Could Toy Story 5 be the end of the road for Woody, Buzz and Jessie? The creators of the new Pixar film have their say

Toy Story 5‘s creators have discussed the future of Woody, Buzz and Jessie
The trio have been the main roles of the film series for more than 25 years
There are no current plans to retire them and focus on a new line of toys

The creative team behind it Toy Story 5 – and the wider film franchise – say they have “no plans” to retire Woody, Buzz and Jessie as the main characters.

In an exclusive interview with TechRadar, director Andrew Stanton and producer Lindsey Collins indicated that they weren’t actively looking to move on from the franchise’s iconic trio. But the pair also appeared to leave the door open to a potential changing of the guard at some point in the future.

Woody and Buzz have been the faces of Pixar’s most beloved and enduring film series since the first – and groundbreaking – Toy Story the film was released in 1995. After making her debut in the aforementioned film’s 1999 sequel, Jessie has not only become an integral part of the group, but is now popular enough to be the lead in a Toy Story, well, story—that is, Toy Story 5.

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Bullseye and Jessie look concerned while looking at something off-camera in Toy Story 5 — Jessie is the toy-based protagonist of Pixar’s latest film – but how many more will she appear in? (Image credit: Disney Pixar)

With Jessie installed as the main character in one of 2026’s most anticipated new films, Woody and Buzz find themselves in the unusual position of being the primary supporting characters rather than the stars of a Toy Story film.

Pixar and parent company Disney are testing the waters to see how Toy Story fans react to having another character – albeit an instantly recognizable face in Jessie – take the spotlight? And if so, is this our clearest sign yet that the studios might be starting to plan for life without the fan-favorite individuals?

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“That’s an interesting question,” Collins replied when I asked similar questions to her and Stanton. “So far we’ve had a philosophy of following the kids – first Andy and now Bonnie – and the toys… they’ve obviously grown and evolved and some have fallen by the wayside, but each film brings in a few new toys.

“So the kids themselves have been the thing that we’ve been tracking narratively. There’s the Andy years, and now Bonnie has a whole different experience with them and different issues she has to deal with her toys.

“But it’s never been about, ‘hey, there’s no more stories to be had with these characters,'” Collins continued. “Also, we never think about the next film while we’re making the current one. So we don’t have any plans [to retire this group of toys]. We just treat each one as their own thing, let those characters rest and see if a new idea for a different story bubbles to the surface.”

“Yeah, none of the other sequels were planned,” Stanton added. “If we’ve learned anything from working on these movies, it’s not to plan ahead. So, as Lindsey says, we let them rest and see what happens.”

Regardless, Pixar is apparently moving forward with ideas for more sequels. In a chat with Entertainment Weekly in April, Stanton said that brainstorming sessions for Toy Story 5 mean “there would be two movies worth of Toy Story material to explore next time”. Whether they center around Woody, Buzz and Jessie, however, remains to be seen.

Toy Story 5 hits theaters worldwide on Friday, June 19. Its four predecessors, plus the franchise’s many TV spin-offs and miniseries, can now be seen on Disney+, also known as one of the world’s best streaming services.