Interview: Toy Story 5's Kenna Harris & Lindsey Collins on Finally Giving Jessie Her Due
When Andrew Stanton went looking for a co-director to help shepherd Toy Story 5 into theaters, he landed on someone who'd been quietly proving themself inside Pixar's walls for years: Kenna Harris, the filmmaker behind the 2021 short Ciao Alberto. Pairing a Pixar veteran with a rising voice from a younger generation turned out to be the perfect formula for a film that needed to balance four decades of Toy Story nostalgia with a story that finally hands Jessie the spotlight. I sat down with Harris and longtime Pixar producer Lindsey Collins to talk about that unlikely pairing, why Jessie's unfinished business became the emotional spine of the new film, and what happens when a studio built by rebels keeps producing new generations of them.
Congratulations on Toy Story 5. Kenna, I'm curious — going from directing Ciao Alberto to co-directing Toy Story 5 sounds like a big leap. How did that come about, and were there lessons from Ciao Alberto that helped prepare you for this role?
Kenna Harris: Is it weird if I said that Ciao Alberto was more stressful than working on Toy Story 5? We had to make that short in five seconds, and we had a little longer than five seconds on this one. It was a huge leap and a huge, humbling experience. I didn't know that Andrew Stanton knew my name, let alone appreciated my work and sensibilities, so him asking me to be part of the Toy Story 5 adventure was mind-blowing initially. But right away I felt excited and prepared, because the reason I made Ciao Alberto is that I just love good characters. I love having fun with them and making people laugh with them, feel for them. And when it comes to Toy Story, I've grown up with them. So even though there was this pressure and intimidation factor, because Toy Story has a high bar we need to clear, I also know these characters like the back of my hand, and I could come into the collaboration with Andrew as a fan and provide that experience he doesn't have as much of. It was really cool and special.
Lindsey, you've been with these characters for a long time. What's it like to still be playing in the Toy Story sandbox with a crew that grew up playing with Andy's toys?
Lindsey Collins: I mean, that's just kind of what it is to be working at Pixar right now, and this film is no different. I think what's magical about this place is that we have people who've been here for thirty-five-plus years, bringing so much experience and knowledge, the DNA of what Pixar is, into the work every day. And then you have Kenna's generation, and younger, bringing a completely fresh perspective. The thing that ties us all together is that we're all rebels in different ways. I think what started this company was a sense of rebellion, and I feel like this next generation has just as much of it. In some ways, they're rebelling against Pixar. Initially, it was "we don't want to make Disney musicals," and now it's "we don't want to make your same old Pixar movies." We're like, wait, hold on a minute, ouch. But it's super healthy, and what you see is an infusion of that humor and perspective. Woody being bald, everybody making fun of him, that's all from the twenty-year-olds coming in and saying, "Let's make him bald." It's so fun having those two generations come together every day, challenging one another with the same mentality and energy, fueling both of them.
With so many characters in the Toy Story world, when did you land on Jessie's backstory and her years of working with kids as the focal point of this film?
Kenna Harris: It was kind of a day-one thing. Andrew Stanton had a lot of experience with these characters from the previous films, and he was a big proponent of Woody handing the sheriff's badge to Jessie. So when Pixar approached him about what he'd do with a Toy Story 5, one of the first places his gut went was, "I'd be really excited to see how Jessie runs a room." He, Lindsey, and I connected on the idea that there's so much depth to her character, and things we wanted to heal that we weren't convinced were entirely healed. That was always tied to the idea of exploring devices in a child's room. We started baking both of those ideas in from the outset.
Lindsey Collins: And the minute you say it, everybody's reaction is, "Oh yeah, she deserves one. When's that coming?" Anybody who's watched Toy Story 2 knows she deserves something, some resolution, a chance to let go of the baggage she's been holding onto. She's got a deeper backstory than we know about Woody or Buzz, honestly. So the sense that she deserved a film to figure out what happened, where she's from, and what could let her let go of some of that, and then celebrate her, felt right. It felt like the gift a lot of people here had been waiting for; the moment and the time finally felt right. Everybody was just super excited about it.
Toy Story 5 opens in theaters everywhere this Friday, June 19th. Grab the tissues, round up the toys, and get ready to celebrate Jessie in a big way.