Six Things We Know About "Toy Story 5" So Far

I try to fly blind into movies I'm looking forward to. Watch the trailers, sure - I know others who avoid these too and with good reason - but more or less knowing not much more beyond a logline or a teaser. However, with a movie as hyped and anticipated as the next major feature film from Pixar Animation Studios, Toy Story 5, it's hard to stay completely out of the loop. Whether it be the great Disney marketing machine, the slew of product collaborations that feature classic and new characters, or exclusive previews in entertainment magazines, a lot has already been revealed about the upcoming film.

Pixar's Toy Story 5 addresses something currently happening in our real world - the invasion of tech (namely tablets) and the pushing out of more traditional toys. Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang's jobs are challenged when they're introduced to what kids are obsessed with today....electronics.

Helming the film is someone who has had a part in each of the other Toy Story films, Academy-Award winner Andrew Stanton (WALL-E, Finding Nemo), with Kenna Harris serving as co-director. The star-studded cast of the first films largely returns as well, with Tom Hanks reprising his role as Woody, Joan Cusack as Jessie, and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear. Favorite characters, including Forky (once again voiced by Tony Hale) from Toy Story 4 and others we met along the way are also returning as the toys take on Lily Pad, a new tablet that has arrived in Bonnie's room and is ready to take over.

Based on the trailer and other material that we've seen so far, let's take a look at some of what we've learned about the newest Pixar film ahead of its release next month. I must point out that this is a spoiler alert - if you want to leave what you know of the movie from the trailer alone, stop here, as I have rounded up some extraneous materials as well that give up a bit more information than what has been previewed in the trailers.

Woody Is Back

Those familiar with the franchise know that when we last left all of our friends in Toy Story 4, Woody stayed behind as a lost toy with Bo Peep, traveling alongside the other toys he made friends with at the carnival and antique store - like Ducky, Bunny, and Duke Caboom.

Before the credits of that movie rolled, we saw a figurative countdown in a moment where Woody said goodbye to Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of Andy's toys (and some of Bonnie's too), before the family RV pulled away.

In a mid-credits moment, we also saw Woody and (new) friends rigging carnival games so that all the toy prizes would find a new home.

So when the first teaser came out, it was a bit of a surprise to see a flash moment where Woody and Buzz are frightened to see the arrival of Lily Pad - together.

The next preview released give us a bit of an answer - it seems that Woody has been keeping in touch with his old friends via walkie-talkie, as they summon him back to the room for help with the new tablet character. He also has a few cosmetic differences - including a shiny new "bald spot" from where his hat has been rubbing against his painted hair over the years.

Could we revisit Geri (a la Geri's Game) as the toymaker, who restored him back in Toy Story 2? Doubtful, but that would be something, eh?

A Stylized Scene

Also based on the full trailer, Pixar is adopting a new look for what appears to be another playtime scene in the film. Based on those few moments, it appears as though we are getting a playtime scene - similar to what some of the other films opened with - this time in what appears to be the wedding of Forky and Karen Beverly. Similar to how we've seen other playtime moments play out, this is all likely in Bonnie's imagination. As such, the animation of this moment takes on a completely different look and style, playing with Pixar's tech and storytelling prowess. Just from the trailer alone, it promises to be something unique, and we're excited to see how it turns out. Though, based on what else we know of the film so far - it might be the most screen time that Forky and Karen Beverly get. Each time we see Forky again, it appears to be in that scene or just after - based on what we've seen in the trailer.

Over 50 Buzz Lightyears

The very first piece of concept art we saw from Toy Story 5 was shared at a D23 event, showing a number of Buzz Lightyear figures coming out of a shipping container that had clearly washed ashore. According to a summer movie preview in Entertainment Weekly, this was director Andrew Stanton's starting point, which he drafted back in 2022. The next step was to figure out their purpose.

Now, we don't know much about the role they will play in the film, but we do know that they are there, and are already one of the most memorable shots in the trailer with the numerous Buzz Lightyear helmets surfacing from underwater in a split-second shot.

A New Gang of Characters

50 Buzz Lightyears are new, kind of. But we already know that there are other new friends that will be seen in the movie. First and foremost, we know about Smarty Pants - a new toy that kind of bridges the gap between tech and toys as a potty training tool, who was announced very early on to be voiced by late-night legend, Conan O'Brien. Other toys we will meet include a Hippo-shaped GPS tracker named Atlas (voiced by Craig Robinson) and a kid-friendly digital camera named Snappy (voiced by Shelby Rabara). Of course, those are smaller parts (as far as we can tell) in comparison to who appears to be the big bad of the new movie, Lily Pad (voiced by Greta Lee). This tablet takes over Bonnie's room (and her attention) as she tries to make friends that are beyond the toy stage in their life. This character sets everything in motion, as the tablet is why Jessie summons Woody back to Bonnie's room in the first place it seems.

Jessie-Centric

Speaking of Jessie, we knew very early on that Toy Story 5 was gonna be quite Jessie-centric, as Pixar's equivalent to Marvel's Tom Holland, Tim Allen, did the press circuit and may have said a bit more than he was supposed to at the time. He doubled-down on the Jessie emphasis as recently as last month in another press appearance for his comedy tour, saying that Toy Story 5 has a lot of focus on the cowgirl doll.

SPOILER ALERT

However, it was that Entertainment Weekly summer movie preview that spilled the beans more than any interview with Tim Allen could when they revealed outright that at a certain point in the story Jessie would find her way back to Emily's house. Toy Story fans may recall that Emily was the previous owner of Jessie, as revealed in Toy Story 2, who left her behind in the heartbreaking moment backed by the vocals of Sarah McLachlan singing "When She Loved Me."

While we're not entirely sure of the sequence of events that leads her back to Emily's house, we know that while there she meets some of the new friends mentioned above, including Smarty Pants, and a new girl named Blaze who has a horse (Daffodil) and pig (cleverly named Jimmy Dean), and might seem to enjoy toys more than tech.

To rampantly speculate - it seems that Jessie has found a perfect new friend for Bonnie, assuming she doesn't want to just stay with Blaze herself, much like Woody thought of staying with his roundup gang back in Toy Story 2 instead of heading back to Andy's room. It was a brief thought, yes, but it still happened.

Either way, we're just glad we're going back to Emily's house in the hopes that it will finally put that whole Emily is Andy's mom fan theory to bed one way or the other.

Speaking of Speculation

One moment on Taylor Swift's official pages caused a bit of an uproar, showing a countdown clock with a background of white clouds channeling Andy's wallpaper in the early Toy Story films. It's a significant look and hard to deny anything else, other than Taylor Swift has something to do with the new movie, or franchise as a whole.

So fans of the musician have been speculating on what it could mean - does she have an unannounced voice role in the movie? is she doing a song for the movie? Or knowing that it's Jessie-centric and the cowgirl doll goes back to Emily's house, are we about to get "When She Loved Me (Taylor's Version)"?

The post was removed after a few minutes, only adding to the cryptic nature of the post. In the time since the image and countdown appeared on her site, enough time has passed for when the countdown would have hit zero, with no further updates or announcements. Did her team flub and post too early, or did something else happen altogether?

Regardless, if Taylor Swift does have something to do with Toy Story 5, the fifth entry in the franchise will be regarded by many as "The Taylor Swift One" with a strong emphasis on the "TS" in "TS5."

Toy Story 5 is due out in theaters everywhere on June 19, 2026.