The toys are back, and this time they’re facing their most existential threat yet: a tablet.
On September 23, 2026, Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 makes its streaming debut on Disney+ — just three months after opening in theaters on June 19. It’s the biggest animated film of the year, the third Toy Story movie to cross $1 billion at the global box office, and the first to pit Woody, Buzz, and Jessie against a villain who lives in the cloud.
If you’re planning to watch this weekend, here are 10 things you need to know before you press play.
1. The Plot: Toys vs. Tech
The official synopsis is deceptively simple: “The toys are back, and this time it’s Toy meets Tech”. Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and the rest of the gang are still with Bonnie — now 8 years old — when a new device arrives that threatens everything they understand about their purpose.
That device is Lilypad, a frog-shaped smart tablet voiced by Greta Lee. Lilypad has “her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid,” and those ideas don’t involve physical toys. Bonnie embraces the tablet to make friends, and as the film’s creators put it, “devices now take all the imagination out of playtime, with chat rooms and virtual games replacing physical contact with toys”.
This isn’t just a story about obsolescence. It’s an existential crisis — for toys who have spent four movies learning that their worth is defined by being played with.
2. It’s a Jessie Story
Tim Allen let this slip during a promotional appearance, and it’s the most important thing to know going in: Toy Story 5 is Jessie’s film.
“It’s such a great story,” Allen said. “It’s a Jessie story, Tom and I have to reunite, and there’s just the funniest thing, because there’s a whole bunch of Buzzes involved”. The film finally gives Joan Cusack’s cowgirl the spotlight she’s deserved since she was introduced in Toy Story 2. And yes — there’s a plot device involving multiple Buzz Lightyears that sounds like the kind of absurd, brilliant chaos Pixar does best.
3. Woody Returns — But Not the Way You Expect
When we last saw Woody at the end of Toy Story 4, he had chosen to stay with Bo Peep as a “lost toy,” leaving Bonnie’s room behind. The trailers confirm he’s back, but director Andrew Stanton has been cagey about exactly how and why.
What we know: Woody’s return is tied to Jessie’s struggle, and the film addresses the question of what a toy’s purpose looks like when the kid who loves you is growing up. Tom Hanks has called one scene in the film “one of the most heartbreaking” he’s ever been part of.
4. The New Villain: Lilypad
Every Toy Story film has a memorable antagonist — Sid, Stinky Pete, Lotso, Gabby Gabby. Toy Story 5 adds Lilypad, voiced by Greta Lee (Past Lives, Tron: Ares).
Lilypad isn’t evil. She’s a product of her design — a device programmed to engage, educate, and entertain in ways that physical toys can’t compete with. That makes her a more insidious threat than any toy villain before her. She’s not trying to hurt anyone. She’s just doing exactly what she was built to do, and that’s the problem.
The film’s co-director, Kenna Harris, has said the goal was to let Bonnie “get weird” — to show a kid navigating the messy, imaginative, occasionally chaotic space between toys and technology.
5. The “Double A Team” and the Forgotten Toys
Not every new character is a threat. The film introduces a trio of electronic castoffs known as the “Double A Team” — toys powered by AA batteries who have been tucked away in drawers and forgotten:
Snappy (Shelby Rabara): a peppy toy digital camera from the 2000s who has spent years in a drawer, still holding onto memories of the kid she belonged to
Atlas (Craig Robinson): a cheerful hippo GPS that needs new batteries
Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien): a toilet-training tech toy
There’s also Bad Bunny as Pizza with Sunglasses, described as an “effortlessly cool and mysterious” toy living in an abandoned shed, and Alan Cumming as Evil Bullseye, the alter ego of Woody’s horse.
6. The Creative Team: A Pixar Veteran Finally Takes the Reins
Toy Story 5 is directed by Andrew Stanton, who has been a writer on every Toy Story film since the original but has never directed one. Stanton is the Oscar-winning director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E, and his involvement signals that this isn’t a contractually obligated sequel — it’s a film made by someone who has been stewarding these characters for three decades.
He co-directed the film with Kenna Harris, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Lindsey Collins and Jessica Choi produced. And Randy Newman returns to score his fifth Toy Story feature — meaning the man who wrote “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” is back for what might be his most emotionally complex score yet.
7. The Returning Cast Is Massive
Almost everyone is back. Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz), Joan Cusack (Jessie), John Ratzenberger (Hamm), Wallace Shawn (Rex), Blake Clark (Slinky Dog), Annie Potts (Bo Peep), Bonnie Hunt (Dolly), Kristen Schaal (Trixie), Tony Hale (Forky), and Keanu Reeves (Duke Caboom) all reprise their roles.
Several characters have been recast since Toy Story 4 following the deaths of their original voice actors, and the film handles those transitions with care.
8. It’s Already a Billion-Dollar Hit
Toy Story 5 opened to $160 million domestically** — the best opening of any film in 2026 and the second-best opening ever for an animated film, behind only *Incredibles 2*. It has since crossed **$1 billion worldwide, becoming the third Toy Story movie to hit that milestone after Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4.
The film is rated PG and runs 1 hour 42 minutes — the longest Toy Story film to date.
9. The Themes Are Heavier Than You Remember
Toy Story has never been just for kids. The first film was about jealousy and abandonment. The second was about mortality and purpose. The third was about letting go. The fourth was about choosing your own path.
The fifth is about relevance. About what happens when the thing you were made for — play — gets replaced by something that seems better, faster, and more engaging. It’s a story about obsolescence, but also about the difference between being used and being needed.
Director Andrew Stanton has described the film as a philosophical exploration of imagination in the digital age. The toys, he said, are “like little vampires” — they only come alive when a child’s attention brings them to life. When that attention moves elsewhere, what are they?
10. What to Watch For
A few details to keep an eye on when you watch:
The Buzz clones. Tim Allen teased “a whole bunch of Buzzes” — pay attention to how the film uses them. It’s one of its funniest and most surprising elements.
The animation. Stanton and Harris have spoken about letting Bonnie’s room “get weird” — the visual style shifts when the film moves into the space between toys and tech.
The ending. Tom Hanks has called one scene “one of the most heartbreaking” he’s ever filmed. Have tissues ready.
The post-credits scene. Pixar doesn’t always do them, but when they do, they’re worth staying for.
Toy Story 5 isn’t just another sequel.
It’s a film made by people who have spent 30 years with these characters, asking a question that feels uncomfortably relevant: what happens to the things we love when the world moves on?
It’s already the biggest animated film of 2026. It’s already crossed a billion dollars. And on September 23, it arrives on Disney+ — where you can watch it from the comfort of your couch, with your phone in your hand, wondering whether you should put it down and pick up a toy instead.
Maybe that’s the point.
