Toy Story 5 trailer takes on tech and AI as its brand-new villains, but there’s something bigger to worry about

Kids and grown-up kids alike, look lively – the first Toy Story 5 trailer is finally here. The story (pun intended)? Exactly what we thought it would be: Buzz (Tim Allen), Woody (Tom Hanks), and the gang take on a brand-new nemesis in the form of Lilypad (Greta Lee), a kid-friendly tablet.

Releasing on June 19, 2026, the fifth installment in the Pixar franchise is taking the obvious route of pitting traditional toys against tech in their 2020s world. Is it the most inspired choice? No, but I think it's the least of Toy Story's problems.

With a banging soundtrack (the INXS classic 'Never Tear Us Apart' can be heard in the background) and crisp VFX, I hate to pick the new trailer apart. I spent my fifth birthday party dressed up as Jessie (now voiced by Joan Cusack), and those ties never leave you.

However, I think the move is an obvious ploy from Disney for Toy Story 6, and even a potential Toy Story 7. Being heckled by a talking tablet that looks like a frog is one thing, but more sinister battles could lie in Toy Story's future (and don't even get me started on what Toy Story 4 means now).

The new Toy Story 5 trailer could set up two more worrying sequels – here's how

Toy Story 5 | Teaser Trailer | In Theaters June 19 - YouTube

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Okay, I can't take full credit for this theory, but I fully but into it. On X/Twitter, user Sam Logan suggested an idea for seven Toy Story movies in 2023, and now that we've got a fully formed trailer for film number five, I think it holds up more than ever.

The first five movies are, as you know them, but the next two (that we don't even know if we'll get) take a much darker turn. Our fictional Toy Story 6 would show Buzz and Woody leading a toy revolution against digital society, with a full-blown civil war taking place in Toy Story 7.

The original post was probably a joke, but honestly, I wouldn't put it past Disney to go down this route. Popular franchises will be spun out for as long as they can hold out for, and Toy Story is one of Pixar's most malleable IPs.

If it's going to parallel our real world, where the influence of AI still hangs in the balance, the above synopses would be the way to go. Buzz and Woody can't ignore digital developments, much like we can't.

Add in the feeling of general global despair, and Toy Story 6 and 7 could be a societal mirror. It's probably all a bit bleak for kids to watch, but hey, we had to sit through Disney movies like Bambi and The Fox and the Hound.

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There's also a huge problem for Toy Story 4's legacy

Of course, there's another obvious problem: what does this mean for the events of Toy Story 4? Do we forget it ever happened, like the toys have seemed to?

At the end of the fourth movie, Woody decides to leave Bonnie's (Madeline McGraw) room to live as a "lost toy" with Bo Peep (Annie Potts), finding a new purpose in helping other lost toys find homes at a carnival. Given Woody's now back in a child's bedroom... what happened there?

Even though the movie still has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes six years after it was released, I've got a feeling we're going to collectively hallucinate it into the Disney bin come next summer.

I still hold out hope that the sudden switch will be explained in the opening scenes of Toy Story 5, but I'm doubtful. Even if it does, the fourth film was supposed to be the final farewell as Woody sailed off into the sunset, but you can't keep a good cowboy down, I guess.

Combine these sequel issues together, and I think Toy Story 5 has its work cut out for it, even after a solid trailer drop. Regardless, "to infinity and beyond" really could mean there will be more movies to come.

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