Woody’s New Look and a Star-Packed Cast Take Center Stage in ‘Toy Story 5’ Trailer
Pixar debuted the full trailer for “Toy Story 5” on Thursday, Feb. 19, and it delivered what many fans have waited for since the last film’s emotional ending: an official reunion between Woody and Buzz Lightyear.
The movie will be released exclusively in theaters on June 19, 2026.
For anyone who sat in a theater in 1995 watching a cowboy doll and a space ranger argue over who was the favorite toy, this franchise has now been running for close to three decades.
Woody, apparently, has the bald spot to prove it.
Wait — Didn’t We Say Goodbye to Woody?
Fair question. Many fans thought they’d said their final farewell to Woody at the end of Toy Story 4, released in 2019, when he chose to start a new life with Bo Peep as a lost toy. It was a genuinely affecting ending.
Woody chose a different path. Buzz let him go. Tissues were deployed.
So what brings everyone back together? According to the new trailer, it starts with a walkie-talkie call.
Woody is talking to Jessie over a walkie-talkie. He and Bo Peep have been on the hunt for abandoned toys when Jessie gives him an update on life with Bonnie, the toys’ owner.
Things haven’t been great. Jessie feels like she’s losing Bonnie because she’s spending too much time on a new tablet, named Lilypad.
“Tech has invaded our house, too,” Jessie tells Woody.
“I don’t know, Jessie. Toys are for play, but tech is for everything,” Woody replies.
That premise should land hard for anyone who’s watched a kid choose a screen over a physical toy — which covers basically every parent, aunt or uncle alive right now.
The toys-versus-technology conflict sets the stage for what appears to be the central tension of the film.
Woody Returns in ‘Toy Story 5’ — With a New Look
Then Woody shows up. And when he takes his hat off, he reveals that he’s balding. The bald spot hilariously glistened in the sunlight and blinded the other toys.
If there’s a more on-the-nose metaphor for what this franchise and its audience have been through over 30 years, it’s hard to imagine one.
The cowboy doll is aging. So are we.
Lilypad makes fun of Woody’s bald spot by calling him “some kind of old man toy,” but Woody doesn’t get the joke.
“She thinks you’re old because you’re bald, Woody,” Forky, the toy made out of a plastic spork, says.
The trailer comes three months after Pixar released a teaser trailer that introduced the world to Lilypad, voiced by Greta Lee.
The Voice Cast Brings Back the Originals
The previously announced voice cast includes Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, Joan Cusack as Jessie, Greta Lee as Lilypad, Conan O’Brien as Smarty Pants, and Tony Hale as Forky.
Having Hanks and Allen back in the recording booth together is no small thing for fans who have been with this series from the start.
The returning cast goes well beyond those marquee names. The full voice cast includes plenty of familiar and new faces, according to Pixar.
Returning favorites include John Ratzenberger as the wisecracking piggybank Hamm, Wallace Shawn as the anxiety-riddled Rex, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, Jeff Bergman as Mr. Potato Head, Anna Vocino as Mrs. Potato Head, Annie Potts as Bo Peep, Bonnie Hunt as the rag-doll Dolly, John Hopkins as the hedgehog plush Mr. Pricklepants, Kristen Schaal as Trixie, Ernie Hudson as Combat Carl, and Keanu Reeves as Canadian daredevil toy Duke Caboom.
New additions to the cast include Craig Robinson as Atlas, a cheerful talking GPS hippo toy; Shelby Rabara as the excitable camera toy Snappy; Scarlett Spears as the sweet and shy 8-year-old Bonnie; Mykal-Michelle Harris as Blaze, an independent 8-year-old girl who loves animals; Matty Matheson as the tech-fearing toy Dr. Nutcase; and Melissa Villaseñor as Karen Beverly, Bonnie’s homemade toy fashioned out of a plastic knife.
That’s a deep bench. The mix of legacy characters and newcomers suggests the film is trying to honor the franchise’s history while pushing the story forward.
Does This Story Need to Continue?
The heart of the trailer — and, seemingly, the heart of the film — is Woody coming back.
After the Toy Story 4 goodbye, his return to the group carries real emotional weight. It’s a reversal of what many fans accepted as a permanent farewell.
Whether that reversal feels earned or forced will depend on execution. The trailer leans into humor: the balding gag, the tech-versus-toys generational clash, Forky’s bluntness.
But the underlying question is a serious one for anyone who grew up on these movies. Did this story need to continue?
The answer won’t arrive until June 19, 2026, when Toy Story 5 hits theaters exclusively.
But for now, there’s Woody, bald spot gleaming in the sun, back among friends. After three decades with these characters, that image alone carries a surprising amount of weight — whether you think a fifth film is warranted or not.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.