Film REVIEW: Toy Story 5 (2026) - ★★★★★

Mix Up Theatre (Stewart)
36 minutes ago
5 min read

Can Buzz, Woody and the rest of the toybox survive the age of tech? Check out our guide to the new Toy Story movie, including cast, plot, trailer, and Toy Story 5 age rating.

Director: Andrew Stanton

Writer: Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris

Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O'Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Craig Robinson.

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Animation

Themes: Sequel, Talking Toy, Buzz Lightyear

Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang's jobs are challenged when they're introduced to electronics, a new threat to playtime.

The fifth main installment in Pixar's Toy Story film series and the sequel to Toy Story 4 (2019).

Like its predecessors, it received positive reviews from critics, who praised its visuals, voice performances, humor and themes, although some questioned its justification for existing.

MIX UP REVIEWS:

Georgie (Age 10) - ★★★★★

"I really loved it, it sends a good message and I think everyone should listen to it and get it. Be outside more and play. I don't want to spoil it and give too much away but it's really good and funny aswell. Everyone should go see it. The toys are back."

Have you seen it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c51ND9Hdbw0

Toy Story 5 buzz - Why is everybody talking about the new Toy Story movie?

Thirty years after the Pixar studio launched with 1995’s Oscar-winning Toy Story, Woody and Buzz just broke the internet. It all started in February 2023, when Tim Allen blasted off a tweet in character as his fearless-but-flightless Space Ranger (“See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond!”).

Next up, last April, cowboy co-star Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Catch Me if You Can) posted to Insta from the vocal booth (“First day of work on a certain Story Number 5! Need a hint? Disney. Studio B”).

Now, Toy Story 5 is confirmed for release on 18 June – and director/franchise veteran Andrew Stanton (Stranger Things, WALL-E) told D23 crowds that this fifth movie will hold up a mirror to our swipey modern world. “In Toy Story 5, the toys’ jobs get exponentially harder when our toy crew goes head to head with what kids are obsessed with today – electronics.”

Is there going to be a Toy Story 5?

With Toy Story 4 winning (yet another) Oscar and grossing a cool billion, a fourth sequel seemed a no-brainer. But until recently, Tom Hanks was doubtful.

“The gatekeepers of all things Woody and Buzz do not take their task lightly. No-one is going to just rush something out. If it happens, boy, it’s going to have to go through a hothouse atmosphere, and pass all sorts of very rigorous tests. But I’m game, I’d love to.”

Now, director Andrew Stanton tells Empire that fans should think of post-2010 Toy Story as a new era, with endless gas in the tank. “So, Toy Story 3 was the end of the Andy years. But I’ve always loved how this world allows us to embrace time and change. There’s no promise that it stays in amber.”

What is the plot in Toy Story 5?

While most cartoon characters stay forever young, the Toy Story saga acknowledges the passing years. As Andrew Stanton tells Discussing Film: “It’s always been a series where the world keeps on going. We let time happen, the kids grow up.”

But nobody feels the zeitgeist like the toys themselves. Back in 1995, traditional floppy dolls like Woody were threatened by the touchdown of zippy new sound ‘n’ light action figure Buzz. Now, in Toy Story 5, the wheel has turned again, and the toys’ owner Bonnie has fallen for a creepy frog-styled tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse / Across the Spider-Verse).

“Honestly, it’s not even really about a battle so much as the realisation of an existential problem: that nobody’s really playing with toys anymore,” Stanton tells Empire.

Will Woody be in Toy Story 5?

At one point, there were terrible whispers that Tom Hanks had tapped out for Toy Story 5. Not true. It’s just that, at the start of this new movie, the cowboy will be off-world rescuing abandoned toys. In his absence, Tim Allen told WIVB that Buzz and Jessie the cowgirl (Joan Cusack) will hold the fort.

“I can tell you that it’s a lot about Jessie. And there’s an unbelievable opening scene with Buzz Lightyear. But Woody and I do realign.”

Cast of Toy Story 5 - Who is in the voice cast of the new Toy Story movie?

Let’s kick off with some old friends. It just wouldn’t be Toy Story without OGs Hamm (John Ratzenberger - Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back), Rex (Wallace Shawn - Monsters, Inc.), Slinky Dog (Blake Clark - The Mask), the Potato Heads (Jeff Bergman - Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Anna Vocino - Superman: Red Son, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts).

More recent additions to the toybox include Dolly (Bonnie Hunt), Mr Pricklepants (John Hopkins - Alice in Wonderland, Hilda), Trixie (Kristen Schaal - Despicable Me 2), Combat Carl (Ernie Hudson - Ghostbusters) and Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves - The Day the Earth Stood Still), plus Forky (Tony Hale - Inside Out 2) and his new wife Knifey (Melissa Villaseñor - Ralph Breaks the Internet).

“We’ve all grown up with them,” says Andrew Stanton, “and that’s the secret sauce.”

New Toy Story 5 characters - Who will we meet in the new Toy Story movie?

The tech theme is a gift for Toy Story 5 writer Kenna Harris. Craig Robinson (The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) debuts as Atlas (a toy hippo with GPS functionality), while Shelby Rabara (17 Again, Steven Universe) is Snappy (a permanently hyped toy camera). On the other side of the battlelines, there’s Matty Matheson, who voices Dr Nutcase (a tech-fearing peanut).

Most bizarre is chat-show host Conan O’Brien (Now You See Me, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) as a potty-training gadget called Smarty Pants. “Isn’t that crazy?” he gaped on Instagram. “He’s by far the best character. I don’t even want to play Buzz or Woody anymore, even if they ask me. I’m Smarty Pants.”

Toy Story 5 trailer - What footage can we watch of the new Toy Story film?

The Toy Story 5 trailer is here and is a riot, with Lilypad already shaping up as the most sinister AI since Ultron. But there’s plenty of gold held back for the 19 June release, with Allen teasing a scene that lampoons Hanks’s 2000 desert island hit, Cast Away.

“There’s a plane crash with 100 Buzz dolls, and they’re all lost. They're the B-story. It’s hysterical. They’re trying to find their way back.”

Toy Story 5 age rating - Who can watch the new Toy Story film?

Look, we know you’re still traumatised from Sid’s bedroom. But the Toy Story series isn’t generally scary, and the ‘PG’ age rating means the whole family can zap in to the cinema.

Toy Story 5 is in cinemas now, technology is your friend. With state-of-the-art big screen and immersive audio, they'll bring you into the heart of Pixar’s iconic family saga for what might be Buzz and Woody’s final adventure. It’s playtime…