In February of 2024, Disney announced that they intend to release the Pixar film “Toy Story 5” on June 19, 2026. It was later announced at a D23 press event that Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton would direct, and that the story will involve the franchise’s well-known toy characters facing off against the encroaching presence of tablets. Toys, of course, need to be played with to feel valuable and to achieve happiness. If a toy’s young owner comes into possession of a time-sucking computer tablet, it more or less spells death for the toys. One can imagine that Stanton will contrive a reason to bring back Woody (Tom Hanks), who left his owner at the end of “Toy Story 4” to become a “lost toy” out in the world, living happily with his girlfriend, Bo Peep (Annie Potts).
The concept of the “Toy Story” toys fighting the oncoming scourge of video games, however, was already covered in a little-talked-about Christmas special called “Toy Story That Time Forgot,” written and directed by Steve Purcell. (Purcell, as we all know, created “Sam & Max: Freelance Police!!!,” one of the better shows of the 1990s.) “Time Forgot” first aired on ABC on December 2, 2014, and it is weirdly one of the less talked-about “Toy Story” spinoffs to have come out. It’s weirder still that few are talking about it, given that its premise is essentially being borrowed for “Toy Story 5.”
The story involved the toys’ owner, Bonnie (Emily Hahn), going over to play with a friend named Mason (R.C. Cope), who just received a new video game system for Christmas. The two play video games instead of with their toys, leading to a toy war in Mason’s bedroom.
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It’s toys vs. video games in Toy Story That Time Forgot
Reptillus about to shut off a video game in Toy Story Time Forgot – Pixar
The story is clever and fun, as is typical for most Pixar movies. When she heard she was going to play with Mason at his house, Bonnie packed up Woody, Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and all her other toys, hoping to play with them. Mason, however, is too hooked to video games to notice her toys, and she abandons them in his room to join him. Mason’s gaming addiction most upsets a massive dinosaur-action-figure playset in his room — Battlesaurs — also Christmas presents. Because they are immediately being neglected, the Battlesaurs don’t yet realize they are toys, and operate under the belief that they are indeed He-Man-like dino-warriors. Woody’s triceratops friend Trixie (Kristen Schaal) and Rex (Wallace Shawn), a tyrannosaurus, are welcomed by the Battlesaurs, but the other toys are kidnapped and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena.
The main character is Trixie, and her character arc is finding her true identity as a dinosaur; she previously resented that Bonnie never played with her as if she was, well, a dinosaur. She was usually relegated to tea parties and the like.
There is also a new toy in “Toy Story That Time Forgot” in the form of Angel Kitty (Emma Hudak), a talking Christmas tree ornament that can only speak in bland aphorisms. The story climaxes when Trixie convinces the warrior leader of the Battlesaurs, the gruff Reptillus (Kevin McKidd), to sneak into Mason’s computer room and turn off the video games. Doing so will instigate playtime with toys, and keep the plastic objects alive and happy. (It seems that video games have no souls or life in this universe. That’s best relegated to the world of Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph.”)
Toy Story 5 will use the same premise, kind of
The press release for “Toy Story 5,” meanwhile, describes the film’s premise like this:
“In the teaser, fans are introduced to the new character Lilypad, a high-tech, frog-shaped smart tablet voiced by Greta Lee that makes Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs exponentially harder when they go head-to-head with the all-new threat to playtime. Tom Hanks returns as the ever-loyal cowboy Woody, Tim Allen reports for duty as Buzz Lightyear, Joan Cusack saddles up again as the rootin’-tootin’ cowgirl Jessie, and Tony Hale is back as the voice of the handcrafted toy Forky.”
Further details of the plot were not included, and the character of Mason was not mentioned. It did mention, though, that Conan O’Brien will be playing a teaching toy called Smarty-Pants.
Although the “Toy Story” trilogy ended satisfyingly with “Toy Story 3” in 2010, Pixar rolled forward with a sequel in 2019 which saw the adventures of lost toys and addressed the curious nether-state occupied by homemade toys. That film was also a satisfying ending to the “Toy Story” saga, letting Woody be free to pursue his own dreams. The function of “Toy Story 5,” however, is the first to address the way technology has altered the way kids play, and will seemingly question what will happen to toys in that milieu. One might wonder if the characters from “Wreck-It Ralph” will eventually interact with the “Toy Story” toys in some way. It would be interesting to hear toys and video games converse about their respective relationships with children.
“Toy Story 5” will be in theaters on June 19, 2026.
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