Starting with Toy Story 2 in 1999, each new entry in the franchise was accompanied by a teaser trailer that had little to do with the actual movie. Toy Story 2’s teaser was released in June of 1999, featuring Little Green Men staring at a crane, revealing the film’s logo, before Buzz and Woody banter about the film possibly being a better movie without Buzz. Likewise, Toy Story 3’s teaser was released in July of 2009, featuring Andy’s toys (Woody, the Army Men, Bullseye, Little Green Men, Rex, Slinky, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Hamm, and Jesse) assembling a rudimentary, preschool-esque version of the logo before bumping into Buzz to reveal a much better version of the logo. Toy Story 4’s teaser was released in November 2018, and featured all of the toys dancing in a circle to Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now with exaggerated happiness on their faces before Forky declares “I don’t belong here!”, causing Woody to stop suddenly, causing all the toys to suddenly slam into one another and run to the camera, declaring “I’m not a toy!” before panning up to see the logo.
Now, the Toy Story 5 teaser has arrived in a different style. Set to INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart, it shows Rex, Slinky, Forky, Knifey (introduced in Toy Story 4’s credits), Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, Jesse, Bullseye, the Little Green Men, Woody, and Buzz staring in horror at the new character Lilypad, a high-tech, frog-shaped smart tablet voiced by Greta Lee.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return as Woody and Buzz, joined by Joan Cusack as Jessie, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, and Tony Hale as Forky. Conan O’Brien joins as Smarty Pants, a new character. As for Rex, Knifey, and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, your guess is as good as mine, though I suspect Anna Faris voices Knifey.
Andrew Stanton, who wrote all four previous Toy Story films and directed Finding Nemo, WALL-E, andFinding Dory, will both write and direct Toy Story 5. That’s a promising sign, as Stanton’s storytelling instincts are among Pixar’s strongest. Still, Finding Dory was nearly a decade ago, and Pixar, as well as the entire animation industry, has changed dramatically since then.
The first Toy Story film was released 30 years ago this month as the first-ever feature-length computer-animated film, to massive success. Disney distributed the original film and its 1999 sequel before buying the animation studio in 2006. The Toy Story franchise returned in 2010 with Toy Story 3 and again in 2019 with Toy Story 4, both of which grossed over $1 billion worldwide and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature when nominated.
I’ll spare you my frame-by-frame breakdown, but as a longtime Toy Story fan, I can’t help feeling uneasy about the direction Pixar seems to be taking. Each entry since the third film has edged closer to photorealism, to the point where it’s hard to reconcile the fact that these decades-old toys look brand new. The hyper-realistic textures, while gorgeous to look at, detract from what I believe is the magic of the franchise. To me, this franchise has always been about showcasing the love of a child for a toy and the friendships at its core.
If there is a silver lining, it’s that the teaser tone at least suggests we’re getting a different kind of Toy Story story than the ones we’re used to. INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart hints that the studio may be aiming for a more grounded or bittersweet tone than Toy Story 4’s divisive finale. Still, Pixar’s decision to continue the series raises big questions, such as how many more times can Woody and Buzz learn to say goodbye before the message is devoid of meaning?
The Toy Story franchise has always been about change. Whether that’s letting go, moving on, or finding purpose in the face of uncertainty. It’s a rare series that’s been allowed to grow alongside its audience, reflecting the emotional truths we discover at each stage of life. But the challenge now is keeping those periods of change authentic. Without it, Toy Story 5 risks feeling more like a straight-to-home-video sequel.
Toy Story 5 will be in theaters on June 19, 2026.
Watch the teaser trailer for Toy Story 5 here.
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