Where Toy Story 5's Next Pixar Movie Easter Eggs Are Revealed By Directors & Producer - MCE Notices | California State Portal

Pixar have kept their future-teasing Easter egg tradition alive in Toy Story 5, and the team have confirmed new details about them.

The new installment in the animated franchise marks a return to the mainline series of films after the divisive response to the Lightyear spinoff, with Jessie, Buzz and her friends finding their fun with the now-eight-year-old Bonnie at risk after her parents gift her a Lilypad tablet. Fearing being shunned forever by Bonnie and given away to an unknown future, Jessie reaches out to Woody for help, resulting in an all-out fight between old-school and new-school toys.

In anticipation of the movie’s release, ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan interviewed Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris and Lindsey Collins to discuss Toy Story 5. When asked about the Pixar tradition of hiding Easter eggs alluding to their future projects in a new release, the team confirmed the Toy Story sequel will feature multiple references to their next film, Gatto.

Collins and Harris further teased that audiences should “look to the screens” for the Easter eggs from the 2027 film, while Stanton further teased that said in-movie screens are “not where all the Easter eggs are.” Collins concurred that at least one Gatto reference is on a screen, while another is in the room of Mykal-Michelle Harris’ Blaze:

Kenna Harris: There are so many Easter eggs in these films that we actually don’t know about them.

Lindsey Collins: They don’t tell us.

Andrew Stanton: Half the time the crew doesn’t tell us. [Laughs]

Lindsey Collins: And then we’re like, “Wait, what?” [Laughs]

Kenna Harris: “Did you know this thing is in it?” “No. No one told me.” “Yeah, we put that thing in it.” [Laughs]

Pixar’s beloved trend of hiding Easter eggs for their future films first began with 2001’s Monsters Inc., in which the young Boo could be seen playing with a plush goldfish doll designed after their eponymous protagonist in Finding Nemo. The 25 years since have seen everything from Incredibles comic strips appearing in other films to WALL-E utilizing the decaying walker of Up‘s Carl Fredericksen and The Good Dinosaur getting multiple references due to changes in its release schedule.

Every Pixar Movie Easter Egg That Teased A Future Film

One of Pixar’s traditions is adding an Easter egg that teases an upcoming movie. Here’s where you can find each of these and what they’re teasing.

As for Toy Story 5, while it was announced well beforehand, its first sneaky tease came about in this year’s Hoppers, the body-swapping sci-fi comedy many hailed as a return to form for Pixar. Partway through the film, a scene set in the room of Piper Curda’s Mabel featured a quick glimpse at Atlas, the talking GPS hippo toy voiced by Craig Robinson, sitting on one of her shelves.

With the introduction of tech screens and tablets in Toy Story 5, the opportunity seems wide open for the film to feature more than just Gatto-related Easter eggs. Lilypad’s access to the internet could see sneaky references to everything from Al’s Toy Barn from Toy Story 2 to clips from Lightyear, better tying the spinoff film into the mainline series by establishing it as a movie within the franchise’s universe, to drawings of other fan-favorite characters from prior titles.

Having kept the actual details under wraps about what will be seen in Toy Story 5, curiosity is now going to turn to whether its Gatto Easter eggs will reveal further designs for the 2027 film. Pixar released the first teaser trailer for the movie, led by Marvel Cinematic Universe vet Mark Ruffalo, this month, showcasing a shift to a 2D hand-painted art style and introducing Ruffalo’s Nero, as well as Laurence Fishburne’s Rocco and a handful of other stray cats.

Given Gatto is an original story for Pixar rather than a franchise sequel, Toy Story 5 could subtly set up more of the feline characters, or even potential human characters, to come from the 2027 film. Additionally, with Pixar currently in development on a variety of other titles, from the long-awaited Incredibles 3 and Coco 2 to such original titles as Ono Ghost Market and an untitled musical from Turning Red‘s Domee Shi, Ruffalo’s movie may not be the only one to get a nod in Woody and his friends’ latest adventure.