One of the most beloved animated film franchises is returning with Toy Story 5 and star Tim Allen assures fans it is not a cash grab.
The only role that is more popular than Tim Allen’s Santa Claus from the eponymous franchise is his role as Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films. The animated films are beloved by Pixar fans and it is in large part due to Allen and co-star Tom Hanks’ voice roles. After four blockbuster films, a fifth part is due to release in 2026.
While the Toy Story films received incredible box office numbers, many fans have expressed their discontent about how both the third and fourth parts felt like the end of the franchise, only for Pixar to make another one. This has led many to criticize the studio for attempting to capitalize on the films’ success. However, Allen disagreed with this notion.
Tim Allen assured fans there is a creative reason for Toy Story 5 to happen
Tim Allen became the voice of exploration when he played the role of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story franchise. His gruff yet kind voice was the perfect contrast to Tom Hanks’ frustrated and anxiety-filled Woody. Toy Story was the first computer-animated film ever and was a huge success at the box office. It also won the Special Achievement Academy Award.
The success of the film got a sequel commissioned that became a bigger hit. Toy Story 3 was then released in 2010, a decade after its predecessor to raving reviews and even bigger box office success. The ending of the film felt like this was it for Andy’s toys but Pixar surprised fans nine years later with Toy Story 4.
Despite the climactic separation of Woody and Buzz in Toy Story 4 and many of the key cast and crew members claiming that it would be the final film in the franchise, Pixar announced another sequel that is scheduled to release in 2026. Amidst accusations of it being a cash grab, Tim Allen spoke to Collider and addressed the need for a fifth movie.
I don’t really believe it’s about the money. I’m sure they want it to be a success, but that’s not why they did it. Had they not come up with a brilliant script, they wouldn’t have done it and they wouldn’t have called me and Tom [Hanks]. It’s really clever.
The actor also mentioned that the moment in the fourth film where he said ‘To Infinity’ and Tom Hanks’ Woody responded with ‘And Beyond’ was one of the best moments in the franchise for him. Fans are still skeptical about the finality of the moment being ruined with another sequel. But Allen assured fans that the film was ‘really good’.
Fans may be upset about Toy Story 5 but the franchise is still alive and kicking
Hollywood runs on sequels and franchises. While everyone craves an original, it only takes one Google search to see which are the highest-grossing films of any given year. Despite fans wanting Pixar to make originals and stop working on sequels to its legacy films, the highest-grossing film of this year is Inside Out 2 (via Box Office Mojo).
Coming to the Toy Story franchise, each entry in the installment has done significantly better both at the box office and in terms of ratings than its predecessor. Toy Story 4, despite following up a genuinely heartbreaking ending in the third film, has a 94% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as opposed to Toy Story 3’s 90%.
This proves that fans are still interested in the franchise and its sequels. Even if accusations of Toy Story 5 being a cash grab are thrown away now, it will not be surprising to see audiences flocking to the theaters when it releases in 2026 and becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year. It happened to Inside Out 2 and The Incredibles 2.
Toy Story 4 is also the highest-grossing film of the franchise. It earned $1.07 billion at the box office, with $434 million coming in from the domestic markets (via Box Office Mojo). This was the film many considered to be a cash grab too before its release, with the likes of Quentin Tarantino famously expressing his disdain for another sequel.
