Toy Story 5 pits Woody, Buzz and Jessie against their toughest rival yet, a tablet, and it became the biggest opening in the franchise’s history. Here are seven facts every fan should know about Pixar’s record-breaking sequel.
Toy Story 5 is Pixar’s fifth film about Bonnie’s toys, and this time the threat is a screen: Bonnie falls for a frog-themed smart tablet called Lilypad, and the toys have to win back her attention. Directed by Andrew Stanton, it opened in North American cinemas on 19 June 2026 and took about $160 million there in its first weekend, with more than $310 million worldwide.
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack are all back, Taylor Swift wrote and sang the end-credits song, and the film has since passed $1 billion globally. It is now streaming on Disney+.
Toy Story 5 at a glance
- Release date: 19 June 2026 in the US, after a world premiere at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, on 9 June
- Director: Andrew Stanton, with Kenna Harris as co-director
- Writers: Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris
- Voice cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Greta Lee and Conan O’Brien
- Studio: Pixar Animation Studios, released by Walt Disney Studios
- Runtime: 102 minutes, rated PG in the US
- Reported budget: about $250 million
- Worldwide gross: about $1.146 billion by late September 2026
- Streaming: Disney+ from 23 September 2026
1. Toy Story 5 is about screens
The toys have already faced being outgrown, lost, sold and left behind. The new rival is Lily, a tablet designed to hold a child’s attention, voiced by Greta Lee. Woody and Buzz have to work out how play survives when an app is always one tap away.
Jessie is now the leader of the toys, and much of the story follows her fear of losing Bonnie. Stanton has described the film as asking whether anyone still plays with toys. It is a question every parent in the UAE managing screen time over the summer holidays will recognise.
2. Andrew Stanton is back in charge
Stanton co-wrote the original Toy Story in 1995 and went on to direct Finding Nemo and WALL-E, both of which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. He co-directs here with Kenna Harris, who also shares the screenplay credit.
Disney’s Bob Iger confirmed a fifth film in February 2023, and Stanton was named director in 2024. According to the film’s Wikipedia entry, it is the first mainline Toy Story film made without John Lasseter, and the first feature rendered with Pixar’s new RenderMan XPU software. The playtime scenes also use a softer, painterly look.
3. The Toy Story 5 voice cast mixes old friends and new toys
Tom Hanks voices Woody, Tim Allen voices Buzz Lightyear and Joan Cusack voices Jessie. Annie Potts, Keanu Reeves, Tony Hale and Wallace Shawn return too, and Stanton himself makes a cameo as Emperor Zurg.
The new faces are just as much fun. Conan O’Brien plays Smarty Pants, a toilet-training toy, Craig Robinson voices Atlas, a GPS hippo, and Alan Cumming turns up as Evil Bullseye inside a child’s imagination. Bonnie herself is now voiced by Scarlett Spears.
4. Taylor Swift wrote a number one end-credits song
Swift wrote, produced and sang “I Knew It, I Knew You” with Jack Antonoff after watching the film. She performed it live at the Los Angeles premiere and joined Randy Newman, the franchise’s long-time songwriter, for a duet of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”.
The song went straight to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. That made it Pixar’s first chart-topper and Swift’s 15th. Newman, meanwhile, scored the film, his tenth collaboration with the studio.
5. Toy Story 5 box office: the biggest opening in franchise history
The sequel took $17.5 million from Thursday previews and $71 million on its opening day. Its first weekend in North America came in at about $160 million from 4,425 cinemas, well ahead of Toy Story 4‘s $120 million.
As Khaleej Times reported, citing Variety, that made it the biggest domestic debut of 2026 at that point, passing The Super Mario Galaxy Movie‘s $131.7 million. Only Incredibles 2, at $182.7 million, has opened bigger among animated films. The global start of about $310 million is the best in Pixar’s history.
6. It became a billion-dollar hit
The film held well through the summer. By 25 September 2026 it had earned about $480 million in the US and Canada and $666 million elsewhere, a total of roughly $1.146 billion worldwide.
That makes it the highest-grossing film in the series and the third-biggest release of 2026 so far. For a fifth chapter in a franchise that began in 1995, it is a remarkable result.
7. Critics and audiences were on side
Reviews were strong. The film holds 93% on Rotten Tomatoes from 327 reviews and 73 on Metacritic, and cinema audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore. Critics praised the visuals, the voice work and the humour, though some found the script thinner than the best films in the series.
Each film has found a new fear that matches its audience’s stage of life: being replaced, growing up, finding a purpose. Toy Story 5 is about attention, which may be the most current fear yet.
Where to watch Toy Story 5 in the UAE
Pixar films are among the most popular family releases in UAE cinemas, and the studio’s titles usually open here within a day or two of the global launch. If it is still showing, check VOX, Reel, Novo and Roxy listings for times and formats.
At home, Toy Story 5 has been on Disney+ since 23 September 2026, following a digital release on 18 August and a Blu-ray release on 22 September. Catalogues differ by country, so search for it in the Disney+ app in the UAE.
Toy Story 5 FAQs
What is Toy Story 5 about?
Bonnie becomes attached to a smart tablet called Lilypad, and the toys, led by Jessie, must compete with technology for her attention.
Who sings the song in Toy Story 5?
Taylor Swift. She wrote, produced and sang the end-credits song “I Knew It, I Knew You”, which reached number one in the US.
Is Toy Story 5 on Disney+?
Yes. It began streaming on Disney+ on 23 September 2026. Check the app for availability in the UAE.
For more from the Toy Story universe, watch the trailer for Pixar’s Lightyear, the Buzz spin-off, visit the official Pixar website, and find more stories in our Hollywood section.