With the premiere of Toy Story 4 in Los Angeles just a few days ago on June 11th, and the reviews for the latest installment in the Pixar franchise receiving warm reviews, fans of Woody and Buzz Lightyear, are not only eager to see Toy Story 4 (which opens nationwide on 6/21), they're also already clamoring for another sequel.
However, in the past weeks both Tim Allen and Tom Hanks have suggested that Toy Story 4 will be the last in the series. Apparently, "infinity and beyond," is something that will be reached on June 21st.
But, Disney-Pixar is refusing to say never when it comes to the idea of a Toy Story 5.
Toy Story / Pixar producer Mark Nielson said the following about a Toy Story 5 last week:
“Every film we make, we treat it like it’s the first and the last film we’re ever going to make,” producer Mark Nielsen said during Pixar press day for Toy Story 4. “So you force yourself to make it hold up. You don’t get in over your skis. Whether there’s another one? I don’t know. If there is, it’s tomorrow’s problem.”
At any rate, a Toy Story 5 movie is a long way off. It's taken Disney-Pixar almost a decade to bring Toy Story 4 to theaters, as Toy Story 3, was released eons ago it seems, well, 2010, to be precise.
Even though, it's taken the studio nearly a decade to bring Buzz Lightyear and Woody back to the big screen, the mantra of Disney-Pixar has always been to do "an original film a year." Pixar president Ed Catmull (who is set to retire from Pixar in later this year), back in 2013, said that "Every once in a while, we get a film where we want or people want to see something continuing in that world--which is the rationale behind the sequel. They want those characters, which means we were successful with them. But if you keep doing that, then you aren't doing original films."
Pixar hasn't managed to follow through with their ideology: In the years following the original Toy Story movie, audiences have been given Monsters, Inc. Monsters University, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, Cars, Cars 2, Cars 3, The Incredibles, The Incredibles 2, not to mention Toy Story 2.
Toy Story 4 was announced way back in 2015. And with Disney-Pixar bumping the release of the movie by two years to make other projects, fans of Woody and Buzz, have been waiting patiently for this new movie for years.
What could Toy Story 5 be about?
Fans of the franchise are currently guessing: A false, yet, amusing and interesting synopsis with regards to what a Toy Story 5 could be about was posted Idea Fandom website.
"On a vacation to Tokyo to visit her grandparents, Bonnie brings her favorite toys along with her. At the airport, however, her luggage containing her toys is accidentally left behind. Lost in the airport, the toys must find their way out, soon ending up on the streets of Tokyo. The toys must find their way back to Bonnie before it's too late."
At any rate, regardless of whether us fans of Toy Story need to wait another 10 years for a Toy Story 5 is irrelevant. With the characters of Toy Story always tugging at our heart strings, and with the stories of the toys forever universal when it comes to friendship, Disney-Pixar would be foolish not to bring another one to the big screen in the future.
Toy Story 4 opens June 21 across the United States.