Since the Toy Story movies have been coming out now for over three decades, it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising if Woody and Buzz turned things over to a new generation of toys – especially Woody after he literally left Bonnie’s room at the end of Toy Story 4. But thankfully, both characters are back in action for Toy Story 5, which is among 2026 movies hitting theaters this summer. But, I recently found out from the movie’s writer/director Andrew Stanton that this wasn’t always the case for Woody.
Toy Story 5 has Woody reuniting with our favorite toys, bald spot and all, and of course, is once again voiced by Tom Hanks. During CinemaBlend's interview with the Toy Story 5 filmmakers, Stanton said this about the return of Woody:
I do admit that I didn't know how to bring him back at first, and so I just, 'cause I know it's gonna take so many drafts to get the movie right, I just wrote the first one without him just to see if I missed him. And, I did. So I said, alright, we're gonna have to work a little harder and figure out how to make this not just a knee jerk reaction and make it something that's earned to make 'em come in. We finally figured it out and now I can't imagine it any other way.
Toy Story 5 follows the toys of Bonnie’s room, who were given to her by Andy during the emotional ending of Toy Story 3, as they face a new problem among them. Bonnie is given a tablet named Lilypad that steals all of her attention away, and the rest of the toys are stressed about it. Jessie, who has assumed the leadership position of Bonnie’s room, gets in contact with her buddy Woody to talk out the problem, and it leads to him joining in on another thrilling and fun animated adventure.
An emergency in Bonnie’s room totally makes sense as a way for the audience to see Woody again, but as Stanton told us, at first, he wrote Toy Story 5 without the cowboy at all. However, as he continued to work on additional drafts, he decided he missed Woody and found a way to add him to the upcoming sequel. As he continued:
My rule is if you take something out, especially a character, would the story be able to happen with or without them? And if it can't, that means good, that they had to be essential no matter how much, it may not be obvious that they're the role they're playing in the movie.
While Woody definitely plays a big part in Toy Story 5, there’s a lot more focus on Jessie (still played by Joan Cusack as well) than we’ve ever seen of her before, too. The movie even involves the cowgirl riding on a real horse and getting to visit her previous room. There she meets Conan O’Brien’s hilarious potty training toy, among many other fun surprises I’ll keep to myself for now. Producer Lindsay Collins added this:
I just loved after our first teaser, like how much hate we were getting about like, I thought Woody was gone, and then the second trailer we showed, everybody's like, ‘Oh, I get it. He needed to come back.’
The first look at Toy Story 5 did feature Woody briefly, but the latest look definitely gives fans a much better look at how the dynamics in the movie look, and Tom Hanks’ iconic character is definitely a big part of it. You can check out the Toy Story 5 trailer below:
I don’t know about you, but I’m so curious how Toy Story 5 will tackle the issue of toys vs. tech, and forward these characters we know and love. You can see it in theaters on June 19.
