Pixar Animation Studios has officially released the first trailer for Toy Story 5, announcing that this classic animated franchise will return to the big screen on June 19, 2026. The film is directed by Andrew Stanton, who has worked on the creation of works such as Finding Nemo and WALL-E, and is also the core screenwriter of the first four Toy Story films.
1. High-Tech “Toys” Trigger a New Crisis
In this trailer, familiar characters including Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and other toy friends will face a brand-new challenge—a threat from the high-tech tablet toy “Lilypad”.
According to the official description, Lilypad is a “frog-shaped smart tablet” with internet connectivity and voice interaction functions, putting traditional toys in an unprecedented predicament. Greta Lee will voice this character, adding a new sense of technology and dramatic tension to the film.
2. Original Cast Returns,
New Characters Join
Nearly all of the cast familiar to fans will return—Tom Hanks and Tim Allen will continue to voice Woody and Buzz Lightyear, Joan Cusack will reprise her role as Jessie, and Blake Clark and Tony Hale will keep voicing Slinky Dog and Forky respectively.
In addition, well-known host Conan O’Brien will join the Pixar universe for the first time to voice the new character “Smarty Pants”, which is expected to bring a lot of comedic laughs.
3. Introduction to Pixar
Since the release of the first Toy Story in 1995, this franchise has not only become a milestone in animated films but also ushered in a new era of full computer animation. The subsequent Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Toy Story 4 (2019) all achieved great success. Among them, the latter two even won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and both grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
Toy Story 5 will be Pixar’s 31st animated feature film. Although the studio’s recent works have had mixed performances—Elio (2024) only grossed $152 million worldwide, Inside Out 2 became the annual box office champion with over $1.5 billion.
Before the release of the new film, Pixar also plans to launch a new original animation Peter Pan in March 2026.
Despite the unstable box office performance of Pixar’s original works in recent years, the Toy Story franchise has always been the most commercially appealing brand of Disney and Pixar. The combination of nostalgia and fresh elements triggered by the trailer makes it worth looking forward to.
