Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker has returned for the final animated movie of the first half of 2026 before exploring the animated movies I covered at this year’s Annecy Film Festival, and that is the sequel to one of the most beloved animated movie franchises of all time. That is right, it’s time we return to Toy Story for Toy Story 5!
Set after the end of Toy Story 4, Toy Story 5 introduces a brand-new toy, but this time, it is a digital toy as Bonnie (voiced by Scarlett Spears) received her Lilypad Tablet (Greta Lee), to the horror of Bonnie’s toys, including Woody and Buzz (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen respectively). When Bonnie gets obsessed with her new toy, her old toys must find a new approach to take away Lilypad’s influence on her.
I’m gonna say something embarrassing: I have not watched any of the previous Toy Story movies, not a single one. It is shocking, but come on, what did you expect from someone that grew up watching way too many family-friendly foreign CG animated movies for a living? With that said, considering legendary Pixar director Andrew Stanton, who had directed so many Pixar classics to count, including my most favourite Pixar movie ever in Wall-E, is directing this movie, it is interesting to see how one of Pixar’s finest directors tackle one of their iconic franchises.
How will this new sequel fare, even as a standalone from my perspective? Let’s find out, shall we? On to our adventure!
Key Information
- Director: Andrew Stanton
- Animation Studio: Pixar
- Country of Origin: United States
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 18 June 2026 (in Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
As I mentioned, I am not familiar with the Toy Story franchise apart from Lightyear, the very first animated movie I covered on this Blog, but as a standalone, I honestly enjoyed the writing!
In terms of the weakness to get out of the way, probably the main weakness is the lack of connection I have with parts of the story within Toy Story 5, as there were certain elements that require some understanding of the past animated movies. Hence, if you want to enjoy this movie to the fullest, it is a requirement to see the entire Toy Story filmography to enjoy the movie, which is a big mistake of mine.
However, what I can say based on this movie is how relevant it is, incorporating technology into the playtime aspect with Lilypad herself. The telling of its theme does not feel condescending like the Steve Cutts animated music video for Moby and the Void Pacific Choir’s “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?”. Instead, it focuses on the importance of toys in a human manner that I am certain some moviegoers who insist on using physical media instead of digital media for their movie enjoyment would resonate with.
I would also say that this movie is quite funny when it needs to break through the tension, and it is such a well-paced animated movie, thus preventing the movie from being too boring. Yeah, the technical aspects of the writing are very good, as per Pixar’s standards.
The characters and the character development deserve a special mention too. For returning characters, normally in Toy Story, Woody or Buzz takes the spotlight, but for the fifth iteration, Toy Story finally gave the spotlight to Jessie (Joan Cusack), and understanding her backstory was both enriching and emotional, and I will also say that the new toys, including Conan O’Brien as Smarty Pants, provide some well-needed edge and humour to the story. Plus, the human characters are actually quite interesting and add quite a lot to the writing, particularly Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), but I will leave it at this since I do not want to spoil a lot of things about her.
Overall, while I did not connect as much with the story, what I cannot deny was how well-balanced the writing is from start to finish. It might follow similar story structures to other mainstream animated movies, but the execution of that structure, as well as the character development, was what won me over.
Animation
The one thing I do not need to be concerned about is the animation, and once again, Pixar did a fine job with the animation.
Even though this is the same style that the Toy Story series has adopted for many years, there is a good reason for that, because this style does not need much fixing, just some enhancements to update the animation to the 2026 standard. The animation is very solid, and there is a lot of expression in the character designs, which is important given the many toys at play in this movie (pun intended). The same is true for the human character designs, as while it is true that the human character designs need some updating, for what it is worth, the designs are very solid.
The same thing applies to the other aspects of the animation, as the rendering is once again very good, though it is to be expected given this is Pixar we are talking about. Certain animation sequences look very good, especially on the IMAX screen that I saw the movie in, particularly some of the night shots. This movie also switches up the animation style to a 2D stylised style not seen in some of Pixar’s movies, and Pixar executed the style quite well, I should say.
Overall, it is easy to say how solid the animation is as per usual, but for Pixar, the animation quality from them has been consistently strong all things considered. You can always rely on strong quality animation from them, and with Toy Story 5, I do not see how this will change.
Soundtrack, Other Elements, and Level of Enjoyment
Talking about the soundtrack, it cannot be Toy Story without legend Randy Newman taking charge of the music score for another Toy Story movie, and yes, he delivered with this one. I don’t know how much he has left in the tank, but it seems it was more than enough to warrant producing another solid music score, and honestly, the score hits the right notes when it needs to. The marketing also puts more spotlight on Jessie, who is the main character in this one, as well as the new characters, which allows them to shine even more in the movie itself.
As for my level of enjoyment, maybe it was because I was not familiar with the entire Toy Story franchise and I was more focused on the animated movies I am covering at this year’s Annecy Film Festival, that Toy Story 5 took a back seat for me. With that said, considering this is my Toy Story experience, I actually had a good time being connected with a lot of the emotional moments throughout the movie, although again, it was because I am not so familiar with the recurring characters of Toy Story that I feel more indifferent about it. Perhaps I need to get up to speed with the Toy Story movies to make my opinion about the fifth movie more…
Conclusion
Given my unfamiliarity with the entire Toy Story franchise outside of Lightyear, it is not so surprising that I was not excited about this movie, but hey, Toy Story 5 is a movie that justifies the fifth movie in this iconic franchise well.
What I appreciate is how this movie tackles the problem of integrating technology into children’s minds head-on and provides much-needed answers that are coupled by fantastic character development and humour. This is also not to mention the high-quality animation work that shows why Pixar still has the edge in 2026, and the music score is just as great. However, despite these positives, there are other animated movies this year, such as Pixar’s own Hoppers, Iggy the Eagle and I Am Frankelda that do so much more with way more exciting results, I just feel Toy Story 5 lacks the edge needed to stand out in an already crowded field. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this movie and I still recommend it, but there are other animated movies that I find to be more impactful than this one.
Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. Considering the many animated movies I covered at Annecy this year, I need some time to take a closer look at what I saw at Annecy, so I will take some time before kicking off my biggest animated movie adventure yet. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
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