'Toy Story 5' director addresses concerns over continuing the franchise
For some fans, Toy Story 3 was the perfect ending to Woody and Buzz's journey, but now that Toy Story 5 is now in the works, many are questioning whether another sequel is necessary.
In an interview with Empire magazine, director Andrew Stanton defended their decision to keep the franchise going after it finished the original trilogy back in 2010.
"So 3 was the end... of the Andy years. Nobody’s being robbed of their trilogy. They can have that and never watch another if they don’t want to. But I’ve always loved how this world allows us to embrace time and change. There’s no promise that it stays in amber," Stanton said.
Andy is the human owner who first brought Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang together, and Toy Story 3 closed that chapter by showing him parting with his childhood toys as he headed off to college.
Now, the fifth installment will see Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the others in conflict with a tablet called Lilypad, which becomes their owner's new favorite plaything.
But Stanton said that the movie is "not even really about a battle so much as the realization of an existential problem: that nobody’s really playing with toys anymore."
"Technology has changed everybody’s lives, but we’re asking what that means for us — and to our kids. We can’t just get away with making tech the villain," he said.
The first Toy Story film was released in 1995, followed by Toy Story 2 in 1999, Toy Story 3 in 2010, and Toy Story 4 in 2019. A spin-off, Lightyear, hit theaters in 2022. The movies follow a gang of toys that are secretly alive and sentient, unknown to humans.
The fifth installment is slated for a June 19, 2026 release.
Original voice actors Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz), and Joan Cusack (Jessie) are expected to return.
