“Toy Story 5” will begin streaming on Disney+ on September 23, Disney announced Thursday. The Pixar sequel has also crossed the billion-dollar mark worldwide, making it the third movie in the franchise to do so after “Toy Story 3” in 2010 and “Toy Story 4” in 2024.
The film opened on June 19 to a whopping $160 million — the best opening any movie has seen this year, the second-best opening ever for an animated film stateside behind Pixar’s own “Incredibles 2,” and the third-best June opening following “Jurassic World” and “Incredibles 2.”
Taylor Swift got “songwriter zoomies” and wrote and recorded her original “Toy Story 5” song the same day she first saw the movie.
In this installment, toys meet tech. Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the rest of the gang see their jobs challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad, a brand-new tablet device with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie. The voice cast includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O’Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara and Mykal-Michelle Harris.
Back in the Saddle
“Toy Story 5” is directed by Andrew Stanton and co-directed by Kenna Harris, with producers Lindsey Collins and Jessica Choi. Stanton and Harris wrote the screenplay from a story by Stanton. Disney also unveiled a new music video Thursday for Taylor Swift’s original song “I Knew It, I Knew You,” written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff. The track is available on Disney+, Spotify and Apple Music.
The streaming announcement caps a remarkable theatrical run that has helped keep the franchise relevant across three decades of audiences. For fans who missed it in theaters, September 23 gives them a date to finally bring the gang home.
Why It Matters
A Toy Story movie crossing $1 billion is rare air — only three of the five installments have done it — and it proves Pixar can still turn nostalgia into a theatrical event. The Disney+ release means the toys reach a whole new generation of viewers who may have been too young for the theatrical run, while the Taylor Swift song keeps the film buzzing in pop culture well past opening weekend. With Woody and Buzz heading to streaming in under a month, the story isn’t ending — it’s just moving to a new shelf.
