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Spoiler alert! This story reveals plot points in Toy Story 5...Consider yourself warned.
Toy Story has done it again… yes, it's made me ball my eyes out. Toy Story 5 is the latest installment in the Toy Story franchise and there has been a lot of buzz (pun intended) around this highly-anticipated 2026 movie release. In my opinion, it has quickly become one of the best entries in the series. The story is filled with comedy and emotional moments that will have audiences (OK, me) reaching for tissues. However, there is one scene in particular that I cannot stop thinking about: The moment Jessie walks into her original child's bedroom after being donated years prior.
Toy Story 5 follows the beloved yodeling cowgirl Jessie, voiced by Joan Cusack, as technology threatens to take over Bonnie’s bedroom, and playtime is at risk for her and the other toys. Bonnie has been struggling to make friends, so her parents—one of whom is voiced by ‘Pixar’s Mom’ favorite Lori Alan— buy her a Lilypad device to connect with others. The problem is the device doesn’t know Bonnie the way Jessie does, so Jessie sets out to help Bonnie form a real friendship.
After being ditched by Bonnie in favor of Lilypad at a sleepover, Jessie and Bullseye find themselves, through a series of events, at the home of her original owner, Emily. Suddenly, Jessie is back in the first bedroom she ever called home, where a young girl named Blaze now lives.
Ahead of Toy Story 5, I had the opportunity to speak with Joan Cusack during a recent Walt Disney World event, and I had to ask her what it was like revisiting Jessie’s first bedroom and seeing the tire swing again. The actress admitted the experience was emotional:
You know, it's sad. It was sad. She had this whole abandonment thing.
We first met Jessie in Toy Story 2, where we learned she was abandoned by Emily, and it was painful. I have to admit, seeing Jessie end up under Blaze’s bed was a bit triggering for me. For a moment, I worried we might never hear our girl “yeehaw” again.
Fortunately, Jessie has a purpose, and that purpose is helping Bonnie make a friend. For Cusack, it was also "moving."
It's kind of healing in a way because she sees this little girl, and she has a real purpose. Her purpose is to make her child be happy. That's what Woody says. “That's your job as a toy, to make your child be happy.” So she has this purpose, and she's looking for a friend for Bonnie, and this little girl that lives in this bedroom is a perfect fit. So it's just very healing and moving.
The scene feels sad, cathartic, painful, and hopeful all at once. As Jessie walks back into Emily's bedroom, we're carrying the same fears she is. There's a sense of dread tied to the memories of her abandonment, but also the possibility of closure—and something new waiting on the other side.
Perhaps that's why I can't stop thinking about it. We've spent decades watching Jessie slowly heal from the heartbreak of being left behind. Andy and Bonnie are a part of that journey, but it isn't until she finally confronts her past that she can, in Cusack's own words, begin to truly heal. Toy Story 5 is in theaters now.
