Fans of Woody and Buzz are in for another treat as Tim Allen has confirmed the development of a fifth Toy Story movie. Earlier in February, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that three animated franchises would each have an additional film, including Toy Story. This fifth installment is expected to recover Pixar from the colossal failure of Lightyear, which cost the studio nearly $106 million.
Allen also confirmed that the studio approached Tom Hanks to return to his role as Woody. This sequel comes after the billion-dollar success of Toy Story 4, a film most fans were skeptical about since the series almost had a fitting conclusion in Toy Story 3.
Tim Allen Confirms The Development Of Toy Story 5
Tim Allen appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote his stand-up tour in New York City. When Jimmy Fallon touched upon the topic of a fifth Toy Story film, Allen was visibly excited. He quoted Bob Iger on the development of the film and confirmed that both he and Tom Hanks were asked to reprise their roles as Buzz and Woody, respectively.
Allen also provided some insights into the thought process behind the sequel’s development, with doubts among the cast and crew about whether five movies were too much. The Wild Hogs actor mentioned a gossip that he had come across about the return of a writer, who wrote one of the better Toy Story scripts and was pretty confident in his script. Allen told Jimmy Fallon:
“Bob Iger, head of Disney, said it was on and actually said it was going to happen. They have reached out to Tom [Hanks] and I to reprise the roles. They’re not saying anything about it… You wonder if four was too many. Is five going to be too much? According to the scuttlebutt, the writer that’s doing it wrote one of the better ones and said, ‘If I didn’t get this right, I wouldn’t do it.’ It could be a very, very interesting way to reunite it.”
The announcement comes at a time when Pixar is in dire need of a big release. While Elemental was a rebound for the studio from the massive failure of Lightyear, the studio aims to create a bigger impact in theaters with projects like Inside Out 2 in 2024 and Toy Story 5 in the future. Interestingly, Toy Story 4 grossed over $1 billion at the global box office with a record opening of $244.5 million for an animated film.
Tim Allen Was Ready For A Fifth Film Way Before The Announcement
Tim Allen’s excitement for Toy Story 5 stems from the fact that he was ready for it back when Toy Story 4 was released in theaters. The Crazy on the Outside actor told Cinemablend in 2019 that he didn’t see any reason for not doing a fifth film. Allen explained that since they passed the trilogy point successfully with the fourth film, doing a fifth film was easier. Allen told Cinemablend:
“Once you’ve gotten to four, you’re passed that trilogy [point], so I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t do it, certainly. If you ask me, I’d say do five.”
Toy Story (1995) made animated film history as the first film to be made entirely using computer-generated imagery (CGI). It was the first output from Pixar, a brainchild of Apple founder Steve Jobs, and the studio found further success with animated films over the years. The Toy Story films have grossed a total of $3.3 billion for the studio, becoming the third highest-grossing animated franchise.
All films in the Toy Story franchise are now available for streaming on Disney+.
