The toys are coming back to the living room.
Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 officially arrives on Disney+ on September 23, 2026, giving fans another chance to catch up with Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the rest of Bonnie’s toy box from home.
This time around, however, the toys are dealing with something a little different than another toy moving into the room.
They’re taking on technology.
When Toys Meet Tech
The central idea behind Toy Story 5 feels like a natural next step for a franchise that has always been about childhood changing over time.
Bonnie receives Lilypad, a new frog-shaped tablet voiced by Greta Lee. Suddenly, Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang are facing competition from something that does not need imagination in quite the same way traditional toys do. Disney describes the story as “Toy meets Tech,” with Lilypad disrupting the toys’ place in Bonnie’s world and forcing them to question what playtime looks like now.
That concept is probably one of the most interesting directions Pixar could have taken the franchise.
The original Toy Story explored what happens when a flashy new toy threatens Woody’s place as Andy’s favorite. Thirty years later, the bigger competition is no longer another action figure. It is the screen sitting in a kid’s hands.
There is something very full-circle about that.
Woody, Buzz and Jessie Are Back Together
Of course, it would not feel like Toy Story without the familiar voices behind the characters.
Tom Hanks returns as Woody, Tim Allen is back as Buzz Lightyear and Joan Cusack once again voices Jessie. Tony Hale also returns as Forky, while Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn and Blake Clark are among the other familiar names returning to the franchise.
Woody’s return is especially interesting considering where Toy Story 4 left him.
After leaving Bonnie’s room to help lost toys find new homes, Woody has remained in contact with Jessie and his old friends. When he learns that the toys may be in trouble, he comes back to help.
That gives Pixar a pretty clean way to reunite the group without completely undoing Woody’s decision at the end of the previous movie.
A Few New Toys Join the Toy Box
Lilypad is not the only newcomer this time around.
Conan O’Brien voices Smarty Pants, while Craig Robinson joins the cast as Atlas, a cheerful hippo-shaped GPS toy. The movie also includes a number of other new characters alongside the returning favorites.
It continues one of my favorite things about the Toy Story series: seeing what Pixar can do with objects that kids might actually have around their bedrooms.
Each movie has expanded that world differently, and bringing electronic toys and tablets into the mix feels very appropriate for where childhood is today.
More Than 30 Years of Toy Story
It is still pretty wild to think that the original Toy Story arrived in 1995.
Since then, Woody and Buzz have gone from Andy’s bedroom to daycare centers, carnival grounds and everything in between. Now the franchise is entering another era where the definition of a “toy” continues to change.
Director Andrew Stanton, with Kenna Harris serving as co-director, takes the characters into this latest chapter.
For longtime fans, there is obviously plenty of nostalgia attached to seeing these characters again. For younger viewers, though, the struggle between physical toys and digital entertainment might be even more relatable.
That balance between generations has always been one of Toy Story’s strongest qualities.
The Toy Box Opens Again September 23
Whether you caught Toy Story 5 during its theatrical run or decided to wait for streaming, Disney+ is about to make the newest chapter much easier to revisit.
Toy Story 5 begins streaming on Disney+ September 23, 2026. The first four Toy Story movies, along with several shorts and specials, are also available through the service’s Toy Story collection.
There is something fitting about a movie focused on toys competing with screens eventually arriving on one of those screens itself.
Now the only question is whether Lilypad can really compete with Woody, Buzz and Jessie for our attention.
