- Toy Story 5The creators discussed the future of Woody, Buzz and Jessie
- The trio has been the protagonist of the film series for over 25 years.
- There are currently no plans to retire them and focus on a new group of toys.
The creative team behind Toy Story 5 – and the film franchise at large – say they “have no plans” to retire Woody, Buzz and Jessie as main characters.
In an exclusive interview with TechRadar, director Andrew Stanton and producer Lindsey Collins indicated that they are not actively looking to leave the film series’ iconic trio. However, both men also appear to be leaving the door open for a possible changing of the guard at some point in the future.
Woody and Buzz are the faces of Pixar’s most beloved and enduring film franchise since the first – and groundbreaking – Toy story The film was released in 1995. After her debut in the sequel to the aforementioned film in 1999, Jessie not only became an integral part of the group, but is also now popular enough to be the lead of a toy story, well, a story – that is, Toy Story 5.
With Jessie now the protagonist of one of the most anticipated new films of 2026, Woody and Buzz find themselves in the unusual position of being the main supporting characters, rather than the stars, of a film. Toy story movie.
Are Pixar and its parent company Disney testing the waters to see how Toy story Are fans reacting to the fact that a different character – albeit an instantly recognizable face in Jessie – is in the spotlight? And if so, is this our clearest sign yet that studios might start planning for life without fan-favorite individuals?
Look on it
“That’s an interesting question,” Collins responded when I asked similar questions of him and Stanton. “So far, our philosophy has been to follow the kids – first Andy, and now Bonnie – and the toys… they’ve obviously grown and evolved, and some have fallen by the wayside, but every movie brings a few new toys.
“So it’s the kids themselves that we followed narratively. There’s the Andy years, and now Bonnie has a totally different experience with them and different issues that she has to deal with with her toys.
“But it was never a question of, ‘Hey, there’s no more stories to exploit with these characters,'” Collins continued. “Also, we never think about the next movie while we’re shooting the current one. So we don’t have any plans. [to retire this group of toys]. We just treat each one as its own thing, let these characters rest, and see if a new idea for another story surfaces.”
“Yeah, none of the other sequels were planned,” Stanton added. “If we’ve learned anything from working on these films, it’s not to plan ahead. So, like Lindsey says, we’re going to let them rest and see what happens.”
Regardless, Pixar appears to be moving forward with ideas for more sequels. Indeed, during a conversation with Entertainment Weekly in April, Stanton said that brainstorming sessions for Toy Story 5 meant “there would be the equivalent of two movies.” Toy story material to explore next”. It remains to be seen whether they center on Woody, Buzz and Jessie.
Toy Story 5 arrives in theaters worldwide on Friday, June 19. Its four predecessors, as well as the franchise’s numerous spin-offs and TV miniseries, are now available on Disney+, aka one of the best streaming services in the world.
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