Quick Review: Toy Story 5 (2026)

The Toy Story franchise is something that has always been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I watched the first two a ton as a kid and forever love those films. I remember seeing the third one in theaters and feeling the emotions of finality that came with it and it was nice to appreciate this as an amazing trilogy. This would shortly last as then we would get a fourth one which while not as strong as the first three, I still found appreciation for it especially Woody’s arc in the film. It seemed like with that film, it was a nice little epilogue to the series and that we could now put the series to rest. Now 7 years later, we are back in the same position as before with Toy Story 5. Going into this one, I did see promise here as it was talking about technology which is something I was convinced they would tackle in the fourth movie which they didn’t but now it’s here. Not to mention it seemed like it was going to focus on Jesse which I looked forward to seeing as she got pushed to the side in the last one. My thoughts were if they could make a story work for the fourth one, then I’m sure they could make a story work for a fifth one. After watching it, while I think it is the weakest of the series, Toy Story 5 is still an enjoyable time and does a whole lot right.

The story for Toy Story 5 is good for the most part. It takes on topics that I think work for this story and it at least has something to say. It tackles the themes of technology and the role it plays in our lives. They also showed how it can be harmful with something like bullying but also provide ways that it would be useful like connecting people. It’s middle ground stuff, but hey it worked for the story. I will say however they explore the themes of purpose as a toy again which is something they have been doing since Toy Story 2 and at this point, it does get redundant exploring something like this once again. It is luckily saved with how they approach Jesse’s story in this and the direction they go, but I did have this feeling of “oh so we’re doing this thing again” and it gets to a point where you wonder how much longer are we going to go this direction in the films? It’s not exactly the worst thing they could’ve done, but it is noticeable. I still did find appreciation in the story and most of it did work for me.

As Jesse was pushed to the side in the last one, she is given the main focus of this movie and I’m glad that they go this direction. Even though they are doing the “what is my purpose as a toy” angle again, I think they end up approaching it with care and it does enough to make the story and her character work. It is a clear highlight of the story. Also I found the Buzz Lightyear side plot to be really funny. I don’t know, something about a bunch of Buzz Lightyear toys moving like a unit was really funny to me and it has some of the most exciting set pieces of the film when they are involved. The new toys also are a nice addition to the story especially Smarty Pants voiced by Conan O’Brien who is very funny in this. I will say, while it’s nice to see Woody again, he doesn’t do a whole lot in this story where it felt like they needed to bring him back. He did have a nice conclusion to his arc in 4 and I think it would have been fine to maybe just have one scene with him and that’s it. He barely does anything to justify him in this story. I also miss seeing the other toys in the mix like Mr and Mrs Potato Head, Rex, Hamm, and Slinky having a role in the story. It was fun seeing all these toys interact in the other movies and they are mostly pushed to the side in this story. At least the characters they do focus on are fun and engaging for the most part and still make the film work.

If there’s anything to give Pixar so much credit for, it’s how amazing the animation looks now. The animation has come a long way ever since the first movie and this is easily the best that it has ever looked. The team of animators deserve so much credit for bringing this world to life with how everything looks. From the designs of toys to how the environments look, I’m always impressed to see how much effort goes into these movies and this is especially true here. There’s a lot of fun sequences in this film and it’s thanks to how the animation looks. It’s always a high point for me when watching Pixar movies.

I am wondering how long they will keep up with this as with Toy Story 3 and even 4, it seemed like they were officially done with the series, Now with Toy Story 5, you can feel they are leaving room to tell another story for the future and it doesn’t have that same feeling of finality the previous two did. I mean hey as long as they make big money, I’m sure they will keep at them, but I think this is the one where it really showed it doesn’t have all the same charm that it once did. It’s a fun adventure, but at some point, you can only do so much with these characters and it feels like we are getting to a point where it seems like they are pushing what they are able to do with these characters. Only time will tell at the end of the day. Regardless though, I do think it is still a fun time and I think there’s a lot of great stuff to appreciate about it. For 5 films in a series, there still hasn’t been a bad film in the series (minus Lightyear) and that’s pretty impressive.

Toy Story 5 might be the weakest of the series and it does feel like it’s starting to repeat itself in some of the themes it presents, but luckily it still does enough to make you appreciate what it does right and it’s still a good time. Just don’t be surprised now if a Toy Story 6 is announced because they make big money.