“Toy Story 5” director Andrew Stanton is standing by the enduring Pixar franchise, even as some critics worry it may be overextended with too many sequels. In an interview with Empire magazine, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “Finding Nemo” and “Wall-E” broke the franchise down into the original trilogy and everything that followed, including 2019’s “Toy Story 4” and the upcoming fifth installment.
Stanton suggested that because the relationship between children and their toys continues to evolve across generations, there is no strict limit to how many “Toy Story” films could be created.
“So ‘3’ was the end of the Andy years,” Stanton told Empire. “Nobody’s being robbed of their trilogy. They can have that and never watch another if they don’t want to. But I’ve always loved how this world allows us to embrace time and change. There’s no promise that it stays in amber.”
In “Toy Story 5,” Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the beloved characters confront an iPad-like tablet called Lilypad. Stanton explained that the movie is “not even really about a battle so much as the realization of an existential problem: that nobody’s really playing with toys anymore.”
“Technology has changed everybody’s lives, but we’re asking what that means for us, and to our kids. We can’t just get away with making tech the villain,” Stanton added.
The upcoming installment arrives six years after “Toy Story 4,” which became the highest-grossing entry in the franchise, earning $1 billion at the global box office. That film also won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, following in the footsteps of “Toy Story 3.”
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return to voice Woody and Buzz, respectively, alongside Joan Cusack as Jessie, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, and Tony Hale as Forky. Conan O’Brien joins the cast as Smarty Pants, while Greta Lee, known for “Past Lives,” voices Lilypad.
“Toy Story 5” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 19, 2026, from Disney and Pixar.