Could Toy Story 5 be the end of the road for Woody, Buzz and Jessie? The creators of the new Pixar movie give their opinion

toy story 5The creators have talked about the future of Woody, Buzz and Jessie.
The trio has been starring in the film series for over 25 years.
There are no current plans to retire them and focus on a new group of toys.

The creative team behind toy story 5 – and the film franchise in general – say they have “no plans” to retire Woody, Buzz and Jessie as their main characters.

In an exclusive interview with TechRadar, director Andrew Stanton and producer Lindsey Collins indicated that they were not actively looking to leave the film series’ iconic trio. However, the couple also seemed to leave the door open to a possible changing of the guard at some point in the future.

Woody and Buzz have been 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 1999 film, Jessie has not only become an integral part of the group, but is now also popular enough to be the protagonist of a Toy Story story, i.e. toy story 5.

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Bullseye and Jessie look worried while looking at something off camera in Toy Story 5 — Jessie is the toy-based protagonist of Pixar’s latest film, but how many more will she appear in? (Image credit: Disney Pixar)

With Jessie installed as 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 toy story movie.

Are Pixar and its parent company Disney testing the waters to see how toy story Do fans react to having a different character, even an immediately recognizable face in Jessie, take the spotlight? And, if so, is this our clearest sign yet that studios might be starting to plan for life without fan-favorite people?

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“It’s an interesting question,” Collins responded when I asked her and Stanton similarly worded questions. “Up until now, we’ve had the philosophy of following 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 some new toys.

“So the kids themselves have been what we’ve followed narratively. There’s the Andy years, and now Bonnie has a totally different experience with them and different problems she has to deal with with her toys.

“But it’s never been about ‘hey, there’s no more story to exploit with these characters,'” Collins continued. “Also, we never think about the next movie while making the current one. So, we don’t have any plan.” [to retire this group of toys]. “We just treat each one as if it were their own, let these characters rest and see if a new idea for another story comes up.”

“Yes, none of the other sequels were planned,” Stanton added. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned working on these movies, it’s not to plan ahead. So, like Lindsey says, we’ll let them rest and see what happens.”

Be that as it may, Pixar is apparently moving forward with ideas for more sequels. In fact, speaking to Entertainment Weekly in April, Stanton said that brainstorming sessions for Toy Story 5 meant that “there would be two Toy Story movies.” toy story material to explore next.” However, whether they focus on Woody, Buzz and Jessie remains to be seen.

toy story 5 hits theaters around the world on Friday, June 19. Its four predecessors, plus the franchise’s numerous spin-offs and television miniseries, are now available to watch on Disney+, aka one of the best streaming services in the world.