Take a moment to consider the fact the original Toy Story movie debuted in theaters in 1995, more than three decades ago. Needless to say, a lot has happened since then. After all, regular gasoline was roughly one dollar per gallon at the time and the late Coolio had the No. 1 song in the world.
One thing that hasn’t changed in more than thirty years, though? The fact Toy Story has never once had a network TV or streaming series.
But … why? After all, this is a franchise, led by Hollywood icon Tom Hanks as Woody and award-winning actor Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, that has gone on to rake in more than $3.3 billion dollars in box office earnings alone, and a projected (and mind-blowing) $16 billion in totality, factoring in retail merchandise sales.
So, what gives??
TV Isn’t an Option for Toy Story, And Here’s Why …
Now five films into its anthology, following the highly-touted release of Toy Story 5 in June 2026, the producer of the latest movie in Pixar’s flagship franchise, Lindsey Collins, confessed to CBR’s Grae Drake why Woody and Buzz have never branched off into TV.
“Yes, there has been talk in the past,” Collins said in the exclusive interview. “But, it was kind of a very specific, separate idea that somebody had ended up being like … well, I think what it ultimately comes back to is that there is such a love for these characters, and the desire to keep them in this world that we’re so familiar with.”
She continued: “It’s not that we don’t want to see more of them. But there’s also this fear of, like, we only want to do it when we know we have a really solid story. So the thought of actually coming up with something that would sustain a series, I think everybody’s like, ‘I don’t know, we can barely plan for a movie,’ so I think that feels daunting!”
Well, considering a streaming series appears out of the question, the next logical quandary involves the end of the Toy Story franchise.
How Many Toy Story Movies Will Pixar Make?
Will Toy Story 5 be the finale? Possibly, but don’t count on it. The director/co-writer/co-creator of the franchise, Andrew Stanton, recently told ScreenRant “you can never say never” when the question of more installments was thrown his way — noting the change in focus from a growing Andy to a young Bonnie makes for an easy transition to additional films.
“So, hopefully, I think that’s the pattern, if it keeps going,” he said. “So I always knew that there was a natural possibility to just follow Bonnie, and just follow her life, and just see what happens to the toys if it keeps going. So there was always that seed. It’s like a series that doesn’t know it’s going to get picked up for the next season.”
He continued: “We’d always end it like it could end here, but we’ve passed the badge on from Woody to Jessie at the end of [Toy Story 4], just in case it keeps going. So it’s always been that kind of mindset.”
It sounds as if Woody better invest in that brown marker, after all.
Toy Story 5 has a scheduled playdate in theaters worldwide on June 19, 2026.
- Release Date
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June 19, 2026
- Runtime
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102 Minutes
- Director
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Andrew Stanton, McKenna Harris
- Writers
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Andrew Stanton, McKenna Jean Harris
- Producers
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Lindsey Collins, Jessica Choi
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Tim Allen
Buzz Lightyear (voice)