Toy Story 5, I think Andrew’s done a really great job of letting moments breathe in unexpected ways. Things that you’re like, wait, is this a Toy Story movie? Just some of his choices, which I think we need at this point. We’ve had four of ’em already. We got to keep people surprised, so it’s going to be fun… I think we are at a place now where two, three generations have grown up on Toy Story specifically. And so what’s going to be new and surprising to them, I think we’re always trying to reach for that. We’ve got some cool stuff in the works that is an attempt to answer that question in our way, but I think it’ll be really interesting.”
And Toy Story 5 producer Jessica Choi has shared some updates on her Instagram as well, from stories teasing recording sessions to a post about a screening of the work-in-progress film at Pixar:
Despite what some people have been saying online, Toy Story 5 is NOT complete – this was NOT the first showing of the finished movie (the things people will try to spread, I swear!). I would guess that, since so much recording has been going on, this might have been a very early rough version utilizing the cast voices. Pixar does many iterations of a movie before it’s complete, combining a mix of scratch voices, cast voices, storyboard sketches, and various levels of animation, and with a little over a year left until Toy Story 5‘s release, there’s still plenty of work to do. But I do like seeing the positive posts about the process this time around, something we never got during Toy Story 4‘s production.
I guess I also wanted to post on here to explain my absence a little bit, despite all the great news that’s been coming out lately. I’m still here, following Toy Story 5 and Toy Story 30th updates and adding whatever new merch comes out to my collection (at least those pieces I want). But I’m not in a place where I can really make fandom stuff a priority. One of my parents is seriously ill right now, and I’m going through a very difficult time. So it’s really helpful for me to have such hopeful news about Toy Story 5, it’s giving me something to look forward to, which I desperately need.
I’ve also gotten really disillusioned with social media and the fandom scene (although this isn’t anything new, I’ve mentioned it before). I just don’t have any interest in getting involved with the drama and competition anymore. You don’t have to know the most minute trivia about a movie to be a fan. You don’t have to be a completist with your collection, or own the most accurate film replica toys. You only have to appreciate the characters and their stories, really.
My bestie Amanda has been getting more into reporting on Toy Story 5 updates on her Instagram, so I suggest you give her a follow – her account is @cowgirlamanda95. I’ve actually been relying on her to find all the good stuff, when I’m not able to do the searching myself. She’s another longtime fan like me – we’ve been friends and Jessie (and Buzz) fangirls since Toy Story 3 days. Honestly, the best part of this new movie is getting to share the fangirling with her again. And if we get to fangirl about Jessie being the focus – even better!
I may still post on here from time to time, or on my Instagram, but I can’t make any promises for any sort of consistency. Just know I’m still following along, still hoping for any little shred of news about Toy Story 5, and super excited that Jessie is going to be in the spotlight again!
Jessie image and logo © Disney/Pixar, edited by me.
Toy Story Fangirl 