Toy Story 5 Is Almost Here! Here’s a Cheat Sheet to Refresh Your Memory on the First 4 Movies Before Watching the New One

Brace yourselves. It’s been three decades since Woody, Buzz and the rest of Andy’s toys lit up the screen in the original Toy Story. Wait—Toy Story is 30? Yep, and the fifth outing of this hilarious and incredibly sweet series of movies will hit theaters on June 19. Ostensibly about a room full of toys that come to life when people aren’t looking, the Toy Story franchise is a beautiful, touching tribute to childhood, filled with joy, heartbreak, worry and loss.

I first saw Toy Story in 1995 like everybody else who wasn’t at a Pearl Jam concert or a screening of Clueless. (I told you, it was a long time ago.) If, like me, you’re having trouble remembering the ’90s, the movie or any of the subsequent sequels (and decades), it’s pretty clear we’re all going to need a recap. Ahead, I’ll take you through the original Toy Story and all three direct sequels—plus give you a bonus sneak peek of the newest one—just in time for the release of Toy Story 5.

As I researched, the memories came flooding back—and I bet they will for you too. So saddle up, and ride along!

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Toy Story

Premiered: 1995

When Toy Story hit theaters just in time for Thanksgiving 1995, it was a revelation. The first feature-length movie made entirely in computer-generated imagery (CGI), Toy Story ushered in a new breed of animation. But the Disney/Pixar film’s real staying power is in its sweet, funny look at childhood through the eyes of a young boy’s toys.

The film introduces us to Sheriff Woody, an old-fashioned talking cowboy doll with a pull string, and Buzz Lightyear, a battery-operated space ranger toy, who battle for the affections of 6-turning-7-year-old Andy. Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, feels threatened by newcomer Buzz (Tim Allen) and fears he will no longer be Andy’s favorite nor the leader of the toys, a menagerie of characters that includes Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex (a cowardly dinosaur), Hamm (a piggy bank), Bo Peep and a platoon of little green Army men.

The plot, centered around Andy’s birthday party and his family’s move, sets the stage for a running theme of the franchise: the inevitability of change and the universal feelings of loss as children grow up. But in this first movie, the vibe is mostly light, as Woody and Buzz trade barbs, get lost in a pizza parlor and ultimately realize that Andy still loves them.

Toy Story

Toy Story 2

Premiered: 1999

Not many sequels can claim to be equal, let alone superior, to the original, but Toy Story 2 pulls it off. Woody and Buzz now share the toys’ coveted co-leader status, but Andy is growing up and the old insecurities remain. After Woody gets “injured” with a ripped arm, he is temporarily shelved and begins to fear the worst when his shelf companion, a squeaker-less penguin named Wheezy, is added to the family yard sale.

Attempting a rescue, Woody is instead stolen and brought to a toy collector’s apartment, where he meets Jessie the Cowgirl, a rag doll abandoned by her first and only owner. Jessie is voiced by Joan Cusack, and she becomes the heart of the film as we see the highs and lows of childhood devotion through her eyes. Jessie’s storyline is punctuated by a gut-wrenching Sarah McLaughlin banger, “When She Loved Me,” which was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Grammy, so you’re going to want some tissues handy if you plan a rewatch.

The resolution of the toy-collector plot finds Woody and Jessie back at Andy’s, and Cusack, who returns in later sequels (including Toy Story 5), is so pitch-perfect as the plucky yet heartbroken cowgirl that it’s no wonder this film shines so brightly and holds up so well. Incredibly, Toy Story 2 began life as a straight-to-video release before getting the green light to feature status—a good thing, since it grossed nearly $500 million on a $90 million budget.

Toy Story 2

Toy Story 3

Premiered: 2010

Fast-forward to 2010, and Andy is getting ready to leave for college. To Woody’s delight, Andy plans to take his devoted old cowboy pal with him, though the rest of the toys are destined for the attic. In a mix-up that’s very familiar to anyone who has accidentally thrown away childhood memories, the toy bag instead ends up at the curb on trash day.

To prevent a decidedly awful fate, the toys manage to maneuver the bag over to a donation bin, where Woody joins them, and they wind up at a daycare center. Problem solved! Now they can be played with in perpetuity. Of course, that’s not exactly what happens as Andy’s toys discover (almost) too late that the center’s toy leader, Lotso-Huggin’-Bear, voiced by Ned Beatty, runs the place like a prison camp. “Face it, we’re just trash,” says Lotso in a pivotal moment, masking his hurt at being lost by his owner, a girl named Daisy.

Filled with taut, well-edited action sequences—without sacrificing any of the heart and soul of the previous films—Toy Story 3 was a major box office and critical success. It also was a major leap forward technically from the first two films, and even a tiny bit scary as the toy gang faces their “mortality” in the movie’s climax.

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 4

Premiered: 2019

Another massive hit with critics and at the box office, Toy Story 4 picks up where the previous installment left off. Woody and the gang are now with Bonnie, a kindergartner who received Andy’s donated toys, but they are struggling to fit into the existing toy hierarchy. In an attempt to protect Bonnie, who is nervous about starting school, Woody tags along in her backpack and meets Forky, a toy Bonnie makes from a discarded plastic utensil.

Forky suffers from anxiety over the fact that he was made from trash, and repeatedly tries to throw himself away. Woody is aghast and keeps rescuing Forky, including during a family RV trip, where the two meet up with Woody’s old pal Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts). It turns out Bo has been traveling around as a “lost toy,” free from ownership and very happy about that fact, thank you very much.

Much of the action centers around getting back to the RV (Keanu Reeves shows up to help as Duke Caboom, a 1970s stunt-car toy), complete with detours at an antique shop and a traveling carnival. The familiar angst of Woody (and now Forky) translated into the franchise’s biggest box-office haul to date, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. But the film switches up the narrative of toys needing to be owned and loved by a specific child: In the end, Woody ends up joining Bo on the road and letting Bonnie, and his past with Andy, go.

Toy Story 4

Toy Story 5

Premiered: 2026

Excitement is high for Toy Story 5, which is actually the sixth film in the franchise. (Didn’t see 2022’s Lightyear spin-off? You’re not alone—unfortunately, it was a flop.) The latest installment brings back Hanks, Allen and Cusack as the lead toy trio of Woody, Buzz and Jessie, and it’s even getting a new song by Taylor Swift called “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which will be released on June 5 ahead of the June 19 premiere.

Here’s the premise: It’s been 30 years since the first Toy Story, and a lot has happened in the world of toys and tech. Enter Bonnie’s new “toy,” Lilypad. Voiced by The Morning Show‘s Greta Lee, Lilypad is a modern tablet device that looks like an an innocent frog but, as the official trailer indicates, definitely has a disruptive agenda.

Andy, who was 7 years old in 1995, could now have kids of his own, so sit with that a while as we wait for the release. Potts and Reeves are also returning, along with John Ratzenberger (Hamm), Wallace Shawn (Rex) and Jim Varney (Slinky Dog). Toy Story 5 will be released nationwide on June 19. We can’t wait.

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Sources:

Time: “How Toy Story Changed Movie History”
Box Office Mojo: “Toy Story 2”
IMDB: “Toy Story 2 Awards”
New York Times: “Voyage to the Bottom of the Day Care Center”
New Yorker: “Toy Story 4 Plays It Again”
Box Office Mojo: “Toy Story 4”
NBC News: “Taylor Swift releases new song for ‘Toy Story 5’”
Disney: “Toy Story 5”
YouTube: “Original ‘Toy Story’ cast back for ‘Toy Story 5’: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack return”

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