RECENTLY VIEWED: TOY STORY 5

I really didn't cry during Toy Story 5, like I did at the other movies, but the film was still extremely sad. I saw the movie with my 13 year old daughter, who announced this past Father's Day weekend that she wants to see the new live action Moana movie with her friend. I am crushed but back to Toy Story 5. Toy Story 5 is a 2026 American animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton, who conceived the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Kenna Harris, it is the fifth main installment in Pixar's Toy Story film series and the sequel to Toy Story 4 (2019). The ensemble voice cast features Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack among those reprising their roles from the previous films, joined by Conan O'Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Craig Robinson. Set two years after the events of the fourth film, Toy Story 5 follows Jessie (Cusack), Woody (Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear (Allen) as they and the other toys deal with the presence of Lilypad (Lee), a tablet and the new favorite plaything of Bonnie (Spears).

While Hanks said in May 2019 that Toy Story 4 was the final film in the franchise, the possibility of a fifth film had not been ruled out. Development on a fifth film was confirmed in February 2023, with Hanks and Allen returning. Stanton was confirmed as the director in June 2024 and later as a writer. It is the first main film in the series with no involvement from co-creator John Lasseter, who left Pixar in late 2018. The franchise's composer, Randy Newman, returned to score the film, marking his tenth collaboration with Pixar, while Taylor Swift contributed the number-one single "I Knew It, I Knew You" to the soundtrack. With a budget of $250 million, Toy Story 5 is one of the most expensive animated films ever made, and the most expensive film produced by Pixar.

Toy Story 5 had its world premiere in Los Angeles on June 9, 2026, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 19. Like its predecessors, it received positive reviews from critics, who praised its visuals, voice performances, humor and themes, although some questioned the screenplay and justification for existing. It has grossed $310.2 million worldwide, breaking several box office records, and becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2026.

I won't talk about the plot, but there are some truly tender moments. Now that my children are teenagers, I feel like those toys. One line in the film stuck with me: "You may not feel like you don't matter anymore, but what's important is you mattered to someone sometime"

MY RATING: 8 out of 10