Pixar Almost Made Toy Story 5 Without Tom Hanks as Woody
Pixar nearly moved ahead on Toy Story 5 without Woody, according to writer-director Andrew Stanton. The first draft sidelined Tom Hanks’ cowboy after Toy Story 4 sent him off to a new life, forcing the team to figure out how to ride him back into the story.
If you reckoned the next Toy Story was a done deal for Woody fans, brace yourself: Woody – yes, Tom Hanks’ cowboy himself – was nowhere to be seen in the very first draft of Toy Story 5. That’s straight from Andrew Stanton, the series’ longtime brain trust and writer-director.
Why Skip Woody? The Creative Headache After Number 4
Toy Story 4 tied off Woody’s story quite neatly, with him bidding farewell to Bonnie’s playroom and heading out to find a new purpose. Bringing him back without good reason would look a bit cheap, wouldn’t it? That’s the puzzle that flummoxed Stanton and the writing team when they started knocking Toy Story 5 into shape.
Stanton admitted he took a ruthless approach: he penned the entire first pass ‘as though Woody didn’t exist’. His method was almost scientific – he wanted to see if the story actually needed the franchise’s most famous toy, or if it could stand on its own without leaning on Tom Hanks’ nostalgia factor.
‘I just wrote the first one without him just to see if I missed him. And, I did,’ Stanton said.
Turns out, it was a glaring absence. The script just fell flat without that familiar sheriff. According to Stanton, it hammered home a lesson: if pulling a character breaks your story, then maybe they truly are indispensable. And if you’re going to bring them back, you’d better do it properly – not just because it’s the easy option.
How They Brought Woody Back (And Why They Had to Try So Hard)
- Stanton’s rule is simple: take any major character out of the plot, and if the story collapses, you know they’re essential.
- With Woody gone, everyone quickly realised the film didn’t work. Back to the drawing board.
- The challenge? Re-enter Woody in a way that doesn’t feel like lazy fan service – a proper narrative reason, not just ‘Pixar magic’.
- What tipped the scales: the story just wasn’t up to scratch without Woody’s perspective driving key moments. The team retooled the script until his reentry made emotional and thematic sense.
What’s Actually Happening in Toy Story 5?
So with Woody now back in the saddle, here’s the scenario: Bonnie – last seen as the toys’ new kid – picks up a snazzy tablet called Lilypad. Ring any modern bells? The toys soon realise this glow-in-the-dark rectangle is getting all her love and attention, leaving them to gather dust.
Jessie, who’s now top dog in the toyroom, can’t hack it and reaches out to Woody for backup. The stakes aren’t world-ending, but for toys, being ignored is the apocalypse. Stanton now says, 'Now I can’t imagine it any other way.'
Toy Story 5’s scheduled for release on 19 June. Prepare for another round of existential angst, but this time it’s social media and screen time that are the new villains.